Raising baby cockatiels can be a stressful experience, these birds are very fragile, so a lot of things can go wrong, like the baby bird not pooping
This article is a look into why your baby cockatiel is not pooping
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Baby cockatiel not pooping:
The poop of your bird can tell you a lot about the health of your bird, and a bird that is not pooping at all can be concerning.
A bird not pooping all day is alarming and a bird not pooping for longer than this is especially alarming.
This is why this may be happening:
Bacterial infection:
The bird may not be pooping because the bird has a bacterial infection. Bacterial infections are common in birds who are being hand fed and this may be what is happening with your bird.
This bacteria may be causing food to stop moving down the digestive tract keeping the bird from pooping.
Birds try their best to hide signs of being ill, this helps keep them safe from predators in the wild, but this will be unhelpful for you.
The only sign that you may see, that points to the baby cockatiel having a bacterial infection, is the bird not pooping.
If this is what is happening with your bird then the bird can go downhill very quickly.
If your bird keeps poop in and doesn’t release it all this poop will collect in the intestines and put too much pressure on the intestines causing the intestines to eventually tear open and spill into the abdominal cavity.
If left untreated the bird can die.
What to do:
The recommended course of action in this scenario is to take the bird to the vet, or an avian vet which would be better than taking the bird to a regular companion vet, to be physically examined and tests ran on the bird.
If the bird does have a bacterial infection then the vet may prescribe antibiotics for the bird. The vet will also give you instructions on how much medication to feed the bird.
Slow digestion:
Your bird may not be pooping because it is simply digesting its food very slowly. The temperature of the formula that you feed your birds should be exactly what the manufacturers recommend.
It is usually recommended that the temperature of your bird’s food be 38 – 41oC (100 – 105 oF)
If the bird’s formula is too cold then the bird may not eat it or, the formula can cause slow digestion in your bird. This may be why your bird is not pooping
The bird may also not be passing poop because the bird itself is not warm enough
What to do:
Follow the temperature instruction on the formula packing and feed this to the bird, if you’re feeding the birds the correct amount of formula and it is of the correct temperature then the bird should poop every 4-6 hours depending on the bird’s activity levels.
Also, make sure that the bird itself is warm enough, this will help with digestion.
Impacted crop:
The bird may not be pooping because its food isn’t actually moving past the crop.
If your bird’s crop is stretched out then the food can become stuck in the crop and the bird may be starving because food isn’t actually reaching its stomach and is thus not being processed and turning into poop.
What to do:
If the bird’s crop is overstretched to a point where food can’t move down the crop then you’d need to take the bird to the vet
You should also stop feeding the bird if this is happening because adding more food into the crop will only feed the yeast into the crop and cause the bird to develop a yeast infection.
You can try to gently massage the crop to get food to move down if you can’t immediately get the bird to the vet
Giving the bird a crop bra to wear will also help to support the crop and help crop muscles move food down into the bird’s gut.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Are My Parakeet’s Feathers Turning Brown?, Can You Bathe A Baby Cockatiel?, Baby Cockatiel Not Digesting, Cockatiel Diarrhea Egg-Laying, My New Cockatiel Is Scared Of Me, Can 2 Male Cockatiels Be In The Same Cage?, Cockatiel Flirting Behavior
