So...nibbling their droppings is normal, right?

[Deleted]

Every now and then I catch them nibbling at their own droppings. I do what I can to pick it off the bars, perches, and anything else with a wooden skewer so they fall into the litter, but of course I can't get everything all the time.

[ffiscool]

I think a lot do. Max did yesterday,

[tweetiepiesmom]

Yes, I believe it is normal. I read somewhere that it is how they repopulate their gut bacteria. As humans, we react with ewww. If your budgies have an infection (one of mine has AGY) then its best to prevent them picking at their droppings by keeping everything clean.

[Morgan]

Aug 28, 2021 15:32:36 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

Yes, I believe it is normal. I read somewhere that it is how they repopulate their gut bacteria. As humans, we react with ewww. If your budgies have an infection (one of mine has AGY) then its best to prevent them picking at their droppings by keeping everything clean.

I sure hope this is true because mine do it too from time to time, but I have read that budgies aren’t supposed to be “coprophagic” (poop-eaters). Some animals have a specific type of poop that they eat to better absorb nutrients, but in the wild only specific species of birds seem to do this naturally, and parrots are not included under normal conditions. I’ve heard it can mean a deficiency in certain vitamins or minerals, especially B12 comes up a lot, but it’s also such a common thing I’m not too concerned. It’s also likely that we just don’t know enough yet about everything that is “normal” for a wild parrot either.

Edit: On the other hand, B vitamins in particular are water soluble, so you can technically consume massive amounts of them, way above the recommended dosage, and be just fine - if not have improved health. When B vitamins are needed by the body, either they are present in that moment or not, because they are removed rather quickly. So someone could do an experiment by giving a bird an extra B-complex supplement regularly and seeing if the poop eating behavior goes away, to solve this mystery.

[jellybean]

It's not something I've seen any of my birds do.

[Morgan]

Aug 29, 2021 8:27:39 GMT jellybean said:

It's not something I've seen any of my birds do.

So what do you feed them? If you don’t mind sharing 😊

[tweetiepiesmom]

Yesterday just before dusk, I noticed both my guys at the bottom of the cage pecking away. I stood by the cage watching them carefully to see what they were eating. I then realized I had given then some millet earlier in the day, holding it in my hand. Turns out, they were "foraging" for dropped millet seed, not eating their poop. @dionette are you sure they were eating poop and not dropped food?

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2021 19:09:21 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

Yesterday just before dusk, I noticed both my guys at the bottom of the cage pecking away. I stood by the cage watching them carefully to see what they were eating. I then realized I had given then some millet earlier in the day, holding it in my hand. Turns out, they were "foraging" for dropped millet seed, not eating their poop. @dionette are you sure they were eating poop and not dropped food?

I'm definitely sure; what they're nibbling at isn't lying in the litter, like I said, it's stuck to the bars and perches and all that.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Curious little birds, aren't they!

[Budgiefeets]

Our female bird also did it few times, so we just told her "NO" and gave her angry eyes
seems to help

[mona]

Mine often clean the perches and drop off the poops. I have seen Breezie& Cookie eating poop once, while cleaning off the perches... never again though..