When a Puteh is subject to sudden change of diet/ inconsistency it will go into molt even if it is not the time yet for molting. Older birds need more fruit, they tend to develop too much “fire” with dry food and start to molt.
You will notice some of these:
a) Puteh becomes fluffy or 'fat' (sudden drop in form).
b) Small pieces of feathers dropping (plucking feathers every now and then).
c) Growing of white “hairs” (especially over the top part from neck upwards).
Maybe you should have set up its cage with all the niceties of "Puteh" life like; a cut of papaya, water chestnut or luffa during this molting period. Fresh water, dry food and cover its cage fully with a piece of cloth completely. Slowly you may remove the cloth raising it higher every 3-4 days till it finished molting.
During molting period, bathe the Puteh twice a day. (Rice water will help up the molting process). The Puteh will grow excellent brilliant conditioned beautiful plumage.
What does it mean if my Puteh has watery faeces?
If your Puteh have watery (or soft) faeces, then there is cause for worry; but a Puteh's faeces are expected to be watery since its natural diet consists largely of liquid & soft food - nectar and fruits. If your Puteh's faeces are hard - you should be worried.
Remember this: the Puteh's diet, apart from nectar and fruits, also comprise of small juicy insects and grubs; all of which are soft food. Squash a caterpillar and you will agree with me.
So how did this 'fact' about too much fruits come about? The old timers tend to equate their pet birds' faeces with the human variety - and that is incorrect.
If you have ever kept a finch which is a pure seed eater and supplemented with some green leafy vegetable, you would immediately notice two things - first is the finch's faeces is not watery and the second is the perch sticks are sticky. The faeces are not watery because the seeds provide lots of roughage. The perch sticks are sticky because some of the seeds are high in carbohydrates.
If you feed the Puteh with water chestnut, its faeces will be firm/dry as noted by Sunny. I would like to add that the bird's faeces are firm/dry is simply due to the fact that water chestnut is fibrous. Next time when you eat water chestnuts, take time to note how it feels when you keep chewing on it for a full minute or more - the water chestnut mash still feels solid. Compare it to say a bite of apple or papaya - it would be all mushy gooey in less than a minute. Naturally when the bird is fed with water chestnut, you can expect with 100% certainty that its droppings will be 'dry' or firm.
(Note about papayas: The papaya fruit has laxative qualities. The most active laxative part of the fruit is the white pimply surface in the center where the seeds are found. So naturally, you will notice an increase in defaecation when you feed your Puteh with papayas.)
In the case of oranges you will actually see the orange rind in the faeces, whereas the water chestnut fibre is finer and hence not quite so obvious. But why is the faeces 'dry' in the case of water chestnut and wet in the case of oranges? The answer is simply that oranges have a higher liquid content.
What about too many oranges and the Puteh's faces is yellowish wet?
Wet, is due to the high water content of the orange fruit. The colouring is due to the orange itself. The bird's digestive system will only absorb the vitamins, minerals, the fructose (sugar) and pass out the rest. The same applies to apples and papayas. In the case of apples the faeces will be brownish wet. The brown colour is due to natural discolouration of a cut apple exposed to air and in this case the apple has in fact been through an added process in the bird's digestive system which of course will be passed out brown in colour.
Too much fruits will lower the bird's “Api” is another common belief. Not true. How could that be when in its natural environment the Puteh is in constant search for fruits and nectar, its natural diet?
In fact now is the Mata Puteh's high season. The rains have started. Take a Saturday off on your won and observe them in the wild. The insects are out in full force, especially after the rain stops. The Mata Putehs will have a feast. The protein and calcium supplement from the insects helps them to prepare for breeding and to feed its hatch-lings.
Another common belief is feeding the Puteh with too much insects, meal worms and grubs is bad. Maybe true. Insects and other such stuff are the Puteh's source of protein and calcium. Too much protein may cause some problems for the bird. Its tiny liver will not be able to cope. But as I said earlier, the Puteh eats only what is necessary, so is there any worry that it might over eat insects and such? Yes, especially when you do not provide it with enough fruits, pellets, and nectar, then the Puteh has no choice but to eat more of the insects you give it.
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Enjoy your hobby, cheers!
Thanks for the informative sharing
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