Canary stool

[Rour]

My female canary's stool is very runny today, and light in colour. I recently bought her from a breeder, and was feeding her the same food i fed my male. She has been opting to eat greens and a lot of eggfood. She seems very lethargic and barely moves. Ive taken out the greens and egg food and left her only the seed and water. Is she sick do you think, or is it just the change in food and stress?

[The canary man]

Hello my friend this is my second day in this room and iam new here, iam sorry that your canary is sick and sorry for my late reply its just out of my hand i was not here for you at that time, either way if your canary still sick or she is recovered from sickness iam would like to provide you with the following info that will help you later on .

Runny (stool) (poop) (excretion) is not normal and always mean that the canary is sick and need to be cure ASAP. Usually diarrhea caused by bad food,bad water,or un sanitized green that contain bad bacteria and when it enter the canary digestive system will cause him/her to become sick by getting fever, weight lost, lost appetite, unable to eat and may be death.
There are many viruses can enter the canary digestive system created by bad food,bad water and un sanitized Green as Coccidiosis virus, and i advice any breeder to keep the medication to prevent bird from getting this virus or to cure the infected bird with this virus and the good thing is that this medication will cure the sick bird from any type of virus that enter the bird digestive system (for all type of diarrhea) .

To prevent your bird from getting sick :

1) Always add one drop of Dettol or Listerine (mouth wash) any color to 8.oz of water or one tea spoon to gallon of water , it will keep the water clean for long time and it will kill any bad bacteria that can be in the water before even providing it to your bird.
2) Always sanitize the green by:
Fill your kitchen sink with water then add one table spoon of Dettol or Listerine to it, dip the green in mixture and leave it in 15 minutes, then wash the green again with pure water for the last time before you provide it to your bird .
3) clean out all moist food as boiled eggs from the cage before becomes bad and its best to use cage with grill that will not allow your bird to eat dropped food that became old thats willbe harmful to your bird.

I have been using the above methods for years and since then i never had a sick bird with runny stool.
Good luck to you all.
Dean K.

[CandoAviary]

Good information Dean. Clean water and food is the best first step in any bird husbandry! It's easier to keep them from getting sick than it is to cure them once they are sick

[AngieCort68]

I learned something new. Who would've known that listerine could be used for a bird's health too. Thanks Dean we're learning already!

[Oshtay]

Really great info! Thanks Dean!

[cindy]

I would use extreme caution giving birds a daily dose of Listerine in their drinking water daily. It contains Eucalyptol 0.092%, Menthol 0.042%, Methyl salicylate 0.060%, Thymol 0.064%, alcohol (26.9%), benzoic acid, poloxamer 407, sodium benzoate, caramel. The percentage of alcohol is to high for a small bird on a daily basis.

Rinsing greens in apple cider vinegar and adding a drop of organic ACV to 8 oz or 1 tbsp to a gallon might be a better way to go. Some members do use Listerine in a bird's bath when treating for foot sores and that has proven helpful.

I would not supply it daily in the drinking water....it is an antiseptic and can disturb the birds digestive tract...possibly killing off good gut bacteria...it is not meant to be drunk even by humans. For further info on the effects of drinking it you can google and get further info on it.
The bottle clearly states this
"Warnings
Do not use in children under 12 years of age. Keep out of reach of children. If more than used for rinsing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away"

You mentioned greens, are you using a lettuce of some kind? Iceberg lettuce contains to much water and can give loose stools. Try Romaine and alternate it every other or every three days in small amounts, the other days serve mixed veggies and shaved broccoli tops with grated carrots. Rinsing veggies well in warm water is usually enough to clean them. Wash and peel the carrot skin away then grate the carrot.

You can also use a waster cleanser like Aviclens or Sparkle
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_diet.php
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/shop-cleanwater.php

[The canary man]

Back to Cindy comment regarding Listerine.
Hello, i would like to say that i respect and welcome any comment that will agree or disagree with my knowledge about any subject regarding canaries, there is no hard feeling at all ( No share No Learn ).

