A productive night of poop (PIC)

[CSLFiero]

I've been trying to ween my new jardine from pellets to fresh food. It's been one week since she came home and is approx. 12 weeks old. Hesitent only on the first couple days, she now happily eats grapes, cauliflower, cucumber, and apples. She accepts oatmeal covered food, but her favourite is still pellets by far, but is getting more tolerate of yoghurt covered pellets and nuts.

Well I put her in her cage for bed time last night and she peffs up and goes to sleep on her main perch.. But some time during the night, she comes down to where her water bowl is and proceeds to poop the rest of the night.. Like, a lot.. The poo is shapely, however soft, and accompanied by much liquid, which may either be a cause for or a reaction to, lots of water drinking through the night.

Either way, this morning she was chipping and happy and playful and fairly hungry.. but I'm feeding her just pellets for breakfast.

Could it be her new diet? Is she ill? We just came back from the vet on wednesday, and everything was aces, they didn't even think bloodwork was necessary (it was her first ever vet visit).

I'm posting because I've not ever owned a larger bird and so poop quantities are new to me, especially since pics of their birds morning productions aren't usually topics posted about. This appears to be the most she's ever made in a single night, certainly the most in a single spot.

Okay, now it's time.. for a nasty picure..!

[cml]

I've been trying to ween my new jardine from pellets to fresh food.

I wouldnt do that, there isnt enough research for us to be sure we are feeding them a complete diet without pellets.
I dont want to feed only pellet either though, so we go with pellet breakfast and often fresh food in the evenings. That way you get the best from both worlds.

Dont feed dairy products, their stomachs cant handle it.

And yes, its likely the new diet that caused the runny poop, if Stitch and Leroy eat lots of juicy fruit, they too drop a few runny ones afterwards. The poop is more normal when they eat veggies and pellets.

[CSLFiero]

Thanks for the input! The intention was never to get her off pellets completely, i just want to reduce it to maybe 20-40%. Right now it's about 60-70. I honestly don't find anything wrong with a pellet heavy diet, i just like having control of what goes into her body, as i can be pretty selective as to what goes in my own

She's been feisty all morning, so that's a good sign.

Edit: about the dairy, yogurt covered seeds and pellets are standard fare parrot treats, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little skeptical that small portions of dairy are not okay even if it's not a natural food.

[cml]

Edit: about the dairy, yogurt covered seeds and pellets are standard fare parrot treats, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little skeptical that small portions of dairy are not okay even if it's not a natural food.

I would never feed them anything bought from bird fares either, unless it was vacuum sealed in a plastic bag. Such fares can spread bird diseases like crazy.

[Pajarita]

LOL - Pellet poop is not 'normal'. It's not even the color bird poop is supposed to be, which is green and not brown as when you feed pellets.

Birds that eat a lot of fruit produce a lot of urine which is super healthy for the kidneys and the way it's supposed to be.

As to research on parrot diets, there is none. None for fresh food and none for pellets. The 'complete nutrition' statement on the labels is nothing but a marketing gimmick on an unregulated industry (which allows the manufacturers to claim whatever they want there without been outside the law).

The poop is fine. They all do a bigger and more watery one first thing in the morning.

As to dairy, the thing about it is that birds, not been mammals, do not have the necessary enzymes in their digestive system to break down and digest (absorb) lactose. Animals have digestive systems with their corresponding juices, enzymes, mechanisms, etc to properly digest what nature evolved them to eat. Birds are not mammals nor do they ever have access to milk so they simply lack the enzymes for it. Yogurt has the lowest quantity of lactose of the most common dairy products and that's why it's used for birds even though some of them would get diarrhea or stools that are too loose with them (part of the problem with the too watery poop could be the yogurt treats). Not all of them do and, if you feed mostly dry food (pellets, dry fruits, dehydrated treats, seeds, nuts, etc), most likely, the poop will look more normal when they eat them but it's not because it's healthy but because the body is reacting to it.

[cml]

As to research on parrot diets, there is none. None for fresh food and none for pellets. The 'complete nutrition' statement on the labels is nothing but a marketing gimmick on an unregulated industry (which allows the manufacturers to claim whatever they want there without been outside the law).

Agreed, which is why I try to do 50/50 with fresh food and pellets =).

As to dairy, the thing about it is that birds, not been mammals, do not have the necessary enzymes in their digestive system to break down and digest (absorb) lactose. Animals have digestive systems with their corresponding juices, enzymes, mechanisms, etc to properly digest what nature evolved them to eat. Birds are not mammals nor do they ever have access to milk so they simply lack the enzymes for it. Yogurt has the lowest quantity of lactose of the most common dairy products and that's why it's used for birds even though some of them would get diarrhea or stools that are too loose with them (part of the problem with the too watery poop could be the yogurt treats). Not all of them do and, if you feed mostly dry food (pellets, dry fruits, dehydrated treats, seeds, nuts, etc), most likely, the poop will look more normal when they eat them but it's not because it's healthy but because the body is reacting to it.

This is the long reply that I didnt write above, and Pajarita is entirely correct . Dairy products and parrots dont mix well!