GCC Not pooping when I'm not home

[TuliBird]

Hi Everyone! New member with a kind of urgent question, since I have to leave for around 12 hours tomorrow for an all-day event...

Last week my 8-month old GCC, Tuli, decided to stop pooping when I'm not home. This is really puzzling because he goes pretty much whenever, wherever he wants when I am home (I only set him down in places he's allowed to poo). He's potty trained to the extent that he knows not to go on my shoulder, and he'll go if I ask him to before he steps up most of the time (though not always).

My avian vet says it's a myth that birds will hold it till they make themselves sick, and that he'll go if he REALLY needs to, but he held it for 9 hours last weekend when I had to be away for work. I know they hold it for 12 hours sometimes when they sleep, but they aren't eating all night like they are during the day.

Also, since I work in the film business, there will be some days coming up soon where I will have to work 16 hours/day for 4 or 5 days in a row, and I'm really worried about what could happen if he didn't go for that long.

I work from home most of the time, so he's only held it for 9 hours once, and I've only left for a few hours at a time other than that one 9-hour day, so maybe it's a phase, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what they've done about it.

Thanks for the awesome forum, by the way! I read a ton of useful stuff on here while researching before getting my conure, but just got around to joining today.

Oh, and I forgot to mention- Tuli does poop in his cage if I shut him in there when I'm home, though he has been more reluctant to lately.

 

[ShellyBorg]

I would not worry about it. If he will poop in his cage he will if he has too. Does he have toys that encourage him to move about the cage? Movement helps with the urge to poop.

 

[MikeyTN]

How did you know he did not poop while you were away? Were you inspecting his cage bottom?

 

[TuliBird]

ShellyBorg: Thanks for the reassurance. He does have toys in different areas of the cage, but he tends to be the type that obsesses over one toy at a time, though.

Hopefully he's not crazy enough to hold it till it makes him sick. Although a lot of "experts" say potty training is dangerous, I have yet to find anyone with a personal account of a bird that got sick from holding it till its owner came home, so hopefully my vet is right that it's a myth.

MikeyTN: Yes, I changed his paper when I left in the morning, and when I came back, there was no poo except for the really huge one he made when I came in. I hadn’t even opened the cage door yet- he just saw me and made a huge poo. For some reason he’s decided he’d rather I be there before he poops. And I know he wasn’t sleeping all day, because he’d completely shredded a toy.

 

[MissTaz]

I have the same issue and sometimes it's scary because I'm gone for 10 to 11 hours at a time. I took my Rory to the Vet and the Vet said he's fine. Everyone keeps telling me if he has to go he will go. But it still freaks me out. Good luck and I totally understand your concern.

 

[MikeyTN]

I have a few birds that poop in the same area over and over, on top of it's existing poop. They're really good at pooping in the same area sometimes. Willie my macaw is one of them, it's always in the same exact spot....

 

[TuliBird]

MikeyTN: That's interesting. He does do that occasionally when I'm home, but he's usually a little off each time, so I can tell where he's done individual poops. This time I'm pretty sure he just didn't poop at all while I was gone, though :\

 

[MikeyTN]

That seem pretty strange....I guess you just have to keep an eye on him....I hope it's just a fluke and nothing crazy....

 

[antoinette]

Something you could try
When placing Tuli back in his cage ask him to poopie while still holding him.
Keep repeating this whenever he goes back into his cage.
Hopefully he will latch on and begin pooping in his cage.
I say it's worth a try

 

[MonicaMc]

He's already been trained to go poo before coming out of the cage when his companion is home, so it's not an issue of going inside the cage... it's an issue of only going when he sees his human.... the human is the trigger to go. No human, no go.

I wonder if Lara Joseph may have some ideas on how to "untrain" a behavior?

 

[Ravennessa]

Untrain I am not sure of... But you could maybe do a recording that goes off once an hour that asks him to poop and train him to poop on command from thatone maybe?

 

[TuliBird]

Update on the situation: While I was gone for 11 hours yesterday, he did poop! Just 4 poops in his cage when I got home- one huge one and 3 normal size, all pretty fresh- so it seems like he held it till he couldn't anymore, then just gave up and started pooping normally again.

I'm really relieved he didn't hold it till something bad happened, but it's probably still not good for him in the long run. Maybe as I leave for a long time more often he'll eventually figure out that he shouldn't hold it at all? I really am hoping it's just a phase, but I know sometimes these things can become habit, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!