While cockatiel poop is different from human poop, one thing that the poop of a healthy cockatiel and a healthy human should not have is blood in it.
This article is a look into why there is blood in your cockatiels poop
Table of Contents
Blood in cockatiel poop:
How your bird’s poop looks can tell you a lot about the bird’s health, a healthy cockatiel will produce brown or green solid poop with urates on it, and some urine on it as well.
If your bird’s poop has blood in it here are possible reasons why:
Issues with the egg:
Your cockatiel poops and lays eggs from the same hole. If your cockatiel is currently laying eggs then the bird may have suffered a broken egg and this may be causing the bleeding.
While egg laying is normal for birds your cockatiel may be struggling to lay some of her eggs.
If this is the case then an egg may have broken in the bird’s body before she had the opportunity to lay it or while she was laying.
The eggshell’s tough and sharp edges may have cut the bird from the inside and caused the bird to release poop with blood in it
The egg doesn’t always have to break in the bird’s body for blood to come out, if the bird is having trouble laying eggs then blood can also come out with the bird’s poop
Foreign bodies in the GI tract:
Your cockatiels digestive tract is one long tube that starts at the mouth of the bird and ends at the bird’s cloaca where the bird poops.
If your cockatiel recently ate a foreign object, then the foreign object may be causing bleeding in the bird’s digestive tract.
If the foreign body has sharp enough edges then, it may cut the bird from the inside and can cause a scenario similar to the cracked egg scenario causing bleeding in your bird’s digestive tract and blood to come out with the bird’s poop.
Ulcers:
Just as with humans, your cockatiel can develop an ulcer, and just as with humans, these ulcers can cause bleeding in the bird’s GI tract.
An ulcer is a sore in the bird’s stomach lining that develops when the digestive enzymes in the bird’s stomach start to damage the bird’s stomach lining.
If your bird has ulcers, and these ulcers developed at the site of a blood vessel, and the ulcer erodes into the blood vessel then bleeding can happen causing your bird to produce poop with blood in it.
Cancer in the GI tract:
Cancer affects not only humans but it can affect your pet cockatiel as well. One symptom of cancer in your bird is blood coming out with the bird’s poop.
If your bird does have cancer then the bleeding may show up in the poop because the cancer is starting to bleed out and move with the bird’s digested food and come out in the poop.
Other causes:
Other causes of bleeding in your bird’s poop include the ingestion of toxins or infections. Both bacterial and parasitic infections can cause your bird to produce poop that has blood in it.
What to do:
If you think that your bird is suffering from any of the above then you’d need to take your bird to the vet.
Blood in your bird’s poop is highly irregular and your vet will be able to diagnose the bird quicker and more accurately than a layperson can.
If you can’t immediately get your bird to the vet then it is recommended that you isolate the sick bird to keep it from possibly infecting the other birds in the cage if you have any.
Also, give your bird its own food and water to keep contamination from happening.
Giving your vet a stool sample from your bird will help the vet diagnose the bird.
Collect your bird’s stool by laying white paper towels at the bottom of your bird’s nest and allowing the bird to drop feces onto the paper towels.
Once the vet has diagnosed the bird they will be able to treat the bird according to the underlying issue.
Your vet may ask about the other symptoms associated with your bird’s bleeding and will also do tests o the bird, like a biochemistry profile, and fecal testing to help figure out what the issue is.
Your bird’s poop should go back to normal once its underlying condition has been treated and the bird has recovered.
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: Conure Poop Red, Sun Conure Poop Red, Why Is My Birds Poop Red, Bird Bleeding From Nose, Will A Budgie Sit On Infertile Eggs?, Budgie Abandoned Eggs