Can Baby Cockatiels Drink Water & How To Get Them To Drink?

Baby cockatiels are very sensitive toward their foods. You might have to think about the drinking behavior of baby cockatiels as adult birds drink water and other fluids when they get the opportunity. So, what do baby cockatiels drink? And can baby cockatiels drink water?

Baby cockatiels do not get water in the nest because their parent birds feed them foods that fulfill their water requirements. But baby birds can drink water if you are hand-feeding them and prefer freshwater or lukewarm water for them.

Table of Contents:

  1. What Do Baby Cockatiels Drink?
  2. When Do Baby Cockatiels Start Drinking Water?
  3. How Do I Get My Baby Cockatiel To Drink Water?
  4. How Often Should Baby Cockatiels Drink?
  5. How Much Should A Baby Cockatiel Drink?
  6. Final Words

What Do Baby Cockatiels Drink?

If you have a pet baby cocktail, you need to provide them with fresh, clean water, often with food. Baby cockatiels will drink water as per their need. The eating and drinking habits of baby cockatiels depend on their age.

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Baby cockatiels are rapidly growing birds when appropriately fed, making cockatiels a good choice as pet birds if you are planning to get one.

At a very young age, baby cockatiels can only be fed semi-solid food. Parent cockatiels mix the food with water and give it to babies.

Some people try to give milk to baby cockatiels, which can be harmful to them. Milk itself is not toxic for birds, but the majority of birds, including cockatiels, can not digest the lactose in milk. Which eventually leads to digestive problems.

Only pigeons and doves feed their babies crop milk. Cockatiels naturally have semi-solid wild food in their nests, consisting of seeds, grains, fruits, etc.

You can use pet bird formula to make food for baby cockatiels. Always give baby cockatiels fresh and clean water only. And give water through the water dropper until baby cockatiels are at fledging age. 

When Do Baby Cockatiels Start Drinking Water?

At the very early age of 1 to 3 weeks, baby cockatiels need to be hand-fed. You have to wait until they learn self-eating. Baby cockatiels start to self-eat at 6-7 weeks. Then baby cockatiels start drinking after 5 to 6 weeks.

Even though baby cockatiels can quickly learn to drink at 5 to 6 weeks, you still need to be careful about them.

Never serve water in a deep bowl, as they can drown themselves while trying to drink. Because at this age, baby cockatiels are not able to fly.

How Do I Get My Baby Cockatiel To Drink Water?

Training a baby cocktail to drink water from a bowl is not that difficult. You need to ensure that the baby cockatiel has started to pick things up.

This means baby cockatiels are at fledging age and have started to stimulate their self-feeding.

All baby cockatiels are generally quick learners, and you might need to train them for a few days.

For this purpose, place a separate shallow and a bit wide bowl full of water. Don’t skip their regular diet while training them to drink water.

Always remember that young birds don’t need to drink water frequently. Hence if your baby’s cockatiel doesn’t seem to be drinking water, don’t worry about it.

They are getting an adequate amount of water with their food at a young age. Once they are capable, of switching to solid food like grains, seeds, and fruits such as bananas, their water intake will be increased gradually.

You need to train them while they are growing up. For safety, please don’t use a deep dish or bowl as they can get drowned while trying to drink water. In the end, every bird needs to learn at its own pace.

When baby cockatiels are at the age of 6-7 weeks, they will gradually start to stimulate the natural habit of finding and picking up things, which leads them to self-eating and drinking. Never force the bird to drink water or skip its regular diet.

How Often Should Baby Cockatiels Drink?

Once baby cockatiels have the ability to consume, you can start to increase the complete solid diet. This will result in an increased level of thirst, and cockatiels can drink water on their own.

In extremely hot weather conditions, a baby cockatiel would drink almost 1-2 teaspoons of water per feeding session. This is just an estimate based on the diet you are giving to baby cockatiel and their habitat.

No one can tell how often a young baby bird needs water or how often you have to give water to them because that would depend on the bird’s health, activity level, environment, temperature, and other weather conditions like humidity.

How Much Should A Baby Cockatiel Drink?

As we have mentioned above, you can not determine how much a baby cockatiel should drink because it depends on several factors related to birds and the environment.

A baby cockatiel must drink ample water to maintain good health and digestive system. You can estimate it by observing their digestive system.

If the poop is too runny, they are facing digestive issues and more than the required amount of water.

Baby birds take time to adjust to healthy eating and drinking habit. The best way is to observe the pattern and stimulate them to self-eat and drink.

Final Words

Baby cockatiels can drink water after reaching a specific age. Newborn baby cockatiels get their water requirements fulfilled by the foods that their parents feed them. You can also feed them lukewarm water, and freshwater by the hand-feeding method.

You should keep in mind that do not force them to drink water because whenever they feel thirsty, they will start drinking water if you offer them. So it is advised to offer them water after 6 to 7 weeks.

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