Eating His Droppings!

[driven]

I don't know why he did this and this is the first time I've seen him do it, but he picked his dropping off of a perch today and ate it. I am seriously concerned now. Isn't that really bad if they eat that???? I don't want him to get sick! Please help. How do I make sure he doesn't start making this a habit? I'm all worried now.:(

[skthurley]

Are you sure he ate them or just picked them off his perch? Callie does this with her shelf I have in her cage. She often poops on her shelf, and then picks it off and drops it on the floor of her cage. It's cute

[driven]

I'm pretty sure he ate it. He was chewing it and I didn't see it hit the bottom of the cage or anything...

[Phoenix-cry]

My pionus does this on occasion. Nothing to worry about. As much as we humans can't understand there are a lot of 'good' things one can get out of feces (aromatic amino acids). It is a natural part of a lot of animal diets (wild dogs, horses, rats). If it becomes a daily thing the bird is telling you that there is something missing from his diet.

[Phoenix-cry]

PS- the dangers of droppings are when they are allowed to grow molds from getting too old.

[musicjan]

I've seen Bitsy doing that too - just recently - like when he's out and poops - he never did it before. I'm glad it's not serious. Sure is yukky.

[Steve]

Izzy does this. I'm pretty sure she thinks it's a seed because she will pick it up and then violently shake her head flinging it across the room because it tastes yucky. She doesn't seem to be a fast learner because she tries to pick up her poops a lot. She never actually eats them, but she is probably missing something in her diet, which I am currently posting about.