Psychology of parakeets

Question
Why would a parakeet (8 years old) not want to poop in her cage? She seems afraid of something. Had xray, including barium, with nothing showing as far as eggs or growths in intestines.  She's fine once out of her cage. Her demeanor has completely changed since the summer when she had been on Ampothericin (sp.) for having seeds in her droppings. Could this have caused this behavior change? She had also gone through her major molt at the same time.  

Answer
Hi, Bette.  Thanks for posting!

I think you're referring to 2 different types of changes here.  Illness can result in behavior (demeanor) changes, but bird(s) should get back to normal if proper medication was prescribed and it worked properly to clear up the illness.  Did your avian vet confirm the nondigestion of seed problem has been sucessfully cleared up (after meds, it's desirable to take bird back in to see vet to confirm illness is gone)?

Not wanting to poop in a cage and not being able to poop are 2 different things.  Do you know for sure which it is, i.e., are you sure your 8-year old keet is able to poop but can't?  Sometimes this can result when a bird is on medication.  Is she holding her poo until she's out of her cage?  Some birds don't like their cages being messy (which is the complete opposite of most parrots!).  If she's allowed out of her cage a lot, she may be one of these types of birds.  I have a conure who can't stand anything on his cage bottom...he will go to great lengths to keep his cage bottom clean (except for his feces).  For example, when he eats a grape, he'll take the grape skin and shove it through the cage wire onto the floor instead of just letting the skin drop to his cage bottom.  

Is there a chance she's using this so you will let her out of her cage every day?  Parrots are smart...some learn how to get their way by manipulating their humans.  It doesn't make sense that she can poo outside her cage, but not when she's inside her cage.  In other words, this doesn't appear from information in your post to be a physiological problem.  

Is there something else that may have happened over the summer to change your bird(s) behavior?  For example, someone new added to the household/someone removed from the household, house remodeling, new furniture, bird's cage location changed, new pets in the home, something happen with an existing pet in the home, are there other birds present, new cage, etc.?  Is there a reason she would be afraid of the inside of her cage?  Is her cage large enough?  Think back to when her behavior changed...any major changes for your bird or in your home, people in your home, other animals in your home, etc.?  Sometimes things that mean little or nothing to us are major issues to our birds.

I need as much information/details as you can provide.  Did an avian veterinarian put your bird(s) on antibiotics?  Thanks.

Chrys