# Problems with poop?



## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Yesterday, Willow's poop was very watery. I was keeping an eye on it and last night I noticed a bit of pink / rust-like red color in very small amounts. The most noticeable from yesterday looked like it had no actual poop in it at all: it was a small red/pink circle with no middle and surrounded by light yellow urine. 

There's none of that this morning, but now his urine is a dark gray/green/yellow color. Is he sick? We recently introduced pellets to his diet, but he's been eating those (although not very much- they're in a separate dish that he nibbles on.) for a few days now. Could that be why this is happening? I took them out yesterday to try and see if that was the problem but I don't know if I've waited long enough for it to become clear whether or not that was it.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Pellets can effect the color of the droppings especially if the pellets are multi colored. Are you feeding any fruits or veggies that might do the same? I assume that since you stated that the pellets are in a separate dish that you are also feeding seed, if so is he eating those or does it seem as if his appetite has decreased? If you are consistently not seeing any fecal portion in the dropping, then there is a problem, could indicate that the bird is not eating or something else. Can you post a picture of the current droppings, if it is the actual urate/urine portion of the dropping that is green/yellow and that persists it may be an indication of a liver issue and it would be best to have the bird seen by an avian vet.


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

I can't post a picture yet but will this afternoon.

He was going through a molt earlier, but I saw one of his feathers and then nothing else from him. I can no longer see his pin feathers so I'm not sure what happened. He has been sleeping a lot lately, and yesterday he was shaking. I don't think it was too cold for them since I wasn't cold and neither was his friend. (as far as I could tell.) His appetite is just fine and I haven't noticed a decrease. 

Yesterday, I didn't hear him chirping much, but he's singing right now. He's also stopped shaking. He has a small red spot on his beak and yesterday I noticed there were some small red spots on his head. The spots on his head are gone now, but not the one on his beak. 

I woke up this morning and below where he had been sitting had been the mess of gray/green urine I mentioned. I looked closer and there seemed to be some brown. There was definitely blood yesterday, but it wasn't much. Most of it was a light pink which makes me wonder if it was blood at all, but there was red from one of his poops. I decided to use paper towels instead of white printer paper this morning to try and see if the paper had been making it look any different. Now he has sort of c-shaped poo with no urate I can see, but in one of them it looks like the urate blended into the urine. The urine is obviously green now.

I feed him Higgins Sunburst gourmet parakeet blend and Roudybush crumble pellets. I've been switching between romaine lettuce and parsley lately. As far as I know, his previous owners fed him nothing but seed for the first two years of his life. Could that be causing whatever this problem might be?

Should I take him to the vet to get him checked out?


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

If he were mine I would be taking him to the vet asap, the sooner the better. Do you have an avian vet ? Make sure you take along the papers at the bottom of the cage so the vet can see the quality and quantity of the droppings. If one of my birds is showing unusual signs I try too get a short video of it and take that with me to the vet so the vet can see what the bird is like at home as quite often, unless the bird is very ill, when they are at the vet they look ok.
Feeding a lot of dark greens can influence the color of the dropping but it sounds like there is more going on here since you have said that he is sleeping more, and the shaking is not normal.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*You indicated in a previous thread that the cage has rust on it. If your budgie has ingested rust particles it may now have heavy metal poisoning.

If you do not take the bird to an Avian Vet, the bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh to you but when it comes to budgies, the owner MUST be responsible and act quickly at the first signs of illness.

Good luck and let us know what the vet has to say about your budgie's condition.*


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

FaeryBee is absolutely correct about the heavy metal poisoning, that would explain the symptoms you are seeing, even the shaking, as the heavy metal poisoning can cause tremors, please get your bird to the vet asap.


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Thank you so much guys. How can I help him feel better until the vet visit? Is there any way?


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Just get him to the vet asap, this will not clear up by itself if it is heavy metal poisoning, he will need a chelating agent to get it out of his system and depending on his overall condition may need addition treatment for other things if his organs are damaged. If you have him in a rusty cage you need to get a new cage.


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Okay, thank you. He's not in a cage that's absolutely covered in rust, but there are small spots of rust here and there; I feel horrible to think that I could have potentially prevented this if I'd made getting it off a priority. I saw a post on a different forum about how there was no evidence or proof rust was dangerous for them and I then thought it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be and that I didn't need to rush to get it off. I really appreciate all of your help and hope that we can help my little boy feel better with a vet visit and lots of care.


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## Goldenwing (Oct 4, 2017)

You have been given good advice. Best wishes for your little one's recovery!


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Thank you!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*


DreamMist said:



Okay, thank you. He's not in a cage that's absolutely covered in rust, but there are small spots of rust here and there; I feel horrible to think that I could have potentially prevented this if I'd made getting it off a priority. I saw a post on a different forum about how there was no evidence or proof rust was dangerous for them and I then thought it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be and that I didn't need to rush to get it off. I really appreciate all of your help and hope that we can help my little boy feel better with a vet visit and lots of care.

Click to expand...

It distresses me that I gave you explicit advice in your thread on this forum regarding rust on the cage and you decided to follow advice from a different forum. 

https://www.talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/403898-rust-cages-more-questions-cage-size.html

Please recognize that this forum's purpose is to promote best practices for budgie's health and well-being.

I wish you and your budgie all the best and do hope you will get him to an Avian Vet for treatment right away.*


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Hi, I took him to the vet and they think it's a bacterial problem. I mentioned the rust and was told that they didn't think that was what caused this. We gave him a shot and I'll be giving him medicine. I've got him under a warm lamp right now and am going to be keeping a close eye on him to make sure he's feeling better asap. 

@FaeryBee, it isn't that I don't trust the advice you all give me. I try and get several different opinions and views based on fact and research so that I can then choose what is best for my budgies. I know that everyone here has both their budgies' and my budgies' best interests in mind and trust everyone here.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

It's good that you took the bird to the vet, was it an avian vet? It is a bit disturbing that you say they _think_ it's a bacterial problem, didn't they test the droppings, if they did they should be able to determine if it is bacterial or something else? What medicine did they give you?


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## DreamMist (Sep 14, 2018)

Yes, it was an avian vet. It's antibacterial medicine.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*What specific tests did the Avian Vet do?
Was a crop swab, fecal gram stain and blood test done?
What is the specific name of the medication?

https://www.talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-health/340410-avian-physical-examination.html*


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

Please answer the questions above from FaeryBee. We are only trying to help you provide the best for your budgie .


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