# New birds, green vents 5 days into being at home



## lonelystarfish (Apr 11, 2015)

Hello everyone, my name is Hannah and I'm extremely new to owning budgies. My birthday was a few days ago and my parent gave me these two little budgies as a present. They seem to have settled in nicely but the female, Tilly's, vent feathers suddenly went green about 3 days ago. The male, Benny, was fine until yesterday morning when I discovered his have followed suit. :soconfused:

When I first noticed it in Tilly I started monitoring their droppings and everything was a okay until today. Most of them are fine, but a few don't look properly formed and they sit in a small ring of bright green liquid. 

I'm worried sick over them, as the petstore didn't handle them the best. I'm currently feeding them a seed mix and the occasional fruit and veg, which I think is quite different from what the store fed them. Could this be the cause?

EDIT:
It has now been almost three weeks since my birds have been home. They seem to have settled in well, droppings look normal for the most part, but the vent feather are still green. I'm a little concerned again, is this common?


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## PrincipePio (Jan 21, 2014)

Hi Hannah, and welcome to Talk Budgies! You will find lots of great information here about caring for your budgies.

Congratulations on bringing home your two new friends! Your budgies are going through a huge adjustment period, and it's normal that they are stressed right now. 

What kind of cage have they got and where is it located in your house? What else goes on around their cage? You can put a blanket or sheet over 3 sides of their cage to help them feel more secure right now while they settle in. Also make sure that their cage doesn't sit too close to the kitchen or bathroom and that it isn't near an air current (like a vent).

Some budgies get diarrhea from coming home due to the stress. The green ring that you're describing can mean several things, one of which is that they aren't getting enough nutrition right now. This could be because they are stressed, or it could be because of illness.

If I were you, I would watch them closely for the next day (but try to leave them to settle in; you can play relaxing music or budgie noises, but I wouldn't try to "bond" with them right now). If you see that they are puffed up, vomiting, sleeping a lot or hanging out only on the bottom of the cage, you will need to take them to the vet. However, they might get over their initial stress and feel much better in a few days.

You can also read about your budgie's diet on this forum. It's great to offer them fruit and veggies every day so that they get their nutrition. Most budgie owners also recommend using probiotics. I use Harrison's Booster, but other owners have great success with other brands.

Best of luck, and please let us know how you're getting on. We'd love to see pictures once your budgies are settled in!


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## lonelystarfish (Apr 11, 2015)

Their cage is in my bedroom, I go to school during the day so I'm in there to change and just go about my routine. I haven't tried bonding yet, wasn't planning on it for a couple weeks at least. I'll keep an eye out for sure!  They aren't showing any of the signs you mentioned, but I've heard that budgies hide illness really well. Should I book a vet appointment anyway?


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## blubudgie (Apr 30, 2014)

It could be the diet. Especially since the petstore might not have fed them any vegetables/fruits. 
I'm not absolutely sure so someone else can correct me if I'm wrong:
Maybe the extra water in the vegetables and fruits caused your birds to have more urine in their droppings. I know when birds drink a lot of water, their droppings will have more liquid/urine. 
Green could be a combination of seeds and green vegetables. I believe a seed diet will make bird poop a dark green color, but maybe with the combination of seed and green veggies it is now extra green? 
These birds are also in a new environment with new people, so stress can make their poop more watery too; it definitely happened to my parakeet when I moved him with me to college. His droppings went back to normal after he settled in (could take a week or two). 

I would maybe try slowing down the vegetable/fruit feeding? Feed less and see if the droppings improve, or stop completely for a few days and see if there is a change?

Again I'm no expert and this is only my guess as to what might be wrong. Hopefully someone else can give more info.


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## Budget baby (Jan 1, 2013)

Hi welcome to Tb, what you are describing is completely normal behaviour when you bring home new budgies.
They are in a completely different environment from what they were used to. What they eat does also affect the poop. 
Vegies are excellent for them but these can also make droppings watery. A change in seed brand, different water. Usually they will settle after a couple of days.
Cover the cage on three sides, when you are at school leave a radio or tv on for them silence is a sign of danger to budgies.
Probiotics are excellent as is Apple Cider Vinegar added to the drinking water but it must contain Mother for it to be beneficial.


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## Kare (Feb 13, 2015)

Sounds like nervous poops. My boy Merlin had it for a couple days when we brought him home last month, it went away and he cleaned the feathers around his vent. Sounds normal as previously stated by the others


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## lonelystarfish (Apr 11, 2015)

Thank you everyone! You definitely helped eased my nerves, I just want to take care of these little birdies as best as I can :budgie:


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