Eating wood...

[Missi]

Oh man... I think Jasmine is eating the wood from one of her toys. Here's why I think so:

I came home and she had a chunk of wood from a favorite toy of hers (which has natural wood as well as dyed pieces of wood) and she was chomping on it. I took her out and put her on her play tree, she made a poo and the urine is bright orange! I started freaking out but I looked at the other poos in the bottom of her cage and I see NO orange (just the typical white, brown, and green poo colors)

It is a softer wood on this toy. I hope she passes it...I am so worried she will get blocked up. I don't think it's normal for birds to eat wood, is it?! Do I need to calm down as usual, or should this be a concern?

[RingneckedPrincess]

Sounds like it is just the dye from the toy going through her system as she 'tongued' it

Dani

[Missi]

I thought that too, but I don't see any orange bits of wood at the bottom of the cage

[Valo's Moirana]

Originally Posted by Missi

I thought that too, but I don't see any orange bits of wood at the bottom of the cage

i usually have to look in the entire room to find the pieces mr. stinkefuss places for me to find.... and he's only a GCC

sure it's not within 20m of the cage?

i too think that the discoloration originated from the dye and not the wood itself

[raddaughter]

I agree with the other posts. Soft wood dyes 'bleed' off easier than harder woods. It is probably just the colors, not Jasmine eating the wood itself.
I have done the same thing though. Once, I gave Harley some beets, and her poos were red. I was absolutly freaked. I got out my bird book to see if she had some sort of disease, and then read about one that fit the description. It said it was fatal unless a vet could treat them immediatly. Well, I got on the bird forum (a different one) and asked what they though. Well, once beets were mentioned, that case was solved. This is when I learned that colors and dyes leech off easily on soft woods and dark colored foods. Take out the toy for a while and next time you put it back in, see if her poos turn colors :)

[ROYJOY]

i think chewing and shreding are just busy time. birds in the wild have all kinds of wood around them. there are dangerous plants for birds, but you know what those are. if not, there are list of safe and unsafe plants online, and birds in the wild know what to avoid. our tame birds have those instincts passed down. i was in a pet store not long ago, and saw some love birds on a playstand/display, all the ends of the perches were all chewed up. i ask the clerk if they might be injesting splinters and he reminded me, birds live in trees, and trees are made out of what? boy did i feel stupid. he was acting arrogant, yes. i thought it was a good question but he made me feel embarased in front of people.its good that you are concerned about your lovelies you should be, and im sorry that you lost sleep about sneezing, it just shows your love.

[Missi]

Poopies are normal looking today, however last night before bed I checked on her poops and noticed bitty bits of wood in them just as I had feared. I hope it is all out of her system today!

[RingneckedPrincess]

Ah...I am sure they do it in the wild as well Missi...no fears...

Dani