Anyone have one of these???

Does anyone have one of these?
http://www.duncraft.com/Solar-Sipper-P2328C0.aspx
Do they work?

Don't need that here, but saw it in their catalog and thought it was a great idea.

No, I've never felt the need to get one. We do have some quite cold weather but not for long periods so I just heat some water and pour it in the bath before I leave for work. For what it's worth- I did buy a Water Wiggler once to help with mosquitoes but leaves and twigs kept getting tangled up in it so I stopped using it. THe wigglers are also quite large and I felt it took up too much room in the bird bath.

I looked at it, but decided an electric heated one would be more useful during winter. I have not got one yet and I really could have used it this week. Water has been frozen every morning!

I wanted to put it on my deck and we don't have outlets up there(what in the world were they(the former owners) thinking when they installed the deck?)

That is a pain...well it would do until it gets below 20 degrees anyway.Something better than nothing. My worry is I will have every raccoon, opossum and assorted other critters here to get a drink!!

The opening looks small enough to keep the critters out but then again they might flip it over to get to the water, I'm considering the mounting device.

There were a couple of reviews on amazon.com and it was split with some liking it and others not. Doesn't help my decision any.

That looks like something you could probably improvise to try out the concept... I think the key words are "insulated container" and "black plastic cover," both of which serve to hold in the heat of the sun and keep the water liquid.

I saw in my Birds and Bloom magazine an idea that might work. A man from Mass use a 2 1/2 lb coffee can and drills three evenly spaced holes about an inch from the top. Then he takes a small candle and places it in an empty tuna or cat food can. He lights the candle and places it in the bottom of the coffee can.. He then fills a pie plate with water and places it on top of the can. The candle keeps the water warm for as long as the candle burns. I thought that was a good idea. I hope it helps you flowerjen.

I wonder how long the candle burns?

I was wondering about that too. I was wondering if a tea light would work. Some of those will burn for 6-8 hrs depending on the quality. I can buy 100 of them for $3.00 on sale at Walgreens or Wal Mart. Or maybe use a shorter can and use the tea lights. I'm still thinking on it and will try experimenting with it.

let me know if it works.

Flowerjen -

I bought 1 of those bowls a couple yrs ago. Put it in full sun all day. Still
froze with temps in low 20s. I switched to 1 of those ground bowls with removable
inserts - 1 for 3 season use & 1 for heated water. Of course, the heated insert
is hooked up with a 50ft extension cord! A little unsightly, but the birds don't care!

This message was edited Nov 23, 2008 5:42 PM

I bought the deck mounted, electric bath from Duncraft back in the summer and got it going last week when the temps really plunged here. I like it very much...it is easy to dump and clean and so far, does not seem to be attracting anything other than the birds. We were able to snake the extension cord under the deck to the outlet and it doesn't look too bad. I usually do not spend a lot of time looking at birds until closer to Christmas as I am so busy but I started Project Feeder Watch and am trying to keep up with the count. Not getting anything else done on count days....everyone here is "adjusting" to it!