We get a lot of questions on the forum about "funny" poop! Usually from new owners but also we all have the odd query amongst ourselves!
Obviously if worried, an avian vet check is the best remedy of them all.
However, this article from Parrot magazine may well help? (I adore this monthly mag....honestly!)
I will ad-lib from the article once more!
Most parrots will suffer loose droppings in their life time and for a variety of reasons. It is a condition however, that should never be ignored as it can be seriously debillitating if allowed to persist for more than a few days.
The most common reasons for loose poop in an otherwise healthy bird are
relocation
stress
change of diet
excessive heat
A parrot that is relocated, can potentially suffer 3 out of 4 factors in one hit. Every effort should be made to keep things as close to it's previous routine as possible for the first little while. Familiar treats and the same diet for example. What about water though? Quality of tap water varies, so you are best to have your parrot drink distilled water to save it going through the change of "soft water" to "hard water" for example. This is a classic reason of a parrot looking off colour and having loose poop.
To prevent this, it is wise to always use distilled so that if you move home/go on holiday with your bird etc, this factor remains the same. A tried and tested cure is to boil all drinking water, let it stand for 12hrs and then offer it at room temperature.
Another remedy passed through the generations, is to offer the bird cold black tea to help settle nerves or tummy upsets for a few days.
Too much lettuce, greenery or acidic fruits can also cause upset tummies, so withdraw for a few days. Offer sweetcorn, carrot wholewheat bread and eggfood in place of it and you should see a difference.
If none of these remedies work in the space of a few days - time for the vet!
A few tips to help you recognise whether the loose droppings are simply transient or if they are a sign of something more serious, are as follows.
The droppings of all birds are a combination of:
faeces: waste from the intestines
white urate and liquid urine: waste from the kidneys.
It is important to note which componant is affected. If the bird has diarrhoea, the faeces part will be pale and large in amounts, while the urates remain white and normal. If this is the case, you will probably find that it is due to something the bird has eaten.
If the faeces look normal but the urate is disproportionately large and very liquid, then this could be due to stress or excessive heat.
If the birds dropping are completely liquid, this can be far more serious and an early indication of underlying kidney and liver disease, a toxicity problem, diabetes or intestinal parasites.
In this instance, take your bird and a sample of the droppings to the avian vet.
If the bird is a hen just prior to egg laying, they will produce naturally large and wet droppings which is completely normal.
I found this article very helpful and the only thing I can think of that wasn't mentioned, is that food colour can change the normal green faeces to red/yellow/brown and even purple lol.
EDIT: Additionally, it is possible to have the odd urate on it's own!!! Sorry, I forgot to add that to my part! It isn't a common thing, but sometimes indeed you can get a one-off shot of liquid. This is usually due to eating lots of juicy fresh fruit or veg that day!
I hope this will help anyone looking for information on dodgy poop!
Obviously if worried, an avian vet check is the best remedy of them all.
However, this article from Parrot magazine may well help? (I adore this monthly mag....honestly!)
I will ad-lib from the article once more!
Most parrots will suffer loose droppings in their life time and for a variety of reasons. It is a condition however, that should never be ignored as it can be seriously debillitating if allowed to persist for more than a few days.
The most common reasons for loose poop in an otherwise healthy bird are
relocation
stress
change of diet
excessive heat
A parrot that is relocated, can potentially suffer 3 out of 4 factors in one hit. Every effort should be made to keep things as close to it's previous routine as possible for the first little while. Familiar treats and the same diet for example. What about water though? Quality of tap water varies, so you are best to have your parrot drink distilled water to save it going through the change of "soft water" to "hard water" for example. This is a classic reason of a parrot looking off colour and having loose poop.
To prevent this, it is wise to always use distilled so that if you move home/go on holiday with your bird etc, this factor remains the same. A tried and tested cure is to boil all drinking water, let it stand for 12hrs and then offer it at room temperature.
Another remedy passed through the generations, is to offer the bird cold black tea to help settle nerves or tummy upsets for a few days.
Too much lettuce, greenery or acidic fruits can also cause upset tummies, so withdraw for a few days. Offer sweetcorn, carrot wholewheat bread and eggfood in place of it and you should see a difference.
If none of these remedies work in the space of a few days - time for the vet!
A few tips to help you recognise whether the loose droppings are simply transient or if they are a sign of something more serious, are as follows.
The droppings of all birds are a combination of:
faeces: waste from the intestines
white urate and liquid urine: waste from the kidneys.
It is important to note which componant is affected. If the bird has diarrhoea, the faeces part will be pale and large in amounts, while the urates remain white and normal. If this is the case, you will probably find that it is due to something the bird has eaten.
If the faeces look normal but the urate is disproportionately large and very liquid, then this could be due to stress or excessive heat.
If the birds dropping are completely liquid, this can be far more serious and an early indication of underlying kidney and liver disease, a toxicity problem, diabetes or intestinal parasites.
In this instance, take your bird and a sample of the droppings to the avian vet.
If the bird is a hen just prior to egg laying, they will produce naturally large and wet droppings which is completely normal.
I found this article very helpful and the only thing I can think of that wasn't mentioned, is that food colour can change the normal green faeces to red/yellow/brown and even purple lol.
EDIT: Additionally, it is possible to have the odd urate on it's own!!! Sorry, I forgot to add that to my part! It isn't a common thing, but sometimes indeed you can get a one-off shot of liquid. This is usually due to eating lots of juicy fresh fruit or veg that day!
I hope this will help anyone looking for information on dodgy poop!
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