POOPING!

[Viatrixa]

goodness I feel like I have so many questions but best ask them just in case, right???

I had no idea where to put this question but I believe since it's nutrition related, it belongs here? My sincerest apologies if not!!!!

I don't think there's anything severe or bad going on here, however I noticed a curious behaviour in our IRN (the regulars will know his name is Simo ) He has gotten to the point that he is so comfortable with us that he won't fly, flutter or move away from either me or my husband when we approach him carefully or even sometimes a bit quicker. (my gosh I'm SO proud of him. He's amazing, he has developed SO much in just half a year!) BUT, here's the odd thing:

If we're about to interact with him, say, get him to touch a stick - he will always scoot back on his perch a little and poop. He always, ALWAYS does this before any kind of interaction with us. We noticed he likes to poop on a particular side of his cage: always scoots back on his perch, "SPLAT!" and scoots back and then interacts with us.

Now, I'd like to emphasize here that this is a -COMPLETELY- self learned habit. (also, he's still very young too like that so I don't think anyone could even teach him to "poop on command" or anything just yet, and more than likely we won't.) When we let him out, he will occasionally splat some on the floor, but even then I've noticed he flies back to the perch holding his cage open and lets himself go on the preferred side of his cage.

I'm a bit confused about this, we have never, ever praised him or rewarded him etc. for doing his business on that specific spot, or shown any other encouragement for him to do so. Is this normal? Or something negative we should attempt to quell somehow? I do recall reading from some source at some point though that sometimes birds simply will pick a spot themselves where they prefer to do their business.

I know this is such a silly question but I'm curious to know learn and know that this isn't something bad or a negative thing? (his poops have thus far been normal and such if that helps at all >_> <_<)

and while this last bit is off topic: I'd like to apologize because I find myself having SO many questions on these boards. But I just want to make sure my rambunctious little green diva is healthy and happy, and that all is well with him. As far as I MYSELF can tell, I'm doing a decent job - regardless of how his beautiful tiny self arrived into our lives only half a year ago, I feel we have improved miles and leaps. We've gotten a grip on his personality, he's even shown fondness for us, and enjoys stick training. (though admittedly he's a bit lazy with that I increase the stick reaching distance little by little!) But even if this question about him pooping on a certain spot of his own volition is silly, I'd still like to make certain EVERYTHING is okay.

Could it simply be that when he poops before interaction, he simply wants to "get it out of the way" before concentrating on other things? I really wish someone could shed some light on this!!

[liz]

It sounds that way to me. I had an iguana that would do that. He would climb down with paper under his table he would poop before he came into the rest of the house.

Yours may be modest.

[Wolf]

Well, it is possible that you may have inadvertently rewarded him for doing this behavior, it is also possible that you did not. Mimi, our Amazon has one spot in her cage that she does most of her pooping, Kookooloo, my CAG, always stops before leaving her cage to poop and then she comes on out. Since I am an opponent of potty training a bird due to possible health issues, I know that I did not teach either of them to do this, although it is so easy to do that, I just ignore it and don't even go over to clean it up right away as I don't want to reinforce it. As long as they are not holding it in and not pooping when they need to, then it is not anything to worry about. But when my birds do this type of behavior, I do watch them and myself a bit more closely so that I don't encourage or discourage the behavior. Truthfully, I do appreciate that they are doing it as it does make things a tiny bit easier.

Please don't be concerned about either how basic your questions may or may not be nor should you be concerned about how many questions that you may have. At some point, we all need to know the answers to these questions if we are going to keep our birds healthy and as happy as we can. The only bad question is the one that is not asked. I really appreciate that you come here and allow us to have the opportunity to answer at least some of your questions as it allows us to be a part of your bird's life and that is just so cool. Thank you.

[Pajarita]

Yes, indeed, I second Wolf's comment, please never feel you are asking too many questions! It's better to ask and find out that wonder, right?

