# My bird has been exposed to saliva



## Bananna (Jun 6, 2011)

I'm really panicking because only recently I have discovered that saliva can be deadly for birds and I've been a terrible owner because I've been giving him kisses (the wet kind) on his back and wings for over a year now. But what worries me the most is that a couple of days ago, my mother has fed him some slightly salted sunflower seeds that she opened with her mouth and the little rascal also stole one of the seeds that were already open and contaminated with saliva. I don't know, he seems fine for now, but his poop looks like water that turns milky white with little green feces, is that normal/healthy poop?

Should I send him to the bird vet just in case? Does anyone know how long it takes for bacteria to spread over, and what are the early signs of it? I'm really scared for him because we have a good bond and I already lost two other pets before him. I love my cockatiel too much and I would hate to see him sick and suffering for me and my mom's ignorance.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If you could post a picture of his poop that would be helpful. I know that human saliva can be dangerous to a tiel, but my hubby has tiels at his dad's that the boys would let one play "dentist" and she would chew on their teeth. I've since then told him he can't do that and he knows better but they've had her for ages and she's never had any problems. I just think that its the amount of saliva they ingest that would be the problem. But signs of illness would be messed up poop, sitting fluffed up all the time, inactive, lethargic, that kind of thing. As I said, a pic of his poop would help us be able to help you better. BTW, welcome to the forum!


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## Bananna (Jun 6, 2011)

Thanks for the quick reply and for the welcome.  Here are some glorious poop shots:

















As you can tell, the copper and beige things are seeds...there's a lot of liquid in his poop and when it dries it looks like spilled milk. As for my tiel, he has always been a laid-back bird but he has his moments of activity.

Now I have to clean up all the poop from the floor before my parents come home from work :thumbu:
Thank you in advance, I really appreciate all the help I can get.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

The salt from the sunflower would be more of a concern than the saliva. I believe that it is the saliva from animals, especially cats that can be bad. I have had some of my birds snatch food from my mouth over the years and never had a problem.

As to your poop, it does look a little cloudy. What is the birds diet? If the diet is too high in protein (protein from several sources...such as pellets eggs, beans, etc) can cause this or problems with the kidneys.


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## Bananna (Jun 6, 2011)

I had a hunch that salt could be harmful for birds and I advised my mom to stop feeding him the seeds; she only gave him about 3 or 4. As for his diet, I mainly feed him Kaytee Gourmet Recipe (premium blend of fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains) especially made for cockatiels along with pieces of red and green apples. The seeds contain minimum 15.0% in crude protein, is that a good amount?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Human saliva can be dangerous for birds but the risks are fairly low - many many birds have received kisses or taken food from their owner's mouth without any problems. Cat saliva on the other hand is deadly dangerous to birds, and if your bird is ever exposed to that you need to talk to a vet ASAP.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

Has your tiel been eating very little? It doesn't look like there is a lot of fecal matter...


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## Bananna (Jun 6, 2011)

@tielfan: then good thing I don't have a cat because I'm allergic to them. He's been healthy all this time I've given him kisses, guess he's immune.
@Belinda: on the contrary, he's always eating. Maybe it's only diarrhea? I'll check his poop today and see if it's any different.

His behaviour appears to be normal: he climbs up and down his cage, plays with his toys, he even wags his tail. These are good signs right? Unless it's possible that a bird can be happy and sick at the same time? Maybe I'm being overprotective of him, I do tend to panic over the smallest things. But sometimes, I find him all puffed up, standing on one leg with his eyes closed and shaking a bit (to stay in balance perhaps?) And I keep wondering, is he taking a nap or is he really sick?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If his leg is up then he's taking a nap, it means he's completely comfortable and feels safe enough to let his guard down to lift that leg.


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## Bananna (Jun 6, 2011)

Good to know he feels safe when I'm around!  His poop has not changed but other than that he's being himself. Guess it was just a false alarm. I don't think we need to bring him to the vet, if that's all he's showing. One time, he flew directly into the window of our patio door and crashed. When I picked him up, he was very wobbly and quiet and I bawled my eyes out because I thought he had a concussion and that he was going to die lol  about an hour later, he was fine.


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## Virtue (May 18, 2011)

Cat and dog saliva will pretty much kill your cockatiel within a few hrs.


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## quarrion queen (Jun 14, 2011)

i think hes gonna be just fine!! when i was younger i had a birdie who always tried to steal food out of my mouth and he was ok! not saying that is a recommended behavior of course ....but yeah i think he will be ok =)
do you think hes stressed. my birds poop looks like that when they get stressed...


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