poop eating

[captwest]

Good plan, one school of thought is to supply things like mineral block and a cuddle bone and if they need it , they'll use it.

[anna83]

Our conure eats her poo, we thought it was normal? Definitely disgusting though, thought it was only something that dogs did!

[CheekyandMalolo]

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.

Our birds have always had grit available to them. Not so much as a feed, but as the bedding of their play top, they only have access to it when they're out of the cage. '
I've never noticed them actually eating it, but they sure love to play in it, and it's a nice clean place to play in, since it doesn't get pooed on too much at all.

Funny story actually, yesterday I caught my sister's Tiel 'Chicken' picking up bits of grit and lining them up on the edge of the play top, in an almost perfect line. He had probably 10 pieces in a row... crazy little bird.

[allirho]

I caught my budgie picking his dried poop off of a perch and eating it.
I've since cleaned all the cage accessories, perches etc. of any poop and rearranged the perches so to minimize any accumulation of poop.
Today I noticed he was down on the bottom of his cage, picking dried poop that was stuck the the floor grate.

He's been eating mainly sprouts, some seeds and i've been slowly introducing him to fruits and veggies (although admittedly he doesn't really ingest much of the fruits and veggies, he just nibble and tastes).
He's got a cuttlebone in his cage but I NEVER see him use it.
Does he need an iodine block as well?

[Shelby]

Best eating foods for parrot :-
# Guava
# Mango
# Nectarines
# Oranges
# Papaya

One species of bird does not have the same dietary requirements of another. Australian ground-feeding parrots (such as budgies and cockatiels) eat mostly seeds in the wild. But many birds such as macaws require fresh fruits in their diets. The best diet is a balanced one.

[liz]

In the wild Pandas only eat bamboo. In zoos they feed them apples, nuts and other things to increase their nutritien. Their diets can be modified to a better diet.

[Maria]

The Avian Specialist at the Parrot Shop told me that they can get fatal infections from their poo! and therefore things always have to be kept very clean, wash perches if they get poo on them immediately, if their toys fall in poo, wash. If it can't be washed (like it's not plastic or something) throw it away. If they get poo on their feet, wash their feet immediately, but putting them standing in a little water enough to cover their feet, putting a washcloth under their feet for them to step and walk on the wet washcloth in the water. This cleans the bottom of their feet.

arrange perches in a way so that they're not overlapping, then they get much, much less poo on them, if any at all.

hmmmm ... eating poo!? In my view, and if it were my bird, I would always distract their attention from eating their poo, and/or shoo them away from doing that also.

It's been only once in a while that I see my parrot going to try to play with or chew on dried poo, and I always shoo him away from it or distract his attention with a toy or something. I keep things very clean, so that he doesn't have much chance to know much about poo is available to eat! lol ! And I feed him very well - lol that darn bird eats better than me! lol - bird diet and nutrition with all the food groups.

[Shelby]

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.

Parrots don't need grit because they hull their seeds before they eat them. The birds that do need grit are ones like chickens because they don't hull their seeds, but instead just swallow them whole. The grit stays in the gizzard and grinds up the seeds and bugs so they can digest them.