For bird owners, it is common knowledge that birds can be expert mess makers. One thing they seem to love is pooping or dunking food in their water bowl. While this is an annoyance to us, it can be a serious health hazard for a bird. Water bottles, however, are a simple and easy solution.

Water is an excellent medium for bacterial growth. When organic materials like food and feces enter water, bacteria have a heyday multiplying. A bacterial population can double its numbers in a mere 2 to 3 hours, which means a water dish that is fresh at 9 a.m. could cause disease by 1 p.m.

The quickest and easiest solution to this problem is to train your bird to drink water from a bottle. It needs to be the same kind of water bottle used for small mammals like hamsters. Birds are intelligent enough that they should learn how to use it in the first day. Set the bottle above a perch the same height as your birds body. Once a few drops drip through, a vacuum will be created to hold in the rest. The bottle should pique your birds curiosity once you introduce it to them, so they are inclined to try it. If youre not sure whether or not your bird is drinking, present him with a water dish at the end of the day to see if hes thirsty. Some worry that their birds wont be able to wet their food anymore, but this isnt true. As the birds will discover, they can hold their food in their mouth and drink from the bottle.