HELP PLEASE! desperate bird Mom!!!

[PipnMe]

Hi all! I’m having a bit of trouble with my GCC. He/she is 1 year old. He is a good little bird, sweet and loving, but HE WONT POOP IN HIS CAGE! I’ve done everything. I bought him a day time cage because I thought maybe he didn’t like pooping where he slept, that didn’t work, I stoped letting him poop in the sink where I used to let him do his morning poop, I’ve tried rewarding him when he first pooped in the new cage (a thing he no longer does) I’ve tried cage training him, but no matter how badly he has to poop as soon as I bring him 8 inches close to his cage he will clench up MID POOP and won’t go! I’m going crazy. I work 12 hour shifts and I sick of worrying that he is holding pooping when I’m gone (at work or shopping or hiking), it’s starting to dictate my life and I’m getting frustrated. He is a tiny little bird in a 32x20 inch cage. He has pellets, fresh fruit, veggies, quinoa, seeds and pleny of water, he gets LOTS of attention when I’m home, and my roommate has him out with her when she’s home. I need help! He’ll poop anywhere else but his cage. Please help.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I have never heard of this! Wow.
Usually, folks haave the very opposite probkem: 'how can I get my bird to poop less outside of his cage?'
Are you sure he doesn't poop? I'm guessing you look at the cge floor/papders?
I'm confused. Maybe a consultation with an avian vet would help? Here's a link.
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
Regular vets often "wing it" with birds, although some are very caring.

I'm trying to brainstorm what might be going on here.

Let's see what members think.

 

[Scott]

I suspect he perceives the 32 x 20 cage as too small. Might view it as a nest box, a place they typically don't use for elimination.

This is an interesting dilemma, one I've not experienced. Hopefully other members will give additional advice.

 

[PipnMe]

Hi GaleriaGila! I’m positive he isn’t pooping in his cage, not only are there zero poops on the bottom of his cage, when I take him out after getting home he will do a really big poop like the size of his morning poop, but when he is out of his cage he will poop normally. I know this isn’t normal behavior for a tiny bird! That’s why I’m at my wits end! Thank you for your link! I’m gunna check it out!!

 

[noodles123]

Eek... hmm...
That is a valid concern. Assuming his health has been checked by a CAV....

My only though would be to teach him the phrase "go poop" (when he poops anywhere, start saying "good poop").
Once he knows the word poop, you could wait for him to poop (anywhere) and then say "good poop" and reward (if treats work for him, or if attention works better, pick one)..Your bird probably exhibits certain behavioral cues right before pooping, so when he does start to stick his butt up (but before he poops), say the words, "go poop" and then say, "good poop" after he does and present the reward.

When you see him eating, time how long it takes him to go (again anywhere, even outside of cage). Then you can anticipate when he should be pooping next. When he has been rewarded for pooping outside of the cage and knows the word, you could try getting him to poop on top of the cage until you work your way up to closing the cage with him inside (on a weekend) and telling him repeatedly to "go poop". If/when he does, REWARD THE HECK OUT OF HIM. Do not give the poop rewards at other times once you get to this point. This way, he may begin to associate pooping in the cage with positive things (assuming you pick a really motivating treat)....That is the only solution that I can think of...Hope it helps!

 

[EllenD]

I've heard of this happening, it's not common but it does happen, usually after a person trains their bird to only poop in one particular spot that is not their cage. Most birds can be taught to "only" poop on a certain play-stand, in a certain trash-can, on the toilet, in the sink, etc., but when it gets to the point where they are locked in their cage and they have to go, they just go. It's extremely rare, but sometimes this happens, where the bird knows that he is supposed to poop in only one particular spot, and if he's not in that spot he holds it until he literally might explode...This is actually very, very common in some dogs, but less-so in birds...But I do remember another post on here not that long ago, maybe a couple of months ago, where someone had the exact same problem, and it was resulting in their bird developing a Urinary Tract Infection...The other thing that can happen as a result of them holding their droppings that long is that they can actually lose total control of their "bowels", as the sphincter-muscle that controls holding-in and releasing the droppings becomes so stretched-out and/or develops nerve-damage that it no longer works and the bird cannot control their droppings at all...So you definitely need to figure this out and get him to stop holding it like this, if he is truly holding it for as long as you say every single day...

Did you initially purposely train him to only poop somewhere specific (you mentioned the sink)? I'm trying to understand the original reason why he started this to begin with, as it is usually the way of figuring out how to correct it...

