Watery Poop In Birds – Top Causes

Perhaps a bird’s stunningly colored feathers or the way some birds shriek and engage in antics are what people find so endearing.

Some can string quite a few words together, whistle a tune, or sing a song.

Some make lifelong companions for humans, and this is when you’ll want some questions answered about them.

Why is my bird’s poop watery, and are there reasons for concern?

There should be because bird poop can tell you quite a lot about your pet bird’s health.

7 Causes Of Watery Poop In Birds

1. You’ve Suddenly Changed Their Diet

If your pet bird eats certain foods, its droppings will be of a firm texture.

Other foods can give him a softer, runny poop that may even be greenish.

A bird with diarrhea has watery poop, which often can be caused by a variety of factors, including stress, a poor diet, intestinal parasites, or an infection.

He may even appear lethargic.

Have you suddenly changed your bird’s diet? That can cause watery poop too.

You may have given them fruits and vegetables that haven’t been thoroughly washed to remove pesticides.

Once you have an idea of what is ailing your bird, you need to make changes.

You will have to go back to his original diet. If the problem persists, he will need to see a vet.

In many birds, by simply adjusting their diet, you can see their poop firming up.

2. Parasites

Birds can get runny poop from intestinal parasites.

Giardiasis is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestinal tract of a bird.

The bird has sipped infected drinking water.

Your bird battles with terrible itching, and its skin becomes super dry.

It’s tempted to pull out its feathers to reach the itchy spot.

Some of the parasites are passed out in your bird’s watery droppings, but they can just become reinfected.

Your veterinarian will perform tests to detect the parasite and may treat the parasite infection with drugs.

Because of the life cycles of many parasites, your vet may require several fecal treatments.

It will determine if your bird is infected with parasites.

You can also do your part by boiling your pet’s drinking water.

It destroys giardia, and you allow it to cool and then pour it into your bird’s drinking container.

3. Newness Fear

You may have chosen your parakeet based on its beautiful colors.

You’ve brought him home and given him a lovely, spacious cage to make him feel at home.

Now you’re asking the question, ‘why is my bird’s poop watery; because he’s not eating either.

Fortunately, it may just be a case of newness and fear.

He’s been used to an enormous cage full of other parakeets, and now he’s alone in a much smaller cage.

He’s utterly bewildered. This anxiety is typically seen in parakeets in a new home.

When they are afraid and confused, they can have very loose poops.

Each time you come in to check how he’s doing, you startle him, and he does a watery poop.

When he starts settling down in a few days’ time and starts eating properly, his poops will solidify.

Also, budgies are social birds. You’ve seen how they love to preen to each other.

They also love to sit up close and chatter sweet nothings to each other.

Getting a companion for your budgie can go a long way to eradicating loneliness and anxiety with your budgies.

4. They’ve Ingested Too Much Water

Budgies love taking a bath. They sit right in the middle of the pool, fluffing up their feathers.

They dip their heads into the water and shake themselves off and then repeat the process.

However, when a budgie takes a bath, you can expect him to have watery poops.

It is because, during their lively bath sessions, they ingest far more water than they intend to.

It’s a short-lived problem until his next bath. If you don’t want him to bathe every day, remove the bath.

You can solve the problem by using a spray bottle on your bird – one that gives off a gentle mist.

You want to avoid your bird’s beautiful plumage from becoming dull from lack of a birdbath.

A bird without a birdbath is more susceptible to disease and bacteria.

A bath can make an important difference to the well-being of your budgie.

You don’t want to remove the bath for too long.

5. Too Many Greens

Eating regular parrot seeds can keep your bird’s number two fairly firm.

However, if you’ve been feeding him a lot of greens lately, his poop could turn watery and look unhealthy too.

A bird with diarrhea has these watery droppings.

It’s not only greens that can cause watery poops or diarrhea, but parasites and stress too.

However, if you’ve discovered the greens, you may need to change your diet.

However, you have to be careful as a sudden change in diet can cause diarrhea.

A parrot will do well on some of the excellent commercially manufactured parrot foods there are today.

They are nutritionally complete and have been specially formulated for pet birds.

The best foods will have a balanced variety of vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates.

You should cut the fresh, washed fruits and vegetables into pieces in keeping with the size of your bird.

6. Polyuria

Birds are lovely creatures, full of the joys of living. Their digestive systems are uncomplicated too – efficiently simple.

Bird droppings can provide you with helpful information about the state of your bird’s health.

Watery poop is indicative of something amiss.

If it continues for too long, you will need to bring it to your veterinarian’s attention.

In birds, a condition known as polyuria is an increase in the liquid component of droppings.

Symptoms of Polyuria in birds include weakness, lethargy, and tucking its head under its wing.

It also causes vomiting, diarrhea, ruffled feathers, and a lack of feces in droppings.

A serious illness can be the underlying cause of this condition.

Vets often find that birds with polyuria have more than one concurrent condition.

Infectious- and bacterial diseases can cause this watery poop as well as parasitic infections, kidney disease, or something else.

The vet will examine the bird and recommend a series of tests.

Sometimes, antibiotics or antifungal medications will be provided or the bird may even require inpatient treatment.

7. Renal Failure

Why is my bird’s poop watery, and is it considered to be abnormal?

Did you know that renal disease is fairly common in avian species?

If the fruit intake has been minimal in the last 24 hours, excess urine in the droppings could be an indication of kidney disease.

Some toxins caused kidney damage and watery stools are the first symptoms.

Birds with loose droppings and diagnosed with kidney disease live less than three months following a diagnosis.

The kidneys play an important role in the removal of metabolic wastes from the body.

A bird with renal failure becomes progressively sicker.

You’ll notice changes in your bird’s eating habits and his elimination.

He has loose stools with or without blood.  He also trembles, has a loss of appetite, and can’t fly.

Conclusion

The truth is that there are quite a few diseases that can cause your bird’s poop to become watery and even foul-smelling.

Diet also influences the droppings.

If your bird’s diet has remained constant, other reasons for watery poop can be due to kidney disease, liver disease, parasite infections, or some intestinal disease.

True, some bird species are easier to care for than others.

A poop is always a good sign of the welfare of your bird.

As a bird owner, get to know your bird’s poop to determine if any internal disease has caused the abnormally watery droppings.

Amanda

Purrfect n’ Pawesome is the brainchild of Amanda, who has been into researching and writing about pets to help other pet parents in nurturing their adorable pets. Currently, she runs Purrfect n’ Pawesome along with her team of experienced and dedicated pet experts. Along with being an awesome writer and entrepreneur, Amanda is a cat mom to two innocently spoiled cats, Balanca and Scruffy.
She has been writing about pet care and nurturing and wants to share her readers’ experiences, learnings, and knowledge.
Over the years, she had the opportunity to work with various pet owners having multiple breeds, and that exposure gave her experience and the lessons of a lifetime.
Her family, her entire universe revolves around her two cats, who give her endless support and inspiration to move ahead with her objectives in life. Amanda is a live example of a balanced approach to all parenthood questions we all face in life.