1) I have been using Listerine or Dettol years and years ago, it did not show any side effect on my canary health or immune system at all times, its actually helping the canary digestive system to stay clean from bacteria, worms and others, plus it will prevent canaries from having any type of mites such as (feather mites) to live in its feathers when it used in their bath, Also will disinfect any skin cut or father bleeding that canaries can be vulnerable to .
2) I am a breeder that known for having the most active and strong canaries that you can find around. (I thank God for that ) so if using Listerine will have a side effect on canaries i will not be able to sell all the canaries that i take with me to a bird shows,local and online, it sound like i have a big head well i do not.... but this is the true and the realty some of the members friend in this room own some of my canaries...... Hello my friend tell Cindy about my canaries please . Thanks .
Mrs. Cindy if your concern is the alcohol that is in the Listerine why do not you use Listerine with out alcohol , in fact it seem like you did not pay attention to the active ingredients well Alcohol is under the Inactive ingredients .
3) Our subject was about the canary stool not about Lettuce, but if you like to know my knowledge about Greens for canaries you can view it through my web site it will help you learn alot about which green to feed your canaries.
4) I did not like to mention my web site in my first post because i did not like to be accused that iam directing members to my web site, i respect the owner of this forum and i am her as a member to provide people with knowledge based on long time of experience, i wish to people what i wish to my self.
Cindy please base your info on experience not on what you believe rather than that you may deprive some people from the true .

By the way my method has been approved and agreed with by breeders in Europe and USA and used now in many Zoo,z in the USA.
Thanks for your time .

The canary man .. Dean K

[Rour]

Hello my friend this is my second day in this room and iam new here, iam sorry that your canary is sick and sorry for my late reply its just out of my hand i was not here for you at that time, either way if your canary still sick or she is recovered from sickness iam would like to provide you with the following info that will help you later on .

Runny (stool) (poop) (excretion) is not normal and always mean that the canary is sick and need to be cure ASAP. Usually diarrhea caused by bad food,bad water,or un sanitized green that contain bad bacteria and when it enter the canary digestive system will cause him/her to become sick by getting fever, weight lost, lost appetite, unable to eat and may be death.
There are many viruses can enter the canary digestive system created by bad food,bad water and un sanitized Green as Coccidiosis virus, and i advice any breeder to keep the medication to prevent bird from getting this virus or to cure the infected bird with this virus and the good thing is that this medication will cure the sick bird from any type of virus that enter the bird digestive system (for all type of diarrhea) .

To prevent your bird from getting sick :

1) Always add one drop of Dettol or Listerine (mouth wash) any color to 8.oz of water or one tea spoon to gallon of water , it will keep the water clean for long time and it will kill any bad bacteria that can be in the water before even providing it to your bird.
2) Always sanitize the green by:
Fill your kitchen sink with water then add one table spoon of Dettol or Listerine to it, dip the green in mixture and leave it in 15 minutes, then wash the green again with pure water for the last time before you provide it to your bird .
3) clean out all moist food as boiled eggs from the cage before becomes bad and its best to use cage with grill that will not allow your bird to eat dropped food that became old thats willbe harmful to your bird.

I have been using the above methods for years and since then i never had a sick bird with runny stool.
Good luck to you all.
Dean K.

Thank you for the response, and welcome! She is much better now I think it was just one or two days after I bought here. She must have eaten too much greens.

[Rour]

I would use extreme caution giving birds a daily dose of Listerine in their drinking water daily. It contains alcohol (26.9%), benzoic acid, poloxamer 407, sodium benzoate, caramel. The percentage of alcohol is to high for a small bird on a daily basis.

Rinsing greens in apple cider vinegar and adding a drop of organic ACV to 8 oz or 1 tbsp to a gallon might be a better way to go. Some members do use Listerine in a bird's bath when treating for foot sores and that has proven helpful.

I would not supply it daily in the drinking water....it is an antiseptic and can disturb the birds digestive tract...possibly killing off good gut bacteria...it is not meant to be drunk even by humans. For further info on the effects of drinking it you can google and get further info on it.
The bottle clearly states this
"Warnings
Do not use in children under 12 years of age. Keep out of reach of children. If more than used for rinsing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away"

You mentioned greens, are you using a lettuce of some kind? Iceberg lettuce contains to much water and can give loose stools. Try Romaine and alternate it every other or every three days in small amounts, the other days serve mixed veggies and shaved broccoli tops with grated carrots. Rinsing veggies well in warm water is usually enough to clean them. Wash and peel the carrot skin away then grate the carrot.

You can also use a waster cleanser like Aviclens or Sparkle
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_diet.php
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/shop-cleanwater.php

I never give my birds iceburg lettuce and dont eat it myself, either Its just water with zero nutrition. I think it was just the stress of moving to a new house/cage and a different diet. For the Listerine, i agree. I read someone using it for emergencies if the bird is cut somewhere, but i know alcohol also doesnt allow proper crusting of the wound so it will continue to bleed. perhaps a little sea salt solution would work better as emergency disinfectant?

[cindy]

Rour, that is good she is better. Some birds will pig out on veggies and forget their regular foods. I would restrict it for a while and offer it to her on an every other day basis in small amounts. If the stool loosens again after the greens than it was the extra mositure in the food.

