Why Birds Poop in Their Water

Why Birds Poop in Their Water

An odd behavior avian pet owner's deal with

The Daily Friz

     If you have ever owned a small bird for a pet, then you have noticed that even the prettiest of animal tends to have the most disgusting of habits. I have been a bird owner for about 5 years now (Parakeets and Love Birds) and have noticed that no matter the size of the bird or the cage, they always seem to make a mess. Whether it's going to the bathroom in their food and/or water containers or just generally making a mess of their bedding, these little devils seem to be instinctively messy.

Poop Tea - A bird's delight?

     The waste material of a bird usually comes in three colors: clear, white, green or brown. The bile in a bird's digestive system may determine the ultimate color of the droppings, typically their waste is comprised of three parts urates, urine, and of course the feces. Now I don't believe that I have ever met someone who purposely takes a duke in their morning coffee, so why does it seem like caged birds do? 

     Truth is, no matter how many tricks your bird knows or how many words that parrot can say it's still a dumb bird (and I mean that in the nicest way possible). It's up to you to save them from themselves. Out in the wild avian species are not confined in small static places. A weeks worth of drops in the forest would go unnoticed, while a weekly cage cleaning seems like a hazardous material spill. The animal does not purposely go out of his or her way to sample their own delights. Often food and water containers are right next to one another in a cage and while eating or drinking from one, the rear end of the devil is shooting up the other.

     The arrangement of a cage is crucial in keeping it clean. Birds want to be high up. Often this leads to the animal hanging aloft over the food or water dish and what goes up must make poop come down. If possible move the food and water containers higher up in the cage, and likewise place perches just out of reach of their water and move higher perches to the back of the cage. Some hooded or even gravity fed food and water systems will also improve the chances that your pet misses its mark when aiming at its plate.

     There is no 100% solution for keeping these little poop monsters from brewing some fecal tea from time to time. If you see some floating in their water, it's not going to harm the animal in the short-term, Just try to change out its water daily and monitor your pet's food dish. If you're concerned about your avian's fecal health, put a white paper towel at the bottom and its cage, so you can give your local veterinarian a better idea of dropping color and how often your pet does go.

So, she comes up to me and says, "What are you going to write about today?" and I'm all like, "I'm gonna write about bird's taking a big Duke Nukem in their water dish." - Frizbeen.


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