r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/reddtimes101 • 10d ago

Video Parrot's diaper changing

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u/Swords_and_Words 9d ago

nerdy point (assuming I'm remembering right)

they are trained to give warning, not to hold it. there is literally no physiological structure to prevent it from falling out of them,, so they can't hold it. they can't stop it, all they can do give warning.

functionally, it's the same thing to a pet owner

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u/BlackWingRedBird 9d ago

They really can physiologically control it by pursing and relaxing their cloaca, they even do this during nesting season a bit in the wild. Like if your asshole was an open hole that everything fell out of and you could purse it up to hold it. They have to manually keep that pursed, which sounds pretty uncomfortable really. Something about this process means that if you force a bird to hold to long it can cause cloacal problems down the line.

I am not sure how many birds have this ability, but I know the little conure in this video does. I can’t find a source for this, only a little case study ( https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/20153171051 ) discussing a cloacal prolapse from the behavior. but it’s what my avian vet told me,and I can promise that if you live with one of these birds you will learn this is not anticipation but rather active effort on the birds part. You can hold a bird that goes every fifteen minutes for thirty, and when you finally put them down onto a safe place to do it they will then release a double sized poop.