My conures poop is always runny...

[Trixzena]

Was wondering what you're supposed to do to regulate their bowels... Every time I give my bird fresh veggies, his poops are very watery and light. I finally finished off what the breeder gave me for pellet/seed mix and it made his poops fuller and more regular I felt like. Now I'm onto just TOPS pellets for him and the napolean seed mix and I'm not sure what his poo consistency should be like.

His diet looks a bit like this, let me know if I need to change any of it...

Pellets always available (Doesn't care for them unless nothing else available)
3 tablespoons of chop everyday with like all sorts of things I premade and froze for him. It's practically a salsa/sauce and I add oats/chia seed/quinoa/ to it to soak up excess water before serving to him.
1-3 crushed up nuts for training and maybe a few seeds for variety
3-5 BSFL (Black Soldier Fly Larvae)

Seeds > BSFL > Nuts > Chop > Pellets is his preference. Do they need seed in their diets or are they bad for them? Feel like I've heard a lot of different things.

 

[WillowQ]

Is there just a lot of urine, or does he actually have diarrhea? If just lots of urine I would not worry much. If diarrhea I would worry.

I rarely feed seed; just for treats and trick rewards. If your guy was getting skinny you might give some seeds.

Do you know if the black soldier fly larvae are sterilized, baked, or guaranteed to be free of bacterial contamination? That would be a concern for me. I know I used to feed my Conure a few dried mealworms as a treat; but I wonder if something is irritating his tummy (if diarrhea).

Also, does he need that much protein? The quinoa already adds protein. You might have an extra hormonal little guy with lots of protein fed outside of moult season. I wonder if he’d be more into the pellets with less protein? I think Tops pellets are wonderful but my current birds prefer Harrison’s and zupreem.

 

[Trixzena]

Is there just a lot of urine, or does he actually have diarrhea? If just lots of urine I would not worry much. If diarrhea I would worry.

I rarely feed seed; just for treats and trick rewards. If your guy was getting skinny you might give some seeds.

Do you know if the black soldier fly larvae are sterilized, baked, or guaranteed to be free of bacterial contamination? That would be a concern for me. I know I used to feed my Conure a few dried mealworms as a treat; but I wonder if something is irritating his tummy (if diarrhea).

Also, does he need that much protein? The quinoa already adds protein. You might have an extra hormonal little guy with lots of protein fed outside of moult season. I wonder if he’d be more into the pellets with less protein? I think Tops pellets are wonderful but my current birds prefer Harrison’s and zupreem.

I think it's mostly just water. There's only a thin little turd in it usually. So probably not diarrhea...
The BSFL is freeze dried and the quinoa is just on a rotation so I'm not sure if it's too much protein, he's never backed up by any means lol. I swap it up between oats, chia seeds and quinoa to soak up extra moisture. I just choose one and it's different every day sometimes I actually just toss some pellets into it to soak up some of the juices.
He has been molting for weeks now as well, are you supposed to feed differently during this time? And yeah I'm sure he'd dive into the pellets more if I pulled back on the other stuff. I normally give him lots of chop because he makes such a mess of it I wanna be sure he's getting it into him and not everywhere else lol.

 

[WillowQ]

When moulting I would feed more protein and more calories in general. Takes a lot of energy (calories) and a lot of protein to make feathers.

If it’s not diarrhea, I would not worry about it. Excess water going in needs to leave somehow. And birds don’t sweat (they can pant for evaporative cooling) not do they “pee” as do mammals.

 

[Emma&pico]

Could you take a picture of his poo and share it with us may help better

i think it was @Mizzely that as a brilliant poo chart which may help you

 

[Pixiebeak]

It sounds like with scant but formed fecal material, he actually isn't eating enough.

What is the weight? Start tracking weight.

If he only eats pellets reluctantly, then you rushed the transition. I would revisit the transition protocol if the brand you use.

I'm not familiar with the insect food. But agree there is risk of bacteria. Why did you choose to feed this?

