Hanging out at bottom of the cage

[DRB]

My Perjo (19 week old CAG) the last 3 days has been making a habit out of climbing down to the bottom of the cage. Not sure what her interest is as I have nothing below the dowel perch which is about a foot below the level of her food bowls and 14" above the floor of the cage. But I have seen her try to grab some dried up poop, and today I noticed she was walking around trying to get a few pieces of baby spinach she dropped. But I cleaned the cage bottom of everything, and she still went down there to investigate.

Is it common for these parrots to try to eat poop? The vet said no. Do they just get curious about the entire space of the cage? She did the whole digging in the bottom corner on day one, but hasn't done it since, that was 5 weeks ago.

 

[Mariar]

Sissy does the same thing from time to time...not trying to eat poop but curious about the bottom,so I occasionally put a toy down there,maybe offer more foraging toys.

 

[Piasa]

I don't know much about greys. Poop eating can be a behavioral problem or indicative of a nutritional deficiency or trouble digesting. Sometimes giving digestive enzymes will stop them from eating poop. My conure does this and vet told me to make sure he stayed away from it because of the bacteria.

I use bottom of cage for a bathing water bowl and a couple foot toys. With so many cages having the largest dimension being the height, it's good to get them to use the space.

 

[cnyguy]

Ralph likes to play on the bottom of the cage, or visit with me when I'm sitting in the chair by his cage. He doesn't eat dried poop, but will sometimes clean up some of it that he finds stuck to the bottom grate or his perches. I guess he gets impatient waiting for me to clean it up (which I do, more than once a day, but not soon enough to satisfy a fussy Quaker).

 

[DRB]

Perjo does seem to be a bit of a neat freak, he doesn't like a messy beak, and I ahve seen her on the bottom of the cage picking things off the bars. Maybe she's tidying up and looking for a piece of food she dropped.

Haven't seen her actually try to ingest any poop, just seen her pick at some on the bottom bars.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think most parrot pick at poop. Unless he is ingesting it, I think it's a fairly normal behavior.

And it is not uncommon at all for parrots to scrounge on the floor of their cage and reach their foot through the grate to pick up bits of food they drop. Kiwi does it ALL the time when he drops something he wanted to eat. My dads cockatoo actually doesn't have a food dish in the upper part of the cage, he has a pie pan on the grate of the cage he just LOVES eating out of. Before he had the pie pan, he would throw all his food out of his dish onto to the floor, then go pick it up through the grate It is also not uncommon for some individuals to play on the bottom of their cage. Kiwi ventures down to the bottom of the cage when he drops something he didn't intend to and will sometimes stay down there playing for a while. Consider it a good thing if your bird is using the whole of their cage and not just the top. Try putting some easily washable toys down there (like plastic baby rattles) for him to play with. Easily washable because they will be pooped on at some point lol.

 

[DRB]

She grabbed some poop today, hard to tell if she tried to eat it, but there was what looked like some on her beak. I think she tried to eat it.

I hope she doesn't do this stuff when I'm gone, that will be concerning.

It's strange to me b/c the vet visit went great and she seems perfectly healthy and she eats enough pellets everyday. With a variety of healthy treats.

 

[DexMom]

Dexter plays in the bottom of his cage all the time. He plays with foot toys or anything he's torn off his hanging toys. I try to keep it tidy, but he is exposed to any poop that sticks to the grate between daily scrubbings. I had not considered it a problem at all. He even has a ladder to go down there. I like that he makes use of the whole space inside his cage.

 

[jdlehman76]

I have an African Grey that plays with toys and eats on the floor of her cage often. I have even fed down there on a tray to encourage foraging activity. If you want to prevent the bird from going after poop you might try adding toys on the floor to distract the bird.