Conure troubles !

[Silveria90]

Hi! ^^
I bought a female Green-cheeked conure a few months ago that just turned 1 year, and i`ve been having troubles and i was hoping someone in here could help me! >.<

First, she`s really frightened of my hands for some reason. I cannot teach her to step up or pet her because she will run away from my hands. Unless i have a treat in my hands, she wont come near them. I know its still early but she`s really really scared of hands.

Second, she keeps ruining her tailfeathers on her cage by climbing on the walls of it, and im kinda stumped on what to do about that. Its a normal parrotcage, no tricks to it x_x

And lastly, is there anyone who knows any tips on "toilet training" a bird? Everytime I have her out of her cage she craps everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And all the time, like, how much can one little bird contain? xD

Hope that somebody have some good advice!

Haru & Ida

 

[MonicaMc]

First, she`s really frightened of my hands for some reason. I cannot teach her to step up or pet her because she will run away from my hands. Unless i have a treat in my hands, she wont come near them. I know its still early but she`s really really scared of hands.
Make your hand an extension of whatever she's sitting on, then teach her, with treats, to move towards your hand, touch your hand, then eventually touch it.

Here's the step up process laid down in steps.

1. Reward bird for looking at you.
2. Reward your bird for moving his head towards you.
3. Reward your bird for taking a step towards you.
4. Reward your bird for taking another step towards you.
5. If he doesn't run away, keep rewarding him for remaining where he's at. (if he runs/backs off, you may need to start over again)
6. Reward your bird for taking a couple more steps closer.
7. Encourage him to come closer yet again and reward him.
8. Reward your bird for touching you with his toe(s).
9. Reward your bird for putting a foot on you.
10. *JACKPOT REWARD* Give your bird lots of goodies for putting both feet on you!

I went into more detail about that training step up in another thread.
http://www.parrotforums.com/indian-ringnecks/44425-scared-hands.html#post391915



Second, she keeps ruining her tailfeathers on her cage by climbing on the walls of it, and im kinda stumped on what to do about that. Its a normal parrotcage, no tricks to it x_x
The cage could be too small.... maybe the bars are wrong.... or she's just young and hasn't figured out how to steer her tail yet so she doesn't destroy it! She should learn how to take better care of it as she gets older.


And lastly, is there anyone who knows any tips on "toilet training" a bird? Everytime I have her out of her cage she craps everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And all the time, like, how much can one little bird contain? xD
Potty training a bird is more training yourself than the bird. Any time you notice she has to go, quickly put her over something you want her to go over and say "Go Potty" or "Bombs Away!" or any other alternative word choice.

Just a word of caution, if she learns this behavior too well, she may stop going in her cage, and may even stop going altogether unless cued to go. This could then result in her getting sick if she holds it in.

Personally, I'd rather have a bird poop on me, the furniture and the floor more than I would want a bird to only go potty when cued to do so. I'm not home all the time so there is no way I could cue the behavior when I'm not there.

 

[TheImpaler]

Regarding the poop, it's something you can't really force but you can manage it with positive reinforcement. Loads of praise when they go in the cage or in a designated spot, along with a treat if you catch it right away.
I'm pleased if they make it most of time, and keep in mind that for the first year they're still learning control. Potty training a toddler who flies is hard, and will take time and lots of paper towel.
good luck

Also, I've noticed since I'm training my 6 month old Caique, my 4yr old Conure is getting better at it too. They go back to their cages and poop on paper at least 80% of the time which I think is fantastic.

 

[WhirlyBirdy]

regarding toilet training a bird, it will be variable. it really depends on the mentality of the bird. for example my sun conure I've had him for six months his pooped on the floor like ten times and has never pooped on me. he toilet trained really quickly because I used to leave him on his playstand until he pooped then take him of play with him for like five minutes and the put him back and wait and after like two weeks he was toilet trained because he craves attention and being on me. now he's in a perfect routine you put on the play stand and he poops straight away, oddly enough he feels happy to poop anywhere in the garden. on the other hand our green cheek conure hasn't responded to the same training methods as quickly probably because he is quite content on the playstand and doesn't care much for human interaction. you probably need to get a good bond with your bird so it's not scared of your hands, before you try and teach it when to poop.

 

[kiwiS]

I carry a bird potty around with me everywhere and put kiwi on it every five to ten minutes and say "poop". It's come to a point where she'll get antsy when she's on me, and I'll know it's time to go. Sometimes she'll even say the word "poop". I also make sure that every few times she gets to go in her cage, and other resting areas , like her backup cage, play stand, t-stand, travel cage. This will show her that going toilet in all those spots are OK.

Whatever you do never punish for making a poop mess. The only way to prevent her from making a mess..or even worse, 'holding it' for you is to be a conscientious owner yourself and make sure you give her the opportunity to go in your desired spots every few minutes.

I don't know how far you can advance with the potty training outside of the cage though if she doesn't trust you yet with handling. I'd work on that first before worrying about the potty thing…