Soup chop..kinda gross... Pamela Clark has a great chip recipe. I'll see if I can link.

chop for parrots – Pamela Clark, CPBC

Posts about chop for parrots written by Pamela Clark, CPBC

blogpamelaclarkonline.com

Excerpt:
" The creation of a truly great Chop poses one distinct challenge. When you chop up a bunch of vegetables and then freeze them in a plastic bag, the cell membranes of those vegetables rupture, releasing all the moisture that was inside of them. Thus, you can wind up with a very wet mess that your birds won’t eat."

I myself prefer to feed fresh veggies daily . Takes little effort. I don't have to worry about freezing quality control issues.

I feed seeds at the end of the day , after they've had everything else. But mine are already fully transitioned to eat everything else. I didn't starve them into eating, it took time .

I worry , that even tho you have done everything to provide all the right good stuff ,with your birds health in mind, mistakes have been made

 

[Mizzely]

If he is mostly eating watery vegetables, then the liquid droppings aren't super surprising. I do agree that if the feces are only a small amount of the droppings, I would be concerned he's not eating enough.

Green cheeks don't need seed, and they don't really need the bug protein either at least not everyday. BSFL are a good source of calcium though. What if you did nuts, seeds, OR BSFL for treats for training instead of doing all of them in one day?

If he's filling up everyday on seeds, nuts, BSFL, and chop, then there's simply not any room left for pellets

For my birds, I do chop in the morning, and refill pellet bowls. Remove chop after a few hours and they are left with just pellets for most of the day. Then a few days a week they also get some seed mix in with their pellets or foraging toys.

 

[WillowQ]

I think you might snack on the tops pellets with your Conure to convince him that they are delicious.

(Well, actually, I’ve heard of people who’re allergic to alfalfa being unable to feed Tops. So maybe this is not always a good idea.)

 

[Trixzena]

Thanks for all the responses!

Good to know they need more protein during molting! More aware now, thank you!

I notice this morning it was more normal looking again. (Had pellets all night) It's not messy looking poo, it's just mostly water. Least I know he's hydrated lol.

It was my first chop I prepared for freezing and I couldn't find the chopper I wanted to use so I ended up blending to chop it up and that made it more mashy than I wanted it to + extra moisture. I did buy a book someone recommended on here that I plan on using to make a chop mix with once I use up everything I have. It's a very good book.

I probably should have clarified that I do rotate nuts with BSFL/seed as well it's just based on what he tells me he wants that day and what he wants to work for and how much time I spend with him that day. Some days he likes hazlenuts and others he just wants walnuts or pine nuts. Some days he's more motivated to train than others so he'll get more treats and less other days. I chose to feed BSFL because of their balanced calcium ratios and the animal based omegas they provide, plus the enrichment. If I see a issue with parasites or bacteria I'll change that obviously because I'm not about putting my bird at risk but I think it's a very suitable addition to a bird diet. I don't believe in making everything perfectly sterile (unless the animal is sick) to the point of taking away enrichment from my animals, I like to provide as much variety as I possibly can to my pets.

His weight is 67 grams today, I check every morning before feeding him. He certainly loves his chop! Much more than pellets and I don't blame him cuz it smells so good I imagine it tastes better too lol. I never starved him into eating anything he's pretty accepting of most things but I wouldn't expect a child to rush to eat their broccoli if there's tastier food available lol. If he's reluctant to try something I just pretend it's delicious and like I'm eating it. He'll run over and try to take it from me a couple times before I give it to him. Works like a charm lol.

If I tried slapping a realistic ratio on what he gets daily it would probably look something like this... 40% chop, 35% pellets, 20% nuts, 5% BSFL/Seeds (But this does fluctuate, just depends on the day)

 

[WillowQ]

I’m glad he’s pooping better.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Watery stool, can also be bacterial.

I'm still interested in seeing a poop example.

Diet is something we are all always trying to do our best and keep up with recommendations, which can vary even among experts . Tho all agree an all seed diet is not nutritional complete. But many recommend to still include 10% seeds

 

[Trixzena]

I think if it was bacterial or something was wrong it would more than likely be consistent no matter what he was eating at what time of the day. It's only when he eats chop his poop turns to mostly water so I feel pretty safe. He's not losing weight either. I do want to correct the chop though by adding more insoluble fiber to alleviate this maybe.