 

[lplummer52]

Birdie is exactly the same way. I love it! I'd rather wash poop down the drain than scrub it out of her cage. She spends very little time in her cage though. At night and if we leave the house for a few hours. We are retired though, so are not gone all day. My girlfriend's African Grey is the same way, so it's not not unusual. She's retired too though. There have been a few times when we've left her caged and are out for more than a couple hours, and she will poop in her cage, but very rarely. She has favorite places to poop. Sinks, backs of chairs and her play stand. I have a few paper towels under the chairs where she poops. By the way, vinegar and water is the best cleaner for bird poop. It softens up in about 3 minutes. We live in FL, so have all tile floors, so this is not a problem for me.

 

[lplummer52]

PS: My avian vet says a lot of birds are this way if they are allowed out of their cage a lot.

 

[noodles123]

My cockatoo hates pooping in her travel cage but she knows the phrase "go poop" and will do it with enough prompting. I start prompting when I see her exhibiting signs that she needs to go/is anxious (normally she plays and eats, but when she needs to go while traveling, she will bang her beak, bob etc). Mine also hates pooping in her real cage, but she does now (even though initially she held it)...She prefers to poop onto mats around the edge of her cage...


In addition to my suggestion that you teach her "go poop" and "good poop" (+reward), I meant to ask about cage size and how often the liners are changed, as this could have an impact.

 

[itzjbean]

I had this happen to me!!!

I had my Jenday Conure potty trained in days. It worked too well -- he would literally hold it until I took him out -- he would ONLY go if he was on my finger!

Since I was at school all day (7-8 hours) with swim practice after (2 hours), it was far too long for him to hold it so for two days I had to keep him inside his cage.

It worked fine -- he eventually went, reverted back to going inside the cage and I didn't bother to potty-train him anymore after that.

For my cockatiels now....I just have a daily 'poop on' shirt!

 

[EllenD]

I had this happen to me!!!

I had my Jenday Conure potty trained in days. It worked too well -- he would literally hold it until I took him out -- he would ONLY go if he was on my finger!

Since I was at school all day (7-8 hours) with swim practice after (2 hours), it was far too long for him to hold it so for two days I had to keep him inside his cage.

It worked fine -- he eventually went, reverted back to going inside the cage and I didn't bother to potty-train him anymore after that.

I thought that this might be the best way of breaking them of the habit, but I wasn't sure that they wouldn't hurt themselves trying to hold it that long...That's what I meant when I said that this is "rare", not that it's rare that they refuse to poop in their cages, but rare that they don't eventually just go...

If your bird was able to hold it for 2 days, go, and was fine afterwards, then that probably is the best thing to try first. Just put him inside of his cage and not let him out until he poops. Hopefully you're home and you see it when he does poop so you can praise the hell out of him and reward him big-time with his favorite treat, but if you're not home to see it but you do see it in the bottom of his cage, then just let him out ASAP and reward him...Hopefully this will snap him out of it, as this definitely is not a good situation at all for someone who isn't home most of the day to let their bird out to go. I see how it could be very convenient for someone who works from home or is retired and is there all day to let the bird do his thing in the spot other than their cage, but if you're not home for 7-8 hours or more a day, every day, then this could become very dangerous to the bird's health.

 

[PipnMe]

I've heard of this happening, it's not common but it does happen, usually after a person trains their bird to only poop in one particular spot that is not their cage. Most birds can be taught to "only" poop on a certain play-stand, in a certain trash-can, on the toilet, in the sink, etc., but when it gets to the point where they are locked in their cage and they have to go, they just go. It's extremely rare, but sometimes this happens, where the bird knows that he is supposed to poop in only one particular spot, and if he's not in that spot he holds it until he literally might explode...This is actually very, very common in some dogs, but less-so in birds...But I do remember another post on here not that long ago, maybe a couple of months ago, where someone had the exact same problem, and it was resulting in their bird developing a Urinary Tract Infection...The other thing that can happen as a result of them holding their droppings that long is that they can actually lose total control of their "bowels", as the sphincter-muscle that controls holding-in and releasing the droppings becomes so stretched-out and/or develops nerve-damage that it no longer works and the bird cannot control their droppings at all...So you definitely need to figure this out and get him to stop holding it like this, if he is truly holding it for as long as you say every single day...

Did you initially purposely train him to only poop somewhere specific (you mentioned the sink)? I'm trying to understand the original reason why he started this to begin with, as it is usually the way of figuring out how to correct it...

Hi there EllenD! I only had him do his morning poops in the sink when I first got him because I noticed he didn’t like doing it in his cage. At the time he was just weaned and he would poop fine in his cage aside from the mornings. But little by little he would stop pooping in his cage all together and would poop in the house wherever he wanted.

 

[PipnMe]

I’ve tried keeping him in his cage till he goes (in the morning) but he will hold it till 2:00 pm and I’m scared that he’ll get sick l, so I let him out.

 

[PipnMe]

PS: My avian vet says a lot of birds are this way if they are allowed out of their cage a lot.

