Question about licking/tongue movement

[Senor90Bob]

Hi everyone,


I’ve noticed some unusual behavior in my Congo African Grey and wanted to see if anyone has experience with this.

• Behavior: A few times a day (3–4 times), she does this odd tongue movement, kind of licking inside her beak. When she does this i can see some saliva between tongue and beak...like when humans have a very dry mouth.
• Water intake: Sometimes she drinks a lot, sometimes just normally like my older African Grey. When she does drink a lot, her poop becomes very watery.
• Other health signs: Otherwise she seems healthy — active, moving around a lot, good energy.

I read that this type of behavior could possibly be related to a yeast infection, but I’m not sure.


Has anyone else seen this in their CAGs? Could it be something harmless, or should I be worried about an underlying health issue (like yeast, crop problems, or something else)?


Any advice or personal experiences would be really helpful. I’m considering a vet visit but wanted to check with the community first.


Thanks!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Watery poop after drinking a lot or eating wet food is normal IF the solid part of her poop is still formed and solid, not liquid. If the entire dropping is liquid that's diarrhea and you should take him to an avian vet. I would line his cage with plain white paper towels for a day or two so you can get a good look at the color and texture of his poops. Take photos of the poops or save the paper towels and show them to the vet.

The mouth action in the video with dry saliva sounds a little more suspicious but could be normal. Parrots usually have pretty dry mouths but if you're seeing a whitish dryish paste in his mouth I'd get it checked out. Is he regurgitating? If so, does he regurgitate to toys or you? Or just on his own? Check the paper towels for anything he may have regurgitated.

In short, I'd take him for a check up. Parrots hide illnesses very well. By the time the bird is obviously very sick its often too late.

 

[Senor90Bob]

Watery poop after drinking a lot or eating wet food is normal IF the solid part of her poop is still formed and solid, not liquid. If the entire dropping is liquid that's diarrhea and you should take him to an avian vet. I would line his cage with plain white paper towels for a day or two so you can get a good look at the color and texture of his poops. Take photos of the poops or save the paper towels and show them to the vet.

The mouth action in the video with dry saliva sounds a little more suspicious but could be normal. Parrots usually have pretty dry mouths but if you're seeing a whitish dryish paste in his mouth I'd get it checked out. Is he regurgitating? If so, does he regurgitate to toys or you? Or just on his own? Check the paper towels for anything he may have regurgitated.

In short, I'd take him for a check up. Parrots hide illnesses very well. By the time the bird is obviously very sick its often too late.

Thanks for your detailed answer!
Regarding her droppings, the "poop part" is solid and “rope-like,” the "pee part" is clear, so it seems normal in that regard. The watery part only happens when she drinks a lot. She is more food oriented than our older grey, nothing ever is enough. So for the first few months i thought she drinks a lot becouse well, she ate everything else in her cage. She stopped this for a month, i thought finaly she grown up, but it started again.

As for regurgitation, she only does it a few times a month toward our hands, but we try to discourage it. She’s never done it to toys or by herself, though once she did try to feed our older Grey.

I would like to take her for a check-up, but I’m honestly a bit worried about the vet visit itself — I’ve heard of parrots in our area catching something at the clinic, and that makes me nervous.