# String Poop



## Sergey (Feb 27, 2014)

Hi,

Today, I noticed Petya made a weird kind of poop. It was stuck on his perch so I noticed it right away. At the end of it, there is a regular [but a bit larger than normal] poop. But, attached to it, and covered with feces, is a long string. The string is approximately 6 cm long. 

I am worried it can be worms. I looked at the rest of his droppings and I do not see a sign of worms. I cover him with a sheet at night [as he prefers it] but I do not think he has pulled or eaten a string from it.

If this was any other bird, I would call the vet right away. But, Petya cannot be handled at all. He does not leave his cage. I do not know how the avian vet would examine him.

Petya seems happy and he is singing as usual. I have seem him eating his seeds too. Any ideas what this could be? What can I do in this emergency?

Thank you. :grey tiel:


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

It sounds like *possibly* a tapeworm. Tapeworms, when passed, are translucent, and long. There may also be some mucous in the droppings

If you are going to the vet try to bring these droppings too.


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## Mezza (Feb 19, 2013)

I would take him to the avian vet - avian vets know how to handle untamed birds, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I would presume that will check his feces under the microscope (smear test).

Best to be safe than sorry.

Let us know how you go.


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## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

Car Alarm used to have dropping that would get stuck and hang from his bum until he got it off and I'm guessing it was from the blanket he sometimes chews but it was never as long as that. 
I would definately get him checked by an avian vet to be safe and don't worry Car Alarm is an untame aviary bird and he does great at the vets and they are really good/gentle at handling him.


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## Sergey (Feb 27, 2014)

Hi again,

From the advice that avian vets should be able to handle not tamed birds, I made an appointment with the one I have used in the past. Petya had a 170 km / 3 hours car ride.

After the first string poop, he made regular poop. 

At the avian vet, it was a disaster. In some cases here we must see "zoo type" veterinarians. Outside of the two major cities options are not so good. But the vet tried to help. First he say to me that he does not deal with behavior problems and with a bird so crazy may be it will be best to euthanize him. I said thank you for your consideration but no. 

He looked at the droppings and said no sign of worms. The dropping was a loose dropping that came out 'looking like string'. I said that I have seen loose bird droppings [diarrhea in other words] and this 'string poop' scared me. From this point, we went over issues that could be causing loose droppings.

The avian vet said Petya looks healthy. He may look small but he is of good weight. He brought attention to his very long nails [as I made the post on here] but may be in the future with a tamer Petya we can deal with those. From a visual examination, the avian vet did not feel Petya has a virus. Second, he asked if there were changes to diet. I said no. Third, he asked if Petya has stress. I can say yes, Petya has stress. He has a new home, new cage, new surroundings. The avian vet said stress may be the culprit.

After the car ride and putting in a pumice perch, Petya was very stressed out. Flapping and screaming and panicking. And so, again, he made one loose dropping. It fell like a splat and did not leave a long 6 cm string like the first. After, he was back to making normal poop.

Just thought that I would share and thank you for the help here.

Thank you, 
Sergey

:grey tiel:


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