Why does he poop in the feed cup?

[sharpchick]

I have a normal gray male tiel - had him for about a month now. He's semi-tame, oddly enough more so when he's out of the cage, when he will let me get very close to him, but still won't step up. He's still skittish about new stuff in the cage, or even me re-arranging what is already there.

I have two feed cups for him in addition to his water dish. He invariably poops in his feed cups (he spends a lot of time sitting in them). I know tiels will sit in the feed cups (my budgies don't at all), but he also eats from them, so why would he poop in them?

[Jean]

I take it he perches above them when he poops in them? He most likely likes to perch himself above his food dish. Try moving his dish about 4" one way or the other or to a more appropriate place and see if that takes care of it.

If he is pooping in them while he's perched on them you have a problem.:ohmy:

[UncleJT]

At least he doesn't poop in the water cup like Jenn's do. We've switched over to bottles for these four tiels.

- JT

[birdnerd]

Freebie used to do that. I had the sort of food bowls that hooked to the side of the cage. He'd perch there as if it were a nest and foul his food. Now I put the food and water bowls on the floor of the cage and it's no longer an issue.

[SadennaAndFlock]

I have one tiel that does this two he climbs in and hangs out in his food bowl and poops no matter where I move it he did it, I think it's a cockatiel thing they will do the same in their water dish to...

[harleybaby]

I definitely think it's a cockatiel thing!!:D

[The Flying Yoshi]

I completely agree...

Napoleon used to do that all the time...and Seamus does it too. :shrug:

[icebear]

i have most of mine on water bottles for the same reason. specially the conures, they bathe in it, dunk their food in it, then poop in it, and if i didn't catch them in time...they'd bathe in poopy/messy water. I used to call it "Birdy Soup" Ack :p

[Jenn]

As JT said, the tiels all poop in their water dishes, so I put them on bottles. The bottles are hung over the dishes, so any drips fall into the empty dish - and they *still* poop in it. None of them poops in their food - at least not intentionally although occasionaly I find a surprise in the cup when I'm changing out the food.

My conures don't deliberately poop in food or water - once in a while Pepe bombs the food - for some reason when we uncover the cage some mornings she likes to launch her morning doo right out of the side of the cage onto the carpet (past the poop skirt on the cage!!!), and if she misses it plunges into the food cup :(

Woodstock likes to bathe daily in his water - always the same cup - I have 2 water cups in the cage, and he always uses the same one for his bath :funny:

I do think it's a tiel thing....

Jenn