I think it's like you say, he knows interaction is coming and he is simply 'getting it out of the way' - just like a person would go to the bathroom before leaving the house 'just in case' Parrots are EXTREMELY intelligent animals, they put 2+2 together and get a 4, they make deductions and figure things out on their own and, because, to them, routine is very relaxing, they sometimes make up their own little 'procedures'.

[Viatrixa]

Try as I might, I can't think of any gesture of encouragement for him pooping in a certain place. Eg. neither me or my husband say anything when he does go splat, and we much like you, we too clean his poops off of the floor only when he's gone back to his cage (usually he doesn't even look at us doing that since we just moved, he's more occupied with staring outside!) However even when we're not interacting (or keeping an eye on him or looking at him) he seems to poop on that certain side of his cage. It isn't a specific spot like that, but rather a side, the side closest to the wall in his cage.

It doesn't actually appear to me that he "holds it in", but rather when he has to, he scoots over and does his business on his preferred side. I know birds are intelligent, could he even be simply so smart that he only wants to mess the other side of his cage while he wants to keep the other clean (where he likes to climb down and forage what ever things he chucks there out of his food bowl) I mean, animals don't really go where they eat, am I correct? I know a bit about birds by now but not certain how they handle this thing. In nature they sit high on tree branches so they don't really have to worry about that.

I don't think he ever holds it in like that judging from how he poops onto the floor, however if he is out and close to his cage, he will go there and go splat. If he's on the other side of his house, he'll paint the floor. (Isn't he considerate? He wants to help us decorate!) I read that apparently birds don't poop while they sleep but I've definitely heard him go splatty in the night once in a while.

The whole idea of actually teaching a bird to poop in a certain spot or on command feels odd to me, even prior to actually learning it's bad for them. Granted they aren't mammals but you don't exactly command a dog, a cat or any other pet to go on command, either. Holding it isn't exactly healthy no matter what species is in question; and birds actually have to go a lot more often too.

.... Somehow I'm sitting here giggling as I realize that I'm essentially writing a post about poop. Good thing I'm an adult.

Still, for now I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he isn't "holding" it or anything!

[Pajarita]

Hey, we even have a name for the whole thing: Poopolgy - and there is Poopolgy 101 and Advanced Poopology!

[Wolf]

It does not sound as if he is holding it in, so I think that you are good on that count. Poop can tell you a lot about your birds health and is nothing to be bashful about discussing. I live out of town and don't really care for public restrooms, so when leaving the house the last thing I do is go to the bathroom. He is probably just doing the same thing.

[flappybird]

Speaking of pooping, what constitutes as enough of a change to cause concern? I ask because Luna's poop changes all the time, I'm assuming depending on what she's eaten that day, but it never stays the same for long so I never worry about it.

Sometimes its a good lump with either green and yellow/white or brown and yellow/white. Sometimes (this one is the most rare) it's a tiny, frothy, somewhat clear puddle with very little solids. Sometimes it's a somewhat watery puddle with skinny worm looking solids.

When should I be worried?

Also, I read on a different thread that some people's birds don't poop at night in their sleep cage.. Luna poops a mountain every night. She eats an hour or less before bed.. maybe that's why.

[Wolf]

Without actually seeing the poops I would not want to say much, but some of them don't sound quite right, but they do change somewhat due to what they have eaten and they change due to stress as well. There are many things that can affect the way a bird's poop looks like. Most birds poop on an average of every 10 to 15 minutes while they are awake and active. Since most birds also do not poop while they sleep, most of us don't either, they usually have a large poop in the mornings shortly after waking up, Depending on their schedule this could be as late as after breakfast but many times it is before eating breakfast.

[flappybird]

Yeah, back when she wasn't waking up until I uncovered her (now she sleeps uncovered, so she can see the sun rise) she would do her big morning poop before I picked her up. Now I guess she gets it done before I go get her. Either way, it seems like she poops a lot during the night. I wonder how much we keep her up making random noises in the house since we don't go to sleep at the same time. I try to be quiet and she sleeps in a separate room with the door closed.. but maybe it's not enough?