Some bird species eat poop to glean water and gain nutrients from partially undigested food.
Parrots aren’t coprophagic animals and don’t get many vitamins and minerals from eating their waste. They usually eat their poop when they lack nutrient-rich foods.
Stressed parrots burn more calories and need extra nutrients, so they may compensate by eating their feces. If a parrot is bored, it may eat its poop while it forages to keep itself busy.
Why Parrots Eat Their Poop
Parrots (unlike rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, hedgehogs, and dogs) don’t need to eat their poop or that of other birds. Most parrots will never eat feces.
If a parrot eats its poop, it’s likely for one of the following reasons:
- A lack of suitable nutrition.
- Boredom and lack of enrichment.
- Stressed out.
- A dirty cage due to poor husbandry.
- Underlying health issues.
A parrot may eat its poop for nutrients to get vitamins and minerals from the digestive process. This survival instinct allows some birds to survive in difficult situations.
Coprophagia in Parrots
Some birds eat their feces regularly, leading us to believe that a parrot is engaging in coprophagia. Some animals, like rabbits and dogs, are coprophagous.
However, parrots aren’t coprophagic animals. Instead, they only resort to this behavior in times of great need, when their body isn’t receiving the nutrients needed to survive.
According to the World Poultry Science Journal, birds that practice coprophagia synthesize vitamins in the caeca. The caeca are a pair of sacs connecting the large and small intestines in a bird’s digestive system.
Not all birds have caeca, as this is primarily found in herbivores and omnivores.
Despite being omnivores, parrots are among the exceptions that lack caeca. Therefore, parrots don’t benefit much from coprophagia because they can’t extract as many nutrients.
Dangers of Parrots Eating Poop
A parrot won’t become immediately sick from eating poop. Although it’s not biologically designed to derive the maximum nutrients from poop, it can glean some. Most parrots will eat poop with no benefits.
If you deworm a parrot, its excrement will contain bacteria, parasites, or worms. By eating its poop, these harmful organisms will be reintroduced to the body.
Likewise, parrots are in danger of ingesting bacteria when they eat poop. This is most common when parrots eat another bird’s feces, leading to diseases like psittacosis.
Reasons for Parrots Eating Their Poop
Before stopping a parrot from eating feces, you must understand what caused this behavior. Examine the parrot, its surroundings, and diet for the following problems:
Nutritional Deficiencies
Cockatiels are good at determining when they lack vital nutrients and identifying ways to replenish them. Unsurprisingly, they’re among the most common psittacines found eating poop.
A parrot should eat pellets, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains. According to the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, many pet parrots experience hypovitaminosis A when fed seed-only diets.
Veterinarians recommend feeding parrots pellets. A good diet for a pet parrot should comprise 60-70% pellets, with the remainder coming from other nutritious, hydrating sources.
If a parrot is already eating the recommended diet but is still eating its poop, it likely has a mineral deficiency. To resolve this issue, provide a cuttlebone or mineral block.
Boredom
Parrots require mental stimulation to be happy. If there’s nothing to interact with, a parrot will keep itself busy by foraging. Foraging is natural for wild parrots, so they continue to do it in captivity.
However, if a parrot finds little to eat, it may resort to poop consumption while foraging.
Add some toys to the cage to reduce the risk of a bored parrot eating poop. Good choices include:
- Chewable toys. Parrots naturally like to chew on, pull at, and destroy items. A parrot with rope, wood, and paper to tear up is unlikely to eat these items.
- Foraging toys. These have treats hidden inside them, stimulating the parrot’s mind and allowing it to forage for food.
- Puzzle toys. They contain treats that parrots must figure out how to retrieve from the puzzle.
- Physical activity toys. Toys, such as swings and ladders, require a parrot to exercise.
A happy and engaged parrot is less likely to engage in negative behaviors.
Stress
Stressed parrots burn more calories and nutrients. Their heightened awareness, lack of sleep, and elevated heart rate will deplete their energy stores faster.
When it fails to compensate for this shortfall with food, it’ll resort to eating poop. When stressed, a parrot may excrete too many water-soluble nutrients rather than absorb them. These include the following:
- B vitamins.
- Vitamin C.
- Choline.
Since these nutrients are in the parrot’s poop, it’ll eat its feces to compensate. Even if you’re feeding a parrot a nutritious diet, it may still excrete more nutrients than it’s consuming.
Parrots are easily stressed, but they shouldn’t remain that way. Check if the parrot is upset by:
- A sudden change, such as a new home or a different cage.
- A change of diet plan without veterinary advisement.
- Molting old feathers.
- Loud noises like the TV, vacuuming, and roadwork.
- Predatory pets, like cats and dogs.
- Small children are playing nearby.
- Sudden and unexpected movements.
Reducing a parrot’s stress involves removing whatever is causing it. Also, a vet may recommend dietary supplements to decrease a parrot’s instinct to eat its poop.
Dirty Cage
If the parrot finds its environment filthy, it may eat its poop. Unfortunately, a parrot’s cage gets dirty quickly due to its droppings, spilled water and food, and remnants of toys.
Clean a parrot’s cage more often. Perform a daily clean-up and weekly deep clean. Daily cleaning involves the following:
- Liner replacement. This is where droppings and debris collect at the bottom of the cage.
- Food and water dishes. Use hot, soapy water, especially if droppings have landed in the dishes.
- Sweep or vacuum. Do this in the cage area where droppings and debris gather.
Once per week, you should:
- Remove the parrot from the cage.
- Wash and sanitize the cage bars, door, and base.
- Remove droppings from perches and toys.
- Disinfect all items with a bird-safe formula and allow them to air dry.
Eating poop is a natural behavior for some animal species, but not parrots. You should prevent the parrot from eating its feces by identifying and removing the underlying cause.
