The Scoop on Poop

[unpoquito]

There's no delicate way of asking this, so I just will. Being new to birds, I really am not sure what normal parrotlet poops should look like. Emmie spent the day with an avian vet after pulling her feathers, and had bloodwork, and poop samples taken throughout the day to be put onto slides for examination. The vet mentioned some of her samples did not look quite normal on the slides - they showed extra "rods." It came back negative for giardia, however, she decided to treat for that anyway with Ronizol in the water. She said that giardia quite commonly comes back with false negatives and is a cause of feather pulling. She also put her on Baytril, to cover all of her bases, based on bloodwork with slight changes to the white cells. Anyway, in our poop discussion, she also noted that many of the poops are kind of blackish with white ring around, and I'm guessing the black part isn't good. Then sometimes it's green. I look at their poop every day, and really don't know what normal parrotlet poop should look like. Both of them have poops that look exactly the same - the blackish with white round or the green. I'm guessing different foods cause changes to this, but thought I'd ask what normal parrotlet poop looks like. Both birds are still on the Ronizol and Emmie is still on the Baytril. I hope to get some good responses from folks experienced with this species for a while. Thanks.

[unpoquito]

I was hoping someone with more experience than I would answer this. Thanks.

[chapala]

Their poop does vary depending on diet. Try feeding beets one day to see a very clear example of that (RED poop!). A P'let eating a good percentage of the diet in vegetables, which is very healthy in my opinion, will have a greener color to the poop than birds eating just seed or pellets. Even though Cello has a lot of vegetables in his diet, as well as grains, legumes, fruit, seeds, it seems some of the night poops are darker, more towards black, while the majority are olive greenish, of course with the white urates. There is a site somewhere on bird poop and what to look for, if you want to try a search for it, or maybe someone else has the link. It is helpful to become familiar with normal poops so a problem can be noted early. That's one reason plain flat paper (newspaper is fine too), not shells or cobs or shredded paper, is recommended for the cage bottom.
Reta

[unpoquito]

Thank you, Reta. Cello's poops sound similar to my two, so this makes me feel better. I have been using paper towels on top of the grate, or sometimes newspaper on the tray (under the grate).

[BeakerLuvsBunsen]

I just linked this in another thread---
http://www.parrotchronicles.com/septoct2002/droppings.htm

you might want to read it

[lily]

With digital cameras, we have a wonderful opportunity to post poop pictures here. We could even write on the paper beside the poop if there was anything unique about it, like "After Beets" or "First day on meds after girardia diagnosis" or "Plucker"-- maybe even note whether they are on a pellet or seed diet and if they eat their veggies. We'd all see a bunch of normal poop and a bunch of poop from birds that have problems, and maybe someone would be alerted to potential trouble.

I'd go first, but I don't have a camera...

[Nikki]

Will there be an award for the most "original" forms of poop? :D

I'm just kidding. I was actually thinking this would be a good idea as well. Especially for those of us who don't really know what to look for in an abnormal poop.

[unpoquito]

Thanks, Everyone. I have found myself constantly looking at their poops to make sure all is well ever since Emmie pulled her feathers. The link to that website had great info - thanks!

[SweetPeasMom]

I am the official poop inspector here.. and my guys usually lean toward greener, with white..

[Vegasmom]

If someone who wasn't a pet owner read this, they'd think we were deranged, lol!
I'd have to go with Chapala on comparing Max's poo. Dark almost black around a white/light cream urate center. Yummy. Sounds like an oreo. Kinda looks like one too now that I think about it, LMBO! Then during the day, depending on what he pigs out on, anywhere from bright green, reddish, or black. Usually with more urine, so I feel it when it lands. I'll try to get various colored pics, that is if he uses the napkin instead of the human. :rolleyes:

[unpoquito]

Okay, yes, I'm sure some would find this thread disturbing! lol I see the darker (w/ white) poops after a night of sleep, and during the day, more green (w/ white). Is that TMI? lol

[lily]

That sounds like my bird's. She gets her fresh food in the morning, so that is probably why the poops after it are greener in the dark part. The white is always white. The article was very informative.

[skthurley]

LOL! This was a rather interesting read..... but my curiousity on whether my bird's poop was normal or not has been answered. lol!