poop eating

[skydds]

Why do one of my birds eat their poo? Is this normal cold he just be playing with it? is he just being stupid?

[Scarpath]

My bird licked his poo once. I don't know if it's normal either!

[captwest]

I've heard a couple of different reasons for this and don't know if any of it's true. 1st is because they are lacking something in their diet (vit/mineral) and that's their only source for it. 2nd is that they have GI tract problems, upset stomach etc, and are ingesting bacteria to help with digestion.3rd is to hide a nest or roost area from predators who might find them by their droppings. To tell the truth i don't know , maybe someone will enlighten us.

[zazanomore]

I've also heard that it is because of lacking nutrients.

[GlassOnion]

Do you have a mineral block? Tiels need iodine as in Australia they naturally consume it from the clay.

Reading from one of EB Craven's articles (he is a very very famous aviculturist in the US) small amounts of grit actually help aid digestion for many birds. He noted that the whole 'birds dying with a cropful of grit' occurs due to improper feeding and lack of foods available while grit is abundant, so birds resort to consuming so much grit in hunger.

Try sprinkling some 'Prime' or another supplement on their foods.

[captwest]

I would caution against adding a supplement if your bird is on a daily maintence pellet ,too much vit/mineral can be harmful, maybe ask your avain vet first.

[skydds]

yea my birds both have iodine blocks. to be honest he seems normal. Ive watched his droppings, for the past couple days they seem normal but huge, thats in the morning. So he doesn't look like he is having a hard time digesting. I thought he may be bored in his cage so i put a couple more toys inside, not sure if that worked... I don't see this behavior very often, i just catch him sometimes picking his own crap, yea i will ask a vet. hopefully hes just being a dumb.. haha

[skydds]

yea so he is just a lil calcium deficient, which is understandable cause i took out the cuttlebone a while ago and never crossed my mind to put it back lol opps.. yea it usually means they are lacking nutrients. is a cuttle bone and iodine block the same?

[zazanomore]

Nope, they are different.

Are your tiels on a pelleted diet? I always kept a cuttle bone in my birds cages, but ever since I've put them on pellets, they seem to chew less and less on the cuttle bone. So now I just keep one cuttle bone out.

[skydds]

yea they are on a pellet diet. i've left both the iodine block and the cuttle bone in the cages anyways just in case. they can just use it to destroy.