Tell me about the poops!

[TexasWade]

The bird shop where I got Dusty and Nacho called today to see how the Nacho bird is doing. Pretty cool that they do a two week follow up!

I told them that the new little boy seems to be doing fine after having a bit of a slow start. I also mentioned that he poops about four times as much as the cockatiel ever did and the guy at the store said yeah, that's normal. So it looks like we're in good shape there.

So all that got me to thinking about relative poopiness of different parrots, and my google-fu let me down on gathering meaningful results. So maybe you guys can tell me about your parrot poop experience! lol So I now know that quakers poop a lot more than cockatiels despite their similar size. What about some others? I've heard that lories like to spray it on the wall, that's worth points for creativity if nothing else...

 

[OOwl]

I have a lovebird that can poop something like 100 times (or more!) a day! The only negative I can cite about that particular one of my parrots, and well worth the cleanup aggravation.

My rosebreasted cockatoo poops about as frequently as a cockatiel (they're really like big pink cockatiels anyway). And he poops anytime he gets at all nervous. He's a stress pooper.

My Grey is the one that poops the most infrequently and will go either on his paper in the cage or on command over a trashcan (good boy!).

The Amazon is somewhat in between the two extremes.

Interesting topic. ;-)

 

[TexasWade]

Maybe not the most interesting thing, hahah.... Just one of those things you probably never think about until you're at that place that makes you say hmmmm!

Ooh, almost forgot to mention that Nacho bird has been getting cuter by the day =) Since he finally got comfortable enough to consider his new home as his real home he's really started to open up and be a real cutie pie.

 

[Piasa]

Funny, but so helpful to know too!

I turned into quite the poopologist when Beau got dehydrated and I had to keep a diary of when he drank and when he pooped. He's a green cheek. He was pretty regular during the day at once an hour. Once in awhile he goes for 3 hours without a bathroom break. But if he's chugged some juice, I can expect him to pee 3 or 4 times in 30 minutes.

I feel like I should get a gold star for this - hahaha!

And welcome home Nacho I am so glad you got him and that he's settled in. He sounds like a perfect fit!

 

[snowflake311]

My parakeets are nonstop pooping. They cant hold it. My black capped conure is awesome he can and will hold it. He can go all night and not poop but will have a Big one bright and early. When he is out and about it depends on how much he eats when out. I can time it and keep him from pooping on me.

 

[CherylCali]

If EB goes on a fruit eating frenzy her poo gets very liquid and then I get really parrotnoid, certain that her death is imminent. Then she eats some pellets and it snaps back to normal. She poops every 10-15 minutes, holds it at night. She 'mostly' holds it in when caged. I can tell when I've been gone for several hours theres normally only one big poop like a morning poop, indicating she couldn't hold it any more. I quit using paper in her cage, instead I clean the tray daily.

CherylCali

 

[Scott]

The scatology of my flock depends on species and diet on a given day. The birds I handle and "wear" most are Goffins, and they are about every 15 to 20 minutes. Some just let it fling wherever, others seem to wiggle a bit and fly off my shoulder to a "safe" haven. My Ekkie Angel poops the least often, but in larger quantity. On days when they have chop, it is more watery and colorful depending on the specific foods eaten. On days when they have pellet/seed/millet mix, it is the traditional green/white variation.

 

[Piasa]

Cheryl and Scott bring up good points about diet affecting stools.

I did experiments years ago when I was torn between whether pellets or a dry/soak seed mix was providing more nutrition - I found that Zupreme Natural caused them to poop a lot more than the seed and/or Harrison's. 15 minutes between poops for Zupreme and 30ish for the others. My theory is that the healthier the food, with less fillers, the less frequently they will poop.

On my current mash, Jimmy Pionus poops maybe once an hour and goes regularly throughout the night. Beau the same as above, but holds it overnight. I'm believe the species determines whether or not they hold it during the night.

 

[CherylCali]

Cheryl and Scott bring up good points about diet affecting stools.

I did experiments years ago when I was torn between whether pellets or a dry/soak seed mix was providing more nutrition - I found that Zupreme Natural caused them to poop a lot more than the seed and/or Harrison's. 15 minutes between poops for Zupreme and 30ish for the others. My theory is that the healthier the food, with less fillers, the less frequently they will poop.

On my current mash, Jimmy Pionus poops maybe once an hour and goes regularly throughout the night. Beau the same as above, but holds it overnight. I'm believe the species determines whether or not they hold it during the night.

I agree with the zupreem you mentioned. In the past with my Mitred Conure the only pellet he would eat was Zupreem fruit, and pick out his favorite colors. As such his poop was always read, and much more poop.

CherylCali

 

[CherylCali]

*red

CherylCali

 

[snowflake311]

Oh poop color thats a fun one. My little guy fkund a love for blue berries. He eat a good amount of blue berries the other day and had a dark purple poop. I bet that one could have stained not sure. Got to be careful about poops that stain. Haha. My conure has had all different color poops.

 

[TexasWade]

*smacks head* so obvious! I never stopped to consider matching his output to his input

I feed him some brick red in tune pellets and he makes brick red poopies. But I alternate those pellets with roudybush maintenance (per the bird store recommendations) and I also give him frozen peas (he loves peas!) and on Sunday he gets cockatiel seed mix. Plus we try various fresh veggies daily which he has declined to eat so far, and surprisingly when I put various nuts in his dish I found them all on the cage paper next morning =P. Fortunately, with the exception of trying new things, he does eat heartily so no worries about him starving while I mess with his diet a bit.

I'm going to try alternating his pellets weekly instead of daily to see how he does.