How to let him hang with me but deal with poop?

[Zing]

So my grey likes hanging with me while I do work and I like that too but he sometimes poop, any way to deal with this?

I was thinking of setting up some rags so that it doesn't dirty the chair where I sit in case he does poop, but I'm afraid I might create a habit in which he thinks it's okay to poop there.

I mean, if there's no way around it, I'll just have to make him stay on top of his cage no matter what.

He's hanging out and grinding his beak, half asleep next to me, sweet but worrying about the poop makes me nervous and paranoid.



Because he's sitting in the back and hanging out, I can't exactly check for some of his signs that he wants to poop which makes it even harder (as if it isn't hard enough)

 

[Doublete]

Sadly... Bird poop as a bird parront is a way of life. But good news! You can clean it.
Keep baby wipes and towels around.
There are wAys to try to teach him to go back to his cage to poop- people do it. Or get him to wear a flight suit (it also serves as a diaper)

But if you clean the poop within an hour it is super easy to clean.

 

[Zing]

Well, it's not just cleaning it, it's the habit forming that I'm primarily concerned about. I'm just fearful of him thinking "hey, seems like I can / am allowed to poop here so I guess from now on, here's another good spot"...that would be bad haha.

But as for cleaning, how do you completely clean it from carpet or cloth? Like on my carpet, the white sorta just soaks into it and even though I catch it like a minute later, it's hard to get that stain out. You can still see the extra white-ness in my carpet right now. It's like paint.

 

[LeaKP]

Hi there, African greys, and most parrots for that matter, are intelligent enough to poop train. There are lots of videos on YouTube, lots of great advice here on the forums. Accidents are rare at our house and getting "rarer" (don't even know if this is a word, ha) and our baby is 6 months old. The grey I had before him was also trained as was my conure. For some people it doesn't matter but for me who likes to have my bird around and not all the poo, I appreciate him learning where the poo place is.

Just my 2 cents worth!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Couple of points
You can use sheets to cover any furniture to protect it
Buy some Poop Off for the carpet it is brilliant at getting poo off.
Register how long approx between poops and aim to return him to a stand or cage in good time. He will remember BUT in no way force this on your bird because if he becomes fearful of doing what is a natural function and starts to hold it you could end up at the AV clinic. For me it is part and parcel of owning a bird!

 

[Kiwibird]

Potty training- the method where the bird signals their need to go if clipped (so you can put them somewhere they can) or flies to a designated area to go if they are flighted. Don't potty train them to go on command though, as that method can lead to health problems.

Kiwi has been potty trained for years. He raises his foot to signal he needs to go and we put him somewhere he can (perch, cage etc...) then he can come back to play and hang out. It is always on HIS schedule though, he lets us know when HE needs to go and only holds it until we put him back on his cage.swing/tree etc..., not us tell him when he should go as the more common potty training method teaches (where a bird may hold it for long enough to become sick because they were not given the command to go soon enough). The ONLY time there is ever an accident is when we are not paying close attention and miss his signal he has to go (and he will go if you ignore his signal, which is fine since you don't want them holding it). One of the best things he's ever learned!

 

[Zing]

Yeah, I just got him a couple of days ago, he's 5 months old.
I've been teaching him to poop in the cage, rewarding when he does, putting him in the cage if he ever poops out. He's getting it but yeah definitely not fool proof. It definitely catches me off guard when we're off playing because from the signs of him pooping to him actually pooping, sometimes I just don't catch it fast enough to prevent it. It's getting better though.

I can say there's massive improvements in just a few days. He went from lunging at me and biting and being fairly confused, now he mostly bites in a sense to hold my finger and move it away when he wants his space, barely any bite pressure and he climbs down from the top opening and is able to navigate the cage pretty well to get food and water. He bends down to let me pet his head and neck and I let him hang on my shoulders while I brush my teeth in the morning. Makes me wonder how much he'll improve in the next few weeks/months/years.

Sorry for the extra info, I'm a bit excited and chatty this morning

I had him cuddling next to my chair, the area in which i mentioned. One issue I notice is that if I let him get his way, he refuses to budge. So I'm guessing the metal part in the cage where he sits, since it's metal and hard, is not as comfortable as a chair. So maybe if I wrap that part where he hangs around the most up in his cage with some cloth, he'll want to stay there a bit more instead. Least that's my thought.

I'll get some of that Poop Off, it's one of the products I've also seen during my searches. Thanks for the reminder.



QUESTION:

I see wooden perches sold on ebay from China, anyone with success from them? I mean, when I buy it at the store for significantly more money (2-3x) and I read on the back and it's made in China as well. My bird doesn't exactly chew on the giant perches so....?

 

[Kiwibird]

One more thing- if your bird poops on the floor or furniture, let it dry. Then you can pick up the bulk of the the dried poop in one piece and hit the tiny stain with some spot shot (it'll come out easily with that stuff). When you clean a wet poo on a fabric/carpet surface, you only spread it around and make a bigger mess than needs be to clean.

I guess it probably wouldn't matter as much with a smaller species, but when your dealing with pterodactyl sized poo from a larger bird like a grey, smearing it around while trying to clean it wet really can increase the amount of work you need to do.

 

[LeaKP]

BTW with greys, they begin to be able to control their poos around 6 mo.

