Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 1/9/2007

Question
I have three parakeets. I got them all as babies, they were hand-fed and just weaned. One, the female (others are male) has always had green, very loose watery poops. She is almost 2 years old (the other two are almost 3 and 4). When I got her she tested positive for an infection common in birds here in Fla (it is apparently in the water). She was treated with antibiotics and was re-tested and was fine. To make a very long story relatively short, I have taken her (and both other birds though they usually have normal hard well-formed brownish poop) to no less than 6 avian vets (three of whom are well known and published)on many ocassions. They cultured her, swabed her, many times, even treated her with antibiotics at one point (because she and the other birds were sneezing -which went away after one week). All the vets say there is nothing that they can find wrong -she acts very normal and playful, eats, drinks (not excessively) chirps- just like the other two. But her droppings are very watery, sometimes clear, and the green part though sometimes more well formed than other times, is always loose and pretty green. The only other thing I can add is that when she was a baby she fell and broke her keel bone and has a bump from it, but the vets say that has nothing to do with this issue. I also think that maybe I see some droppings ocassionally from the other two birds a bit loose, but that is very infrequently. They all eat a very small amount of seeds in the morning, but they eat Harrisons and Roudybush pellets throughout the day.  They also get Daily Select pellets which does have some green pellets in it, and they get vegetables as well. I do not think the diet is an issue, the other birds eat the same thing.  Any ideas?  

Answer
Hi, Bev.  Thanks for posting!

If 6 avian vets say there's nothing wrong with your bird, I don't know what else I can offer.  

Usually, what goes in the front, comes out the back!  What this means is that if your bird is eating green pellets or green human food, it's poo will most likely be green!  As far as being watery, if your bird is eating a lot of food with high water content, it's droppings will be watery.  If your bird is drinking a lot of water, it's droppings will be watery.  The reason this bird might have more watery droppings than the other birds is because birds are different!  If this bird has always had green, watery poops, perhaps this is normal for her.  

Since I'm not an avian vet and have not tested your bird, etc., etc., I'd rely on what your avian vets have told you (I'm not an avian avet).

Chrys