# Behavior of Tiel Who Lost Mate



## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Hi Everyone,

My tiel Fiona lost her cage mate a week ago. I have been monitoring her and have noticed these changes:

-Her droppings are different- either they are very small or they are very watery. She usually has very normal droppings. She also seems to poop more often, but they are small poops.

-She has started walking around the bottom of her cage a lot. She does not sit there like a sick bird, but kind of wanders around, sometimes picking at the poop down there. I tried to do some online research and I read that "pacing" on the bottom could be sign of emotional issues and a lonely bird. She isn't pacing though, just walking around.

Could this be her looking for her mate? Any idea how long it takes for a tiel to grieve the loss of her mate? I am planning to get a new tiel at some point but didn't want to rush it.

Thanks for any advice.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I'm very sorry for the loss of your other tiel. Tiels do go through a grieving process and like with people, I think tiels grieve differently and for different lengths of time. I'm not sure what to say about the change in her droppings though and will let others comment, although stressed tiels can have watery droppings. I would just watch her to make sure she isn't ill. (Was your other tiel sick?) And try to spend some extra time with her and give her extra scritches.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I think it sounds like she's probably just adjusting. Since your other bird died of trauma and not illness, you don't really have any reason to suspect that she would be ill now, unless it's stress-related. Do continue to monitor her droppings, and also her eating. Do you have a gram scale, and are you able to weigh her? What you're describing sounds like there may be less food passing through her system than there was previously. This is probably also a part of her grieving process, but if her droppings remain abnormal, or if she loses a large amount of weight, you'll want to get a vet check. It also might help if you could post a picture of her droppings -- Then we could take a look and see if there seems to be anything more urgent going on.


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## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Sunnysmom- it could very well be stress that's causing the watery droppings. Maybe stress is causing her to wander around the bottom of the cage as well. My other tiel was not sick. I have been spending as much time as possible with her. When she is on my shoulder she seems content- she preens and grinds her beak. But when she's in her cage she acts a little different. She has been eating more though so that's a good sign. 

Thanks Enigma. I hope she is just adjusting and this behavior is temporary. I do not have a scale unfortunately. I will keep monitoring her droppings and if I don't start seeing improvement I will make a vet appt. If I can get a good pic of it I will post. Thank you for your responses.


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