Do budgies like cold water? Will they drink it or just jump in it? In this article, we’ll discuss the ideal temperature for their drinking water and see if budgies actually like to drink cold water.
Can Budgies Drink Cold Water? Although 50-60°F is an ideal range for a budgie’s drinking water, some of them like to think colder is fresher. If it’s too cold, they’ll avoid it or take smaller sips. If it’s too cold, they may feel like jumping into the dish instead to cool off on warm days.
How Do Budgies Drink Water?
A shallow dish is usually the best method of delivering drinking water to budgies in a cage. If the dish is deeper, your budgie may think it’s time for a bath and they might jump in. Once they make a mess of the drinking water, they may not want to drink from it again.
Budgies drink about a teaspoon or more water per day. They aren’t going to attack the water like they would with a dish full of seeds. Budgies don’t sweat and come from dry climates where water is scarce.
Cold water feels fresh to a budgie living in warm or room temperature climates. They may take small sips when it’s too cold, but it won’t make them sick in small amounts.
They are intelligent enough to not overdrink or shock their system with freezing cold water. They’d rather wait for it to warm up naturally because they are in no rush to drink it.
Can I Add Ice In the Water?
Every budgie is different. Some may notice the ice cubes in the water and wish to play with it. They push it around or jump into the dish with the ice cubes.
If you’re adding ice cubes, the climate must be slightly warm that day and you wish to cool them off. Your budgie may enjoy or avoid it.
The ice will eventually melt into the dish and the cool water will refresh a warm-blooded budgie. They won’t lick ice cubes, but a few sips of the remaining ice water will not hurt them because they know when to stop.
What Is The Ideal Temperature of Water For Budgies?
- 10-16°C
- 50-60°F
Some budgies prefer chilly water. It’s hard to tell why, but they may feel that it’s more fresh. Budgies are picky with their water. They don’t want it sullied with dirt or debris. They aren’t desperate for water when they can pull it out of some foods that they eat such as fruits.
10-16°C or 50-60°F is about the coldest ideal temperature in the opinion of many budgie enthusiasts. Others feel that room temperature or lukewarm water works fine for them.
The colder the water, the higher the chance that your budgie will want to:
- play with it
- jump in it
- sip it
- avoid it
Do Budgies Like Cold Water?
Budgies that don’t drink cold water may enjoy bathing in it instead. Try cold water if you notice that your budgie hesitates with water that is:
- lukewarm
- in a bird bath
- misty spray bottle
Try filling the sink and see if your budgie enjoys bathing in it more. Use cold water if you feel that their natural body temperature being so high makes them enjoy cold water more.
Can budgies have juice? Find out here
Conclusion
Your budgie will let you know if the water is too cold. They will not drink it or only take tiny sips. A budgie is not going to drink much and will be fussy about water that is dirty.
Cold water may end up being fun to jump into instead of drinking it. It’s a nice idea on a warm day, but stick with 50-60°F water at the coolest on regular days.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How Many Times Do Budgies Drink Water?
A budgie drinks water 2-3 times a day if not more. Sometimes we don’t find our budgies touching their water dish because it’s dirty or due to the fact that they don’t need that much as they don’t perspire like we do. Several times a day of small sips is normal.
2. Do Budgies Like Being Sprayed With Water?
Budgies don’t like sudden sprays of water directed at them. Turn the setting of the bottle to a gentle mist for the water to spray around them instead of at them. Try not to spray your budgie with water that is too hot or too cold. 10°C or 50°F temperature are fine on the cooler side.
3. Do Budgies Pee?
Instead of peeing through a urethra which birds do not have, they convert it to uric acid instead. This works with a high functioning metabolism that switches nitrogen to uric acid to combine with feces. This ends up being far less toxic and doesn’t need to be diluted the same way as humans or other animals. All of it exits out of the anus instead.
4. Can Budgies drink tap water?
If the tap water in your city is safe for human consumption, then your budgie will be able to drink it as well. If you are filtering your water or buying bottled water, offer the same to your budgie. These birds do not drink much per day so a little water goes a long way.
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