My mother had canaries for years when I was growing up, we use to give them green like romaine. She woud wash the leaves off well and let the water dry off of them and pat dry before giving it to them. The extra water from washing and the water in the leaf would loosen the stool a bit. So she dried the food a bit before serving, it helps.

Now I do the same with my birds, a quick dry of the romiane leaves before giving them to my flock.

Hope she continues to do well for you.

[cindy]

Rour, I am not sure of your location and if this is available to you but you may want to try some Herb Salad. My birds all love it, I leave it down so they can go to it as needed

http://www.twinbeaksaviary.com/herbsalad.html

She might like it!

[CandoAviary]

For the Listerine, i agree. I read someone using it for emergencies if the bird is cut somewhere, but i know alcohol also doesnt allow proper crusting of the wound so it will continue to bleed. perhaps a little sea salt solution would work better as emergency disinfectant?

Rour, glad to hear your canary is better. As far as the listerine, rest assure that one drop to 8 oz of water is such a dilution that no harm would come to your bird...just to the nasty things living in the water. Also for soaking greens always rinse before feeding as, Dean said.
The product Cindy metioned contains Chlorhexidine gluconate which is also an antiseptic and should also not be swallowed but these formulas are diluted already plus you dilute it even more with water. Chlorhexidine gluconate would cause intestinal upset in pure strength also . The warning on the listerine bottle is for drinking it at that strength.... not in the dilution of 1 drop to 8 oz. I am sure most people retain much more than that after they expell most of it ... then the coating on your tongue mixed with saliva is swallowed. No harm. Many people use mouthwash for birds water due to the availibility and cheap cost as opposed to spending a fortune on other products. In the avicleanse you are paying for a small amount of Chlorhexidine gluconate and then water...plus the weight of the water in shipping charges. A mouthwash containing chlorhexidine gluconate is a whole lot cheaper and you do the dilution yourself with your own water Also before the bird companies saw there was a market for water cleansers...us old timers always knew the benifits of listerine It was the only product out there to use
Dean raises 1000s of canaries and I have raised my share that lived well into their late teens so I know listerine is harmless to birds at this ration. So anyone wanting to save money please don't be alarmed by the pure strength warnings because that just isn't the case with one drop to 8 oz dilution.
The apple cider vinegar would never deter the bacteria...just make it unfavorable for yeast in the birds intestinal track. Salt water could possibly kill your bird. Birds always drink/sample their bath water before they bath. You don't want your bird drinking salt water.

[cindy]

Candace the products I mentioned are on the ladygouldian.com site and if using it gives intructions for proper use, it is to be diluted in water as per instructions. Let's make it clear since you named me...I did not recommend to use either of the products full strength.

As far as listerine or even bleach, if it kills the bad bacteria in the water cup don't you think over time it is going to kill the good bacteria in the birds gut? How does it know to tell the difference???Frankly I would not use it. Listerine is a product of Warner Lambert....a company my father did research and development for....frankly I would not ingest it or give it/expect an animal to ingest either.

To each his own. I would rather use organic AVC.

[debbie276]

As far as listerine or even bleach, if it kills the bad bacteria in the water cup don't you think over time it is going to kill the good bacteria in the birds gut? How does it know to tell the difference???

Just curious, what would prevent the Aviclens or Sparkle from killing the good bacteria? Can it tell the difference from good and bad?

Aviclens and Sparkles active ingredient is Chlorhexidine gluconate which is often used as an active ingredient in mouthwash designed to reduce dental plaque and oral bacteria. Chlorhexidine lasts longer in the mouth than other mouthwashes and this is partly why it is preferred over other treatments for gingivitis. It sure sounds very similar to listerine.

[cindy]

Debbie, I ws just thinking the same thing, I also recall a friend our ours using drops of bleach in the birds water...she contacted me saying all her gouldian young were dying in the nest. I asked her routine...she told me, I asked what type of water she used, she said tap but added bleach. We told her to stop the practice of using a chemical and to switch to AVC. Bleach can to differentiate between the good and bad bacteria...eventually over time the gut flora is harmed.

She stopped the bleach and rested her birds before setting them to nest again. They raised the next clutch to fledge/weaning.

Listerine is meant for human oral use and should not be ingested, when used in the mouth and expelled it kills off the bad bacteria such as with gum disease, I imagine some good is also compromised but the mouth regenerated quickly, unfortunately the gut flora is not so quick to recover and may need help.

I would rather use the AVC...it is a bit more beneficial, it also helps to control the slim in the water tubes.

interesting reading.... http://ciitn.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/pub_v ... id=2007009

We use non alcohol mouthwash in our home.
http://www.naturecanheal.com/dental-pro ... hwash.html