I've noticed my male bird repeatedly putting oneof his legs back to his vent the last couple of days, so I decided to have a look just now. And the whole area around his vent is completely covered in poo, a circle of about 2 cm diameter I know it's only happened in the last few days, because I see that area regularly when he climbs around the age.

 

So what could be causing that, and what should I do? Is there any point cleaning it off before I know the cause?

 

I know they have scaly face (still waiting for ivermectin for arrive, Kaz sent it a couple weeks ago) and I got a dewormer from the pet store, just to be on the safe side.

 

They eat nothing but seeds, they occasionally try veggies, but don't make a meal of it. I would assume it has something to do with their diet? The female doesn't have the same prob, I just checked.

Ivermectin was returned by the post office as they suspected it was a flammable substance but I have reposted it.

YES you must clean off the poop or it stops them being able to poop and makes them sicker.

Apart from possible mites, any change to diet, or conditions ?

Any additionals stress ?

Edited December 19, 200816 yr by KAZ

Nope, no changes, their cage and conditions have been the same for the last 3-4 weeks.

 

I will attempt to catch him and clean him. This should be fun..

Pull away any feathers from the vent area with poop on them...it will stop it sticking further and will enable you to check droppings for signs of ill health. It also stops reinfecting from vent to beak again. Put white paper in the bottom of the cage to check what kind of poop he is passing after you have cleaned him up.

 

If its just sticky runny poo then just wash the area. BUT runny poo is a s ign of ill health or not eating.

Edited December 19, 200816 yr by KAZ

Hope it isn't anything to serious.

I quickly realised me trying to catch him would be stupid, and totally stress them out etc, so I decided to wait until it got dark and use the 'grab them in the dark' method.

 

But when it got dark I checked him again, and he's actually looking a bit better. Not perfect, but better. And if it's getting better on its own there's no point me stressing them out.

 

I'll keep an eye on it, and clean it if necessary.

What you described needed cleaning up and the build up removing. What has changed ?

Dunno, maybe some of it came off when he was kicking at it?

what do his dropping look like on the lining that you use for the cage? Are they runny? What color? This is a good way to see if your bird is not only eating but drinking too. Personally, runny poo is never good and I believe he should be seen by an avian vet.

All the poo at the bottom of the cage looks completely normal, nothing runny as far as I can tell.

Poo stuck on the vent is NOT good... it can block it and stop further poo coming out... which is very bad for their heath... If it were me, I'd catch him, and clean it ALL off. I'd rather a slightly stressed bird for a few hours than a dead one in a day... just my opinion though.

I agree with Maesie - just quickly catch him (not in the dark) and clean him up and put him back - the quicker the better to reduce stress.

I think I've figured it out.

 

I've been getting seeds called 'budgie seed mix' and figured they'd all be the same. But I was getting some more seeds today, and decided to check the content of the one I've been getting. And it turns out it only has 3 different types of seeds in it, and that's it. So I got a Trill seed mix which has 5 different types of seeds + vegetables in it.

 

Maybe it's just taken a while for it to manifest.

could be poor diet but I'd still get it checked out..

If you change seed type some birds will not eat the new introduced seed and they will starve, I have read that you can change seeds but keep the old seed in the cage for a while until they get used to the new seed, then you can remove the old stuff.

I would do the gradual change over to the new seed. Changing seed can cause a moult also and with an already sick bird that could spell disaster... just be careful :thankyou:

All the wet, humid weather we have had lately in Brisbane provides ideal conditions for coccidiosis. They get varying shades of diarrhoea or may have no symptoms at all until they fluff up and drop dead within 24hrs. Budgies with runny bums is not good news.

Edited December 20, 200816 yr by DrNat

Personally, and this is me of course, I would not be playing around and seeing what it could be especially if the symptoms have not cleared up in 2 days I would be getting the bird to an avian vet to do a poop smear to make sure there is not more to this.

I've cleaned him up, and he seems fine. He's not fluffed up and acts normal. His poo is a bit greenish, but not runny. They went straight to the new food and are eating normally, but I've left the old food in there as well. (Not that they show any interest in it.)

 

We're going away for a week tomorrow, but I'll tell our friend who's petsitting to keep an eye on him.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT USE TRILL! Dont use any supermarket brands. Get a good quality budgie mix from a produce store. Trill has a massive marketing team behind them so they know what to say to make it sound good. A breeder quality seed mix may only have 3 or 4 different seeds, because they dont contain **** seeds.

Edited December 21, 200816 yr by KAZ

*points upwards* what she said.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT USE TRILL! Dont use any supermarket brands. Get a good vuality budgie mix from a produce store. Trill has a massive marketing team behind them so they know what to say to make it sound good. A breeder quality seed mix may only have 3 or 4 different seeds, because they dont contain **** seeds.

 

You go girl

What marketing? I only looked at the ingredients.

 

Everything I know about diet and nutrition suggests that a diet consisting of 5 seed types and 2 types of veggies will be better than a diet consisting of 3 different seed types.

 

More variety = better health.

The quality of the ingredients is poor and unpalateable. Its cheap because it is.

It's like buying homebrand coffee when you really only like the top of the time stuff, some budgie will just not eat it