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HI, i am new to the board and i have had my tiel for approx 3 weeks now. she is very friendly and sweet and loves to ride around on your shoulder. she also gives kisses which i thought was so cute but now that i see she eats her poop, i don't want kisses from a poop beak, ewww.

she will eat the dry ones stuck on her paper as well as fresh ones. her diet is a tiel seed mix with extras like cheerios, popcorn, scrambled egg but not much else. i have offered friuts and veggies but she is not interested.

i have yet to see her play with any toys that i have in her cage. i used to have tiels many years ago and i rememeber how much they loved to preen peacock feathers so i have one in there for her but she has never even looked at it.

she has also laid 7 eggs since she has been here. she used to go under the papers to do it and would be aggressive right afterwards but now she doesn't care much for them at all. the last one she just let drop from her top perch. i have let her keep them in an attempt to get her to stop but she still lays one about every 2 days. i have thought about putting the grate back in her cage but i don't want her to become egg-bound either.

sorry for the long post but i have a lot to learn about these birds i guess.
Joan

Wooo, you've got a lot to deal with fast! Here's an earlier discussion of poop-eating that might give you some helpful ideas: cockatiel/topic96086.html?hilit=brewers#p132714 Use the Search feature in the upper right corner (The advanced search underneath is better IMO.) to learn more about egg laying and diet. Popcorn, eggs, and cheerios aren't good for her in significant quantities. Most 'tiels don't like fruit. But you can teach her to like minced veggies. There's a lot on the board about how and which. If you can't find it, signal for help.

My best and welcome!

thanks for the link. i read it and will have to try that. she does have the cuttlebone which she chomps on regularly which is good since she had so many eggs so far. i tried to keep the poop cleaned up but its a lesson in futility.

When I clean away the day's debris at bedtime, I put down 2 layers of newspapers and pull up the top one as soon as breakfast is served. That makes quick work of those mountains of overnight accumulation. I also give my flock a lot of bird-safe branches to chew. This season in the snowy mid-Atlantic, I'm giving them mostly crepe myrtle and buddleia (butterfly bush). Chewing these distracts them from the poop piles. If she's your only bird in her cage, she's healthy, and you can forgo mouth-to-beak kisses, her dirty habit is not really a problem.

yes i change the papers everyday too. as soon as hers gets a couple poops on it i flip it then change it later on. she is my only lone bird.
i have a pair of keets and a pair of Indian Ringnecks. none of which are tame. she is the only "people" bird.
i can forgo the kisses thats for sure
i think she misses her buddies as she came from a house of 3 tiels and she was the female. she did raise a clutch of eggs, but thats why they sold her, they didn't want any more of that.

my dogs regularly graze the yard for rabbit "caviar" if you know what i mean. its really no biggie.

Some birds eat their poop for a number of reasons. Most often it is a nutritioanl deficiency. Females will eat it more often than males (in my observation) perhaps because of this and when nesting they will do it to 'clean" the area.
My Princess of Wales will eat the cockatiel poop when they sit on his cage but not his own. Maybe the poop is just tasty

Maybe the poop is just tasty

OH MY! we'll never know the answer to that one

The most likely cause is a dietary deficiency, expecially small amounts of salt,
and since, she is laying : other minerals, and essential proteins. Small amounts of these foods might
help: whole grain bread, and about 1/4 of a hard boiled egg (including shell), perhaps twice a week.
Greens and fruit are also good : broccoli, celery, carrots, apples are my birds 3 favorites. Don't feed too much lettuce, if the droppings become wet and sticky.