Budgies' poops...

[Beefball]

Hi guys, I am new to this forum...
But anyways, recently I've found out the poops from one of my budgies does not look normal at all (i.e. a whitish center with a greenish or brownish ring around it), instead of that, it looks very "watery" / wet...
I am just wondering, does that mean one of my budgie is sick?
I think it happens for about 2 weeks now...
What should I do... Oh no... :(

Thanks,
Edwin

[Bea]

Hmm...it does sound like your budgie is sick. Have you changed their diet in anyway recently? If i were you i would seperate the sick budgie and take it to an avian vet asap.

[Budgiekin]

Welcome to the forum Beefball. We're happy you decided to join us and we hope you stick around!

As far as your budgie goes, has your budgie been eating a lot of foods with a high water content (e.g. veggies, fruit, especially citrus fruit)? Sometimes this can cause watery poo.

Does your budgie seem to be showing any other symptoms of illness? Energy level changes?

Is the outer ring (feces portion) solid or runny? If it is solid, but the whitish centre is larger than usual, this is not usually anything to be worried about. If the outer greenish or brownish feces portion is watery, this can signal diarrhea. Diarrhea could be caused by pathogenic bacteria in the digestive tract, certain viruses, toxins or protozoal infections. It is also a possibility that the diarrhea is caused by roundworms.

Along a different line of questions: Are the feces yellowish at all in colour? That could indicate a gastro-intestinal problem. There's no blood in it I am assuming since you didn't mention that. Do you think it is possible your budgie ingested something that isn't good for him/her (e.g. poisonous plant)?

If you are at all concerned about your budgie's health, I would certainly bring him/her to an avian vet. If the vet recommends it, have a fecal gram stain test done. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to get a complete blood count either. Often times, a change in your budgie's poops can be one of the first indications of illness. It is best to determine if your budgie is sick earlier rather than later so that any treatments that are given will have more favourable results.

I hope your budgie is okay! Keep us posted as we all want to know how he/she is doing.

[Beefball]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Beefball/DSC00270.jpg
These are my babies!! Gigi (grayish) and Jaja (blueish)~

Anyways, I've switched to a different brand (with more dried fruits) of budgie seeds about 2 months ago, until I've noticed about the "watery poops"... So, I've decide to switch back to the brand which they used to eat (Hagen Budgie seeds), but its been about 2 weeks after the switch, and the "watery poops" are still there...

Just in case, the following is a picture of a "watery poop"
**Viewer Discretion is Advised** :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Beefball/DSC00272.jpg

By the way, I did not notice any symptoms of illness... They are still pretty active and naughty (In terms of singing loudly and biting the wooden sticks for fun). Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Budgiekin]

From what I can tell of your photo, the dropping simply has an increase in the urine portion (which is resulting in a very wet dropping), but the fecal portion is still formed. If the feces portion is still solid (which is appears to be), no matter how much urine there is in the dropping, then this is not diarrhea. Free water (urine) around the feces is evidence of increased urine in the dropping, not diarrhea. It looks like your budgies are consuming foods with a relatively high water content.

However, having said that, I would still suggest that you bring your budgies to an avian vet for an examination and get a fecal gram stain. If your budgies are in fact ill, the fecal test can point out many of the common digestive problems in a bird. It is better to err on the side of caution, especially when it comes to any changes with your budgies that have lasted as long as they have. In other words, when you have noticed a change that is lasting this long, it would be best to have them looked at.

[Beefball]

About the foods that contains high water content... What they have usually is normal Budgies' seeds. Besides that, what I have noticed is that they love to play with the water container:S, they love to flip and shake the water container. (no idea why...) I guess one of them consumed too much water while playing with it :p

I will try and secure the water container a bit... no junk foods for them for a week, especially foods that contains high water content. See if it helps or not!

Thanks again, Budgiekin!

[Amy]

They are trying to bathe in their water! Maybe you should purchase a bath for them.

[Budgiekin]

So your budgies actually flip out their water container? That's so funny!!

I wouldn't worry about your budgies drinking too much or consuming too many higher water content foods like veggies and fruit, especially if the foods have high nutrient value (like carrots and broccoli). However, it would be interesting to try for a couple of days to try securing the the water container to see if their poops change.

Let us know how it goes. I'd love to hear how your budgies are doing!!

[Budgiekin]

I meant to ask you if your budgies have a clean feathers around their vent (the bum area where the poop comes out)?

[~*Brittany*~]

OH mY GOSH!!!!!


This is EXACTLY how my new budgie is!!!!
So its just urine then???


My budgie doesnt have clean feathers around his vent though...
is that bad???

[avril]

just wash his vent with warm water and dry well.
Budgies being a native of Australia which is a dry arid continent get most of their fluids from gum leaves and native grasses when in the wild so if the are not really drinking they are getting their fluids from the greens that you give them. In the wild any small pond or puddle of water the find they bathe in it so that is what they are doing cleaning and preening themselves.

[Budgiekin]

Sometimes young budgies have messy vent feathers, or they get poop stuck to their vents. Avril had a good suggestion to simply wash his vent area with warm water (if you can't do that yourself, maybe if you offer a water dish for him to bathe in, he might try to bathe himself; just make sure the water is fairly shallow - like maybe about to the level of where his legs meet up with his body).

If you are concerned about him though, an avian vet is never a bad idea. And yes, the middle portion is just the urine so your budgie doesn't have diarrhea when it's just the middle portion that is really wet. :)