Ask Lafeber

Conure health

“in reference to straining to poop, or the bm in general, does giving a little exercise help
-I notice my gc conure will fly to her portable stand, and move a bit when she gets up in the morning; that seems to help promote the healthy bm.

some days if she doesn’t go right away, I’ll have her fly to her stand and “”go”” (so that she doesn’t go on the kitchen counter!)

relating to a keeping a healthy bird, does keeping the bird happy and connected with you help the immune system? I would think it would.

And thank you for these informative webinars!”

Hi Cindy,

Birds do instinctively want to keep their immediate environment clean. While adult birds do not need a nest for sleeping and only use one during breeding season, in captivity, some birds will exhibit similar habits as they would when using a nest. So this means some birds are reluctant to poop in their cage, and if the bird knows he will be taken out first thing in the morning, he may actually hold his poop all night and wait until he is on his play stand. This is one reason why parrots can be potty trained to a certain extent. They can be reluctant to poop on their owner, so as long as you take them to a trash can or wherever you want them to poop often enough, and give a command, they will learn to expect this and will hold their poop a but longer. But it is the owner’s responsibility to remember to let them relieve themselves at regular intervals. So it actually sounds like your bird is preferring to wait and use the portable stand.

And yes, mental health is very important and the more you keep your bird busy and enriched, the healthier she will be.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda