Hi,

to answer some questions posted by Lexan:
1)--> is it true in that once the shit is watery its irreversible.

Ans: I don't think so. The normal body physiology adapts to the changes in the diet/environment. If there's a substantial reduction in water in the diet, the total water output (poo poo) is also reduced. UNLESS, the kidney's not working to par.


2) -->But if the bird is good and still worth keeping,try chinese tea.I had tried it before and it works wonders.Not concentrated but dilute with water.Green tea is also ok.

Ans: Unfortunately I have not read any papers/literature regarding this issue but it is interesting. I can't shed more light on this matter.

What you have to be wary about is the Caffein content. It is known in literature that coffee and tea which contains caffein is contraindicated in birds. Not all birds will react to it, but some might and develop cardio/respiratory signs. (heart/lungs).



I do agree with ahpeow:


---->If your puteh is still slim looking, and active but watery droppings, then in this case, nothing much you can do to it. Its more of a habit. Some tends to eat more fruits and drink more water then eating birdfeed, hence dropping is watery. There are cases where watery droppings are cause by hot stuffy enviroment, once they get the habit, its irreversible.

All in all, I feel that it is ok to have watery droppings, so long the bird is healthy and singing. There are people who discard such bird, main reason is because they are too messy to take care. I have one puteh that can drink a whole tube of water in less than a day, its dropping is basically water, no solid, but the bird can chai, almost anywhere, and I still keeping it.


Watery stools is usually caused by diet and environmental stresses.
Vegetable/fruits, though important part of the diet, also tend to increase the water content of the faeces/shit.

BUT depriving water to a bird for a long long time is NOT GOOD. It may cause irreversible damage to their kidneys.


Some birds that forms a "habit" of eating lots of fruits/vege and drinking lots of water tend to dilute their kidney function and hence loose it's kidney ability to concentrate urine.......hence the increased in "watery stools".

My advice is: give it a limitted /controlled quantity of water daily.
Eg. a 40g bird probably needs 4ml of water/day. Maybe give 2ml twice a day can help reduced the watery stool.


Let me know if this helps.

Cheers

-Kenneth