Green Cheeked Conure Not Pooping

[SabrinaBanina]

Hey everyone! I have a 6 month old green cheek and I've had her for about 2 months now. She's gone from being a terrified little thing, to being everywhere and anywhere at once.

Anyway, lately I've been noticing that she has been straining to poop for the past 2 days or so. Every night before bed, we move her to another cage to sleep in my room, and she has yet to poop in that cage. Then in the morning, she tends to go to the restroom when we are MOVING her to the other cage. I don't know if she just simply has problems going to the restroom in her own cages or if there's another underlying problem.

Today, I tried to move her quickly to her 'day cage' and I noticed that she didn't poop right away. She did eat though (as she eats and drinks water regularly). About an hour later, I noticed that she was straining to go to the bathroom. She strained twice within about 5 minutes, and then her waste came out with a bit of force.

I'm just unsure about what to do with her. I don't want to waste time and keep her here at home if there is a possibility if she's sick.

Thank you all!

[Wolf]

I could be wrong about this but then again there is only one way to know for sure, but it sounds to me as if she has a partial blockage in her intestines and the only way to know for sure is the same thing that it will take to fix it if I am right and that is a visit to the avian vet ASAP if not sooner. If I am right this is an emergency type situation, so don't waste time.

[Harpmaker]

While not pooping in the night cage is normal, as well as putting out a LOT first thing in the morning, waiting an hour after moving to the day cage and straining sounds serious. I'm with Wolf. Get her to an Avian Vet!

[SabrinaBanina]

I just got home from work (I work part time) and checked her cage out to see if there was any new waste. There wasn't. Then I took her out of her cage and not even a minute later, she goes to the bathroom. I'm beginning to think that this is a behavioral issue but I still don't want to be wrong.

[Wolf]

Have you tried to potty train her? There are some people mostly new owners who attempt to do this.

[SabrinaBanina]

My boyfriend has been trying to potty train her.

[Wolf]

Make him stop before he kills your bird. Birds must poop about every 10 to 20 minutes and if made to hold it to go in a specific place can rupture the intestine and that is a very painful way to die. Don't take my word for it call an avian vet, but make him stop it now.

[Pajarita]

I agree with Wolf wholeheartedly. I don't know who was the idiot that came up with the brilliant idea of toilet training a bird! I swear, sometimes I think we are going backwards instead of forward when it comes to bird husbandry! I am not ranting against your boyfriend, most likely, he read somewhere that it's possible and desirable and not knowing any better, just went for it. The problem arises because birds are hard-wired not to mess their nests so, sometimes, when you are toilet training them, they would identify the cage as their nest and hold it and hold it until they are taken out. And, when you are talking about a bird (high metabolism, thus poop often) and the bird spends hours in a cage, you end up with huge health issue in your hands.

Birds are not dogs, they are not supposed to be toilet trained.

[GreenWing]

Toilet training parrots, and it's been discussed here on the forum, is not like potty training a puppy. Parrots are not dogs. There will be accidents. You cannot expect a parrot to be "potty trained" per se. If a parrot poops in its cage, give praise. But never clicker train or give treats, this can cause complications. And definitely NEVER scold a bird.

It's been a couple of days, and I hope your bird is okay. But if your bird is not popping as often as it should, then it needs a vet, stat.