Chalky red food around cockatiel's cage on the walls? Vomit?

[zebugman]

Hello!

I have a cockatiel named Popcorn who, this morning, had some chalky red looking food splattered on the walls this morning (pictures below, though the yellow walls make it seem like a darker red than it is, for what it's worth).

I'm confused, because my little research found that when birds vomit, they tend to get it on themselves as well. However, lil Popcorn was as chirpy, happy, and flappy as ever when I let her out and held her this morning, demanding scritches and all, with no abnormal behavioural signs.

She's only two, and at last year's checkup she was in perfect health (it's about time for this year's). Should I be concerned though? Any clue what this could be a result of? It looks awful, but I'm lost because she seems as happy as can be. (Click thumbnail for full size)

(Left of cage)


(Back of cage)


(Right of cage)

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum - and isn't it a trip how we worry all the time about our birds?! Now, this doesn't look like vomit to me (vomit is kind of concentrated in one spot, not splattered all over the place - and there would be much more of it). It looks like food splattered - at least, that's what the back of my birds cages look pretty much all the time (I clean it in the morning but there is always more once they eat their breakfast). What did you feed her the day before or that same day? Does she get colored pellets? Or a seed mix where some of the seeds have coloring on them or maybe little pieces of dry fruit? Red grapes? Apple with the red skin still on? Cherries? Some other thing that is red like red Swiss Chard, for example? Because, when we freak out, our minds go blank and we kind of stop thinking... Just two days ago, I saw a poop with what looked like bloody urine around it - I knew it was from Keku Quaker because it was in the spot where she always perches while I am at the computer (she comes and gloes flying all over the place but she has three spots where she likes to perch 'to keep me company' while I am at the computer and this was one of them) so I looked at her and she was OK (clean vent, alert, very active, etc) so I decided to keep my eye on her and see if she was chewing on any of the Christmas decorations I still have out (because I had found Annie GCC chewing on some of them). Then I found another bloody poop and I freaked out big time! So I stopped, took a few deep breaths and closing my eyes, started thinking hard - and then I remembered that, that same morning, they had gotten red Swiss Chard as their green of the day - and she is a big greens eater - and I do mean BIG! She had been eating the red stalks and two hours later, like clock work, she was pooping them. Mystery solved! So think carefully what she was eating that day, look around the room or rooms where she comes out to fly and see if there is anything red that she could have chewed on and look at whatever she has in the cage (could there be newspaper that has a picture with red on it at the bottom?). And, if you don't find anything, keep a close eye on her and, if it happens again, take her to the vet.

[freya the ringneck]

Personally i have a hard time cleaning the walls around my messy Indian ringneck's cage.
There is chalky red dry food stuck on the walls, after closer inspection i know 100% its dried strawberry bits. Freya is a very messy eater. Do you think the red chalky stuff on your wall could be a sort of berry leftover? It could dried blood of some sort, do you know of any where your bird bleeds?
Does your bird have sandpaper perches? They make there feet bleed, do you have a fluffy tent of some sort? There nails get caught and rip off. Stuff like that.
Also i read that you use newspaper floor lining? For the first 2 weeks of owning my bird i used newspaper before i knew how bad it was. When water falls on to it the colour leaks thats why it might look like a red blob, all the areas which are wet smudge and blur. And once its wet it sets a chemical in the which is bad for bird i recommend changing from newspaper.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum, Freya IRN and human! Can you please share with us a link about the toxicity of newspaper ink? Because every single piece of research I have on this tells me that the ink that is now used on newspapers is soy based (and the red is actually crushed insects that are not poisonous at all - they are also used for cosmetics and drinks) and completely non-toxic dry or wet. As a matter of fact, I have a certificate on first aid and we were taught on the course that, if we ever needed something very clean (newspapers off the presses are literally sterile) and safe, we should use an unread newspaper -like if we needed to wrap a newborn or a bad wound, for example. I've been using and still use newspapers for my cages so, if they are not safe, I need to know...

Here are two links I've kept as reference on this:
https://www.wisegeek.com/what-chemicals ... er-ink.htm
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0145/ ... /G3546.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal

[freya the ringneck]

First of all, wow good job on having a first aid certificate! It really just depends on the type of newspaper, because most newspaper is soy based nowadays and they are perfectly fine for your bird like you said. just some places don't so I prefer not to use it just in case. Some small stores use toxic ink. I also read that most of india's newspapers are still toxic.

I also have another idea of what the red looking bird poo could be. Does your birds have coloured wooden toys? I once put a coloured wood toy in a bag with a spray bottle with just water in it. I didn't close it right and when i opened the bag the colour had leaked a bit. So that could be the bloody blob at the bottom of the cage could be. Although i don't think it would only leak one drop, Did you see multiple or just one? I agree with you, just to be safe next time it happens i would take your cockatiel to the vet.

[Pajarita]

Yes, I know about India and I would assume there are other countries that still use toxic elements in their newspapers ink but not in USA. Here, newspapers are completely safe. And, to clarify, unless I read it wrong, the OP is worried about red splatters on the walls and there was no mention of a red stain at the bottom of the cage BUT you are right that the bird could have chewed on a red toy.