 

[lplummer52]

My Sun Conure usually has to go every two hours, depending on what she's eaten. Just like a puppy...right after meals, after naps and every two hours...so,either I let it go longer. I can usually tell when she's ready to go just by her body language and I,quickly take her to the play gym on the porch. She's only 7 months old and I'd say she stopped pooping on,our shoulders about 2 months ago. That's a biggie. She knows as soon as we put her on her play gym that it's time to go. She's rarely caged, but when she is, she holds it until we let her out for some reason. So it's a mad dash in the mornings, but I'm getting up for the dogs anyway, so it's no problem.

 

[Zing]

Wow, I need to teach my parrot to raise his foot when he needs to go, that would be so much clearer than the other signs, which I can mistake for something else. Going to be hard to train him to do that though, guess I have to get creative.

When I clean the poo, I just don't press down on it and lift up to pull it directly out. It's mainly the white part that gets me.


2 hours till your parrot has to poop? What the? I thought they have to poop every 15-30 minutes or so, which seems to be somewhat the case.

So once he reaches about 6 month as you say and is able to control his poop, about how long can I expect?

I'd like to train him to do that but I am at work from 8-5 so nothing too strict. If my parrot can hold it in for about an hour or two each time, that would make playing with him a WHOLE lot better because most of the time, I'm looking at the clock nervously and that's just a major kill-joy. If I can get him to hold it in a bit more and/or give me a very apparent sign (haha, such as yelling out POOP! when he needs to go) then that would be wonderful!

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi actually potty trained himself. We never set out to do it. We'd just watch for the signs of him getting antsy before going, grab him and run for dear life to put him back on his cage. Eventually, he must have gotten tired of being interrupted and started waddling over and raising his foot like he wanted to step up. We assumed he just wanted to go home at first, but after noticing once we put him on his cage he'd poop and stick his foot up again to come back to hang out, we realized he was potty trained! Very easy, bird taught himself. Grey's are smart birds too, just keep watching for the potty dance and rush him home and I'm sure he'll get the picture fairly quickly

 

[plumsmum2005]

Plum has kinda picked up that mommy is not best pleased to be pooped on so takes it on himself to fly onto the carpet to do it! Logic eh? LOL

 

[mh434]

I've been totally successful poop training my 'Zon. When he needs to go, he paces back & forth and makes little chattering noises. The first time it happened (not knowing what he wanted), I put him back on top of his cage. He pooped immediately, and I praised him & gave him a peanut. He's eager to please now, and always lets me know when it's time. Interestingly, he's never abused it just to get a peanut!

 

[mhegedus]

I just ordered a set of bird diapers. I found their page on instagram! I'm so excited because holy cow my eclectus' poops are massive and wet and disgusting!! And sadly sometimes I choose not to hold him, if lets say I'm dressed up getting ready to go somewhere, because I'm scared to get pooped on. Otherwise in the house, I just put a rag on my shoulder but these little suits are cute and they said the bird can wear them up to 3-4 hours. So, never tried them but well see. I ordered a leash/harness that attaches too so I can take him outside.

Anyone tried these diapers??? I'm anxious to see how it works.

 

[mhegedus]

Oh here's the link for those interested

FlightSuits? Bird Diapers - Avian Fashions

 

[RavensGryf]

Interestingly, Griffin poop trained himself. I have no idea how he figured it out. One day early on, I started noticing that wherever Griffin is or whatever he's doing in the room, he'll stop... fly back to the top of his cage door, (or a couple other okay spots) and poop there before returning to where he was before. It's the strangest thing, as I got him when he was a baby, so he was never trained when I got him, and I didn't teach him. With Robin I do it a different way, so he couldn't have learned by anyone else's example either. All I can say is that Im happy that so far he's never had a poop accident. He flies to the "bathroom" every single time. Watch, now that I said that I hope I don't jinx it!

With Robin, I wait for him to poop, or tell him to do it (he will usually poop on command) then take him over to be with me. When it's about time I think he's ready to go again I'll take him back to his cage and tell him "poop". However, if I forget and wait too long, he will not hesitate doing it wherever he is.. the bed, on me, etc. which I hate. As many years as I've had birds, I've never truly gotten to where I don't care. I still don't want it on me.

Raven, forget it. He knows what it means by now, but refuses to be trained.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

My female ekkie also potty trained herself. I think it helped, though, that when I first got her and she would go on me, I would put her away while I cleaned up. It didn't take her long to realize that going potty on mommy meant she had to go back home. I guess in a way I trained her, but I did not realize what I was doing at the time. I just figured it was easier to clean without her climbing all over me.

 

[Scott]

I don't have any unique advice, but my method is just one of acceptance! Always wear "bird clothing" (usually old shirts and shorts) and allow them to be themselves. I generally wipe off the large poops as they occur, and find the remnant stains wash out completely - they are washed together with my "street clothes." As far as the floor is concerned, carpet is a challenge. For this and other reasons, I've completely tiled my home.

 

[GaleriaGila]

May I please repeat the sad story of how the Rickeybird was toilet-trained for about an hour, back in the 90s?

I began taking the Rbird over a paper every 10 minutes or so and holding him there until he pooped, at which time I said "Boo-boo!" in a happy voice. Soon, I could take him to the paper say Boo-boo and he'd poop. Either that day or maybe the next, HE began to say Boo-boo and then poop when I held him over the target. He and I were both delighted, or so I thought. It wasn't even an hour before he began saying Boo-boo every 30 seconds and then flying away when I headed for the paper. To this day, he will sometimes yell Boo-boo ten or fifteen times within a minute or so, usually pooping wherever he happens to be.

So... yep... as Scott said... tile, tee-shirts, and tissue boxes!