He is out ALOT when I’m home. If I’m not working he is out of the cage all day and when my roommate is home she has him out too.

 

[ChristaNL]

Same here,


Appie really preferes to poop outside her cage (sitting on the door where I will step in it if I do not pay attention is the best place of course ) but she will still poop in the cage if she can't get out.



I never pottytrain them as such because I know it can give them issues - just made it very clear I do not appreciate being pooped on and will compliment if they fly/walk away and do it somewhere else.
(My computur monitor usually pays the price ...)


Sunny actually does the opposite: most of her poop ends up in/ next to the cage.
(She is and excellent 'excrement exits through the bars' pooper - because of all the hanging from the ceiling she still does, though that is improving.)


=


as always: reward what you want done.
(unless the cage is too much "home/nest" ...maybe hang a birdbath from it?)

 

[wrench13]

Ellen has likely given you the best advice. Keep him in his cage for 2 days - he will poop. Reward him etc.
Spot on again Ms D.

Bigger cage wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Squeekmouse]

First, 32 x 20 is plenty big enough (in my opinion) for a GCC. Especially if he spends most of his waking time outside of it, with you.



It's natural for a bird to hold it for 12 hours or so during the 'night' hours. It's also natural for them to not want to poop in their 'nest' if they can avoid it. Your bird knows that when night time ends, you will take him out, so he is waiting for that to happen to do his Good Morning poop. My Yoda does the same thing. When he first came home with us he was OK pooping in his cage, but as he got comfortable here and began to accept his cage as 'Home' he stopped wanting to poop in there. We were also potty training him so I was scared we had trained him into unhealthy behavior. I wrote emails to every bird expert I could find and also asked my vet. The response I got was pretty much the same from everyone:


Your bird does need to learn that it is OK to poop in his cage, so do encourage him to do so and reward him if he does so in your presence. However, it's not so unusual that he would prefer to not poop in his home. On the bright side, it's good that he has accepted his new cage as his home and wants to keep it clean. Because he spends most of his waking time outside of his cage, it's like he views the cage as his (extra-large) bed and doesn't want to poop where he sleeps. So be sure to let him poop right away when he gets out, and if you ever need to leave him in there during his normal waking hours, he should eventually poop.



With Yoda, he won't poop in his cage all night long, and in the morning he will wait until I take him out and put him on his pooping perch before he will do his Big Morning Poop. Once he is out and about with me, he will generally go to his perch or playgym to poop. If I put him back in his cage (because I'm leaving the house or doing something he can't be around), he would prefer to hold it and not poop in there, but after being in there for an hour or so, he will eventually poop.

I also agree with what Ellen said also, about leaving him in there in the morning until he gives up on waiting and just goes in his cage. Getting the opinion of a CAV is always a good idea of course, and if he absolutely will not poop in there even after many hours of 'daytime', then that is a problem.

 

[dhraiden]

Mochi (our GCC) was like that for the first year or so since getting here in the summer of '15. It seemed like she literally waited all day to be let out and pooped on a counter on command...she'd practically be trembling! It was worrisome and bothersome to observe...I eventually read enough to realize it that even if she tried to "hold it in", her physiology wouldn't allow it indefinitely - and sure enough over time she's begun to go in her cage (and, presumably, become comfortable with that).

 

[Scott]

My cockatoo hates pooping in her travel cage but she knows the phrase "go poop" and will do it with enough prompting. I start prompting when I see her exhibiting signs that she needs to go/is anxious (normally she plays and eats, but when she needs to go while traveling, she will bang her beak, bob etc). Mine also hates pooping in her real cage, but she does now (even though initially she held it)...She prefers to poop onto mats around the edge of her cage...


In addition to my suggestion that you teach her "go poop" and "good poop" (+reward), I meant to ask about cage size and how often the liners are changed, as this could have an impact.

I do similar with Gabby. When he's on my shoulder I can sense a hint of squirming and tensing. Immediately pick him up and hold over newspaper, a toilet, trashcan, etc and say "go poo poo." He knows exactly what this means, and is rewarded with "good bird" and a hug.

 

[Tami2]

Levi doesn’t like to poop in his cage either. He also does poop on the command, “go poop”.

However, he will go in his cage if I’m gone for too long or he really has to go.
So, luckily I don’t have this concern.

I agree w/ the advice of leaving him in as well as giving the command “go poop”.
Along with the positive reinforcement when he does go in his cage.
I’d give him his most favorite treat for sure with a lot of high affect praise .

What does your Vet say about this? If you mentioned it already I apologize.
When I mentioned to Levi’s Vet she say a lot of birds don’t like to poop in their cages. She wasn’t surprised at all.

Best of luck to you both.