Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 7/30/2006

Question
I have been feeding my parakeets mainly celery and cucumber and yes the veggies are thoroughly cleaned before they eat them.  

Regarding illness: he has been sitting puffed up when not sleeping, but they have always done that.  The vent area is dirty, the droppings seem to be sticking to the feathers.  Otherwise I don't see any of the other symptoms you mentioned.  

Any further information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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Followup To

Question -
Recently my parakeet's droppings have changed from dry/normal to runny.  It started about a week and a half ago.  We have another parakeet who is younger and whose dropping are normal.  Their diet hasn't changed recently, we give them seed, water, and usually some fresh veggies everyday(especially in summer).  Could it be the veggies that are making the droppings runny? or illness? Thanks!

Answer -
Hi, Emily.  Thanks for posting.

It could be the veggies causing this, but if your bird is used to having fresh veggies every day, why all of a sudden would the droppings change?  What kind of veggies are you feeding? Are the fresh veggies cleaned thoroughly before feeding?  If not, could result in intestinal problems.

Droppings are supposed to contain a bird's urine, as well as the fecal part.  Are you sure you're not seeing a normal dropping?

An all-seed diet is a bad diet for a keet.  Seed has little nutrition and is very high in fat.  See my website for information on diet:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo.index.html

Could be illness.  I would need more details about the bird's behavior, i.e., is he sitting puffed up on a perch when not sleeping, is he perched or on the bottom of the cage, vent (anus area) clean or dirty, does he sleep all the time, any discharge from nostrils, any open-mouth breathing, any weight loss, can you see his chest (keel) bone, etc.  

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Emily.

Celery and cucumber are mostly water and not very nutritional.  This might explain the runny droppings.  Sounds to me like your budgie could be ill.  However, only a bird veterinarian can confirm this with swabs of the mouth and vent.  I recommend you get your keet to a vet ASAP.

You might want to try feeding your keet a mixture of cooked brown rice with different types of veggies mixed in versus celery and cucumber.  Also try to convert your keet to a mix of seed and pelleted food.  Pelleted food contains vitamins and minerals just for birds.  However, you need to ensure your keet isn't ill first by getting s/he to a bird vet (not a cat/dog vet, but an exotic animal vet or one who is trained to treat birds).

Chrys