I wrote this elsewhere on one of the nipple watering threads, but I thought it would be good to have it as it's own thread as well.
The short version is our moderately cross-beaked Americauna can drink fine from the vertical nipples (the most common type of nipples, they install on the underside of a 5 gallon bucket) but she cannot drink from the newer horizontal nipples. The newer horizontal nipples require a bird to stick the tip of their beak into the small pocket to slurp of the few drops of water there. Her beak does not allow her to physically do this. Perhaps a very mild crossed beak would be capable of this. She eats fine and lays plenty of eggs, so she is otherwise healthy.
Trust me, I tried getting her to use the horizontal nipples and I felt bad when I realized she wasn't drinking out of habit but due to a physical limitation. I left them with only the horizontal nipples for about 36 hours and when I put up the vertical nipple bucket again, the cross-beak didn't stop drinking for over 10 minutes non-stop. She was very thirsty and I think because she wasn't able to drink the water from the horizontal nipples.
I actually much prefer the horizontal nipples over the vertical ones. The main reasons are the horizontal ones DON'T DRIP like the vertical ones do while in use. The vertical ones don't drip when no one is using them, but as soon as a bird starts drinking from one, they dribble all over the ground and usually themselves in the process. The horizontal ones also did not require as much heating of the water to keep them from freezing as the vertical ones have.
But for our handicapped little friend, we're keeping the vertical nipple system for now.
The short version is our moderately cross-beaked Americauna can drink fine from the vertical nipples (the most common type of nipples, they install on the underside of a 5 gallon bucket) but she cannot drink from the newer horizontal nipples. The newer horizontal nipples require a bird to stick the tip of their beak into the small pocket to slurp of the few drops of water there. Her beak does not allow her to physically do this. Perhaps a very mild crossed beak would be capable of this. She eats fine and lays plenty of eggs, so she is otherwise healthy.
Trust me, I tried getting her to use the horizontal nipples and I felt bad when I realized she wasn't drinking out of habit but due to a physical limitation. I left them with only the horizontal nipples for about 36 hours and when I put up the vertical nipple bucket again, the cross-beak didn't stop drinking for over 10 minutes non-stop. She was very thirsty and I think because she wasn't able to drink the water from the horizontal nipples.
I actually much prefer the horizontal nipples over the vertical ones. The main reasons are the horizontal ones DON'T DRIP like the vertical ones do while in use. The vertical ones don't drip when no one is using them, but as soon as a bird starts drinking from one, they dribble all over the ground and usually themselves in the process. The horizontal ones also did not require as much heating of the water to keep them from freezing as the vertical ones have.
But for our handicapped little friend, we're keeping the vertical nipple system for now.
