# Budgie eating less, poop changed colour



## Samoose (6 mo ago)

Once again I have returned to ask more questions as an inexperienced budgie owner 😅. I definitely don't want to take chances with his health though.

Well, it's exactly as the title says. I've noticed that there are more seeds remaining in his bowl in the morning for the past two or three days, but I've always been eyeballing. I'm always near him at home as well, and I don't recall him eating in front of me very often in the past few days. While he's relatively new to my environment (he's been here for around a month), he usually has no hesitation eating in front of me. At first I didn't think too much of it, so two days ago I started grinding up pellets and adding them to his seeds. He doesn't seem to have any aversion to the ground up pellets, cause he didn't hesitate to eat them off the tip of my finger. Another odd thing I noticed is that he doesn't mind eating from his bowl if I bring it up to him, but if I try to bring him down to the bowl he jumps off my finger.

This morning when I came over to change his lining, I noticed his poop changed colour. I'll attach some images below this paragraph. I had a bad scare the last time his poop changed colour since I'm a new budgie owner, and I have absolutely no idea what a healthy poop colour is. However, the bag the pellets came in states that my budgie should have dark brown poop, and that is definitely not a dark brown. If anyone has any information or advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the pictures of Arson's poop.

These are the ones that worry me the most:

















These are the more common poops around the cage this morning:
























Here's some information about Arson, I'm not sure if it's relevant but if it helps it'll mean everything:

The past few days he's been very active; he chews and climbs the bars of his cage a lot (he loves climbing to the top and then sliding all the way down) and has been getting bird zoomies more often than usual, but he never goes near his food bowl
His weight hasn't changed from the last time I measured, around two weeks ago
He absolutely does not like fruits or vegetables, and I've still been looking for one that he'll accept
Sometimes I bring him out of his cage to let him exercise in a wider space, but he always hops back into his cage
I'm taking the ground pellets out of his bowl to see what happens, hopefully he accepts them again
It might just be a trick of the mind, considering how much I'm worrying, but I feel like he's pooping less than usual


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

I'm no expert but that doesn't look normal. In which case, you should 100% take him to an avian vet and he can get tested to see if he has any bacterial infections or whatever.


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## Samoose (6 mo ago)

ChickWas said:


> I'm no expert but that doesn't look normal. In which case, you should 100% take him to an avian vet and he can get tested to see if he has any bacterial infections or whatever.


Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I'll have to book an appointment, but if anyone has any advice before I do so I would be grateful


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## BudgieBirdie (6 mo ago)

These questions may help the moderators answer you better. Though, I'm sure they'll have more. Where is the food bowl located in the cage? Like low, high or middle of cage. Also, are there any new foods (like pellets), or foods dyed green similar to that color? Hope they get back to you soon


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## Samoose (6 mo ago)

BudgieBirdie said:


> These questions may help the moderators answer you better. Though, I'm sure they'll have more. Where is the food bowl located in the cage? Like low, high or middle of cage. Also, are there any new foods (like pellets), or foods dyed green similar to that color? Hope they get back to you soon


The food bowl is at the bottom corner of the cage, but not on the floor. It's odd cause he never had trouble eating from it during the past few weeks. The pellets are multicoloured, which also includes green, but also have a whole bunch of red, yellow, blue, pink, all that kind of stuff. Thanks for helping out, I appreciate it!


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Is it naturally coloured or do they use dyes in the food? I'm concerned only because my girl had the same poop as the one in the first picture (on the perch) and she was unwell. Update us with what the vet says once you take Arson.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

If a bird is eating only pellets the fecal portion of the droppings tends to be on the brownish side, eating pellets may also cause them to drink more water. Some birds do not poop much overnight and you might see a few big blobs of droppings first thing in the morning. It is always a good idea to take a new bird to an avian vet for a check up when you initially get them, at that time they can test the droppings for bacteria, fungal organisms and parasites and treat the issue if any, before it becomes worse.


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## Samoose (6 mo ago)

ChickWas said:


> Is it naturally coloured or do they use dyes in the food? I'm concerned only because my girl had the same poop as the one in the first picture (on the perch) and she was unwell. Update us with what the vet says once you take Arson.


Artificially dyed, if I'm understanding the nutrition label correctly. How was your budgie during that time? Did she have similar behaviours?



Cody said:


> If a bird is eating only pellets the fecal portion of the droppings tends to be on the brownish side, eating pellets may also cause them to drink more water. Some birds do not poop much overnight and you might see a few big blobs of droppings first thing in the morning. It is always a good idea to take a new bird to an avian vet for a check up when you initially get them, at that time they can test the droppings for bacteria, fungal organisms and parasites and treat the issue if any, before it becomes worse.


I'm sprinkling the ground up pellets onto the seeds, so currently it's mostly seeds. I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't poop while they were sleeping, haha.

My main concern is that I have no access to an avian vet for quite a while. Will we be able to hunker it out, or should I consider this an emergency situation?

Also, quick question, would perching on one foot be an accurate indicator of how the budgie is feeling? Or is it possible for them to fake that as well, considering how they have to hide their discomfort if they're sick in the wild?


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Samoose said:


> Also, quick question, would perching on one foot be an accurate indicator of how the budgie is feeling? Or is it possible for them to fake that as well, considering how they have to hide their discomfort if they're sick in the wild?


Not necessarily, they will often perch on one foot while they sleep. However if a bird is holding its foot up and it is not during sleep it could be an indication that something is painful, could be a number of issues involving the leg or foot.


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## Samoose (6 mo ago)

Cody said:


> Not necessarily, they will often perch on one foot while they sleep. However if a bird is holding its foot up and it is not during sleep it could be an indication that something is painful, could be a number of issues involving the leg or foot.


Ah okay, glad to hear that! Arson does it while he's dozing off, so I think we're safe in that department. Would budgies do it while sleeping even if it felt uncomfortable for them?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Budgies often sleep on one foot. What is uncomfortable to you is not uncomfortable to them.*


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