# Thirsty tiel?



## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

I have a two-year-old lutino hen named Beatrix who is going through a very heavy molt. She's doing all the things she normally does when molting (eating a lot, preening a lot, napping a bit more than usual, etc.) and otherwise seems to be her normal self (she wanted lots of cuddles from me last night and right now she's destroying a chew toy in her cage), but I've noticed over the past couple of days that she's drinking more water than usual. Her poop looks normal, except that there's more urine than usual (which I guess makes sense if she's drinking more than usual).

I have a history of freaking out and taking my birds to the vet for things that are just results of normal molt-related physical stress (for example, I know polyuria can be a result of stress, so maybe Beatrix' increased urine output is due to the physical stress of molting and she's drinking more to compensate?), but I also know that increased water consumption can be a symptom of something more serious, so I wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with this. Is it normal for tiels to drink more when they're molting? Should I just keep an eye on her for a few days before I go running to the vet?

Thank you!


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

I think it's just due to her molt


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## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

A few months ago I noticed that Birdie was drinking for more frequently and I spoke to the vet. He recommended that I add probiotics to her food or water and after a very short time she returned to normal drinking habits.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If she's stressed due to her molt you can add brewer's yeast to her food and it should help to calm her down.


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## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

Lougirl said:


> I think it's just due to her molt


Thank you! I'm hoping so--I once took my budgie hen to the vet for runny poop, and it ended up costing $100 just for them to tell me it was just due to her molt. (I got off better than she did, though; she got a fecal swab done for testing purposes, which she did NOT appreciate.)



karendh said:


> A few months ago I noticed that Birdie was drinking for more frequently and I spoke to the vet. He recommended that I add probiotics to her food or water and after a very short time she returned to normal drinking habits.


Thank you! Are there special bird probiotics, or do you just use a small dose of human ones?



roxy culver said:


> If she's stressed due to her molt you can add brewer's yeast to her food and it should help to calm her down.


Thank you! It's a pretty heavy molt, so I think it's taking a physical toll on her. I'll grab some brewer's yeast while I'm out today.


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## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

My vet recommended Bioflor which is also suitable for young children and small animals. They come in capsule form and you can just add a little to the water. Birdie's on antibiotics at the moment and is doing well but when her treatment is completed I will put on the Bioflor for a few days, also recommended by my vet.


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## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

karendh said:


> My vet recommended Bioflor which is also suitable for young children and small animals. They come in capsule form and you can just add a little to the water. Birdie's on antibiotics at the moment and is doing well but when her treatment is completed I will put on the Bioflor for a few days, also recommended by my vet.


Thank you so much! I'll pick some up. We've used Benebac in the past when our budgies have had to take antibiotics, but the doses are pretty large, so it's sometimes hard to get a bird to take a whole dose in one sitting. Bioflor sounds much easier to use.


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