No pooping in cage

[PipnMe]

Hi All! I have just discovered a problem that just started 2-3 days ago with my little guy. He is not pooping in his cage. I thought it was strange the last few days I noticed that he wouldn't do his morning poop in his cage. I even left him in there until 11am and as soon as he was let out he went. Then today I left him for a few hours and when I came home I noticed he hadn't pooped in his cage the whole time I was gone. When I took him out of his cage he pooped the biggest poop and it looked like he was straining to do it. What do I do? I want to be able to leave him for a few hours or an afternoon here and there and not worry that he is going to hold his poop and then get sick. College is starting up this week and I will be gone for 3-5 hours three days a week. Any suggestions?

 

[Scott]

How old is your conure, and what size is the cage? Birds tend to avoid defecating in a nest box, and a small cage might trigger such behavior.

 

[PipnMe]

He is 3 months old and he has a very big conure cage with lots of toys.

 

[Scott]

Interesting, that is not a typical behavior for a young bird in a large cage!

Has anything with the cage or environment been changed coincident with this new behavior?

 

[clark_conure]

NO NO this is common, my bird will not poop in my bed. Because he gets to use my bed when I work nights and he knows it's my "Nest". Your bird want's to keep his cage clean because it's his "nest". You don't poop your own bed.

First thing I do when I get home is rush to find my bird, then he does a huge poop in the sink. I often wonder why he can't hold it in all the other times like he does in the bed.....


1) I think part of the reason he's comfortable pooping when not on the bed is he sees me clean it up....like it's my job...well I guess it is.

2) second I'd set a routine as soon as he comes out have a designated poop area. I use the sink or toilet then I run the water so it washes down.

What you described is not foreign to me I just let him have my "nest" when I'm gone all night. so he tucks under the pillows in the headboard or goes in the covies of the headboard and goes to sleep and waits till morning.

You'll have to work out the logistics on your own, maybe a poop dish in his cage he sees you clean daily, or new newspaper he sees you remove everyday. He doesn't want to poop in his cage because it's his nest.....maybe a bigger cage.


But there is a real reason behind it all.

 

[PipnMe]

Interesting, that is not a typical behavior for a young bird in a large cage!

Has anything with the cage or environment been changed coincident with this new behavior?

Well, we did move to a new apartment last week. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with his behavior though because I take him to my parent's house on occasion and he does just fine there.

 

[PipnMe]

NO NO this is common, my bird will not poop in my bed. Because he gets to use my bed when I work nights and he knows it's my "Nest". Your bird want's to keep his cage clean because it's his "nest". You don't poop your own bed.

First thing I do when I get home is rush to find my bird, then he does a huge poop in the sink. I often wonder why he can't hold it in all the other times like he does in the bed.....


1) I think part of the reason he's comfortable pooping when not on the bed is he sees me clean it up....like it's my job...well I guess it is.

2) second I'd set a routine as soon as he comes out have a designated poop area. I use the sink or toilet then I run the water so it washes down.

What you described is not foreign to me I just let him have my "nest" when I'm gone all night. so he tucks under the pillows in the headboard or goes in the covies of the headboard and goes to sleep and waits till morning.

You'll have to work out the logistics on your own, maybe a poop dish in his cage he sees you clean daily, or new newspaper he sees you remove everyday. He doesn't want to poop in his cage because it's his nest.....maybe a bigger cage.


But there is a real reason behind it all.

Interesting and it makes sense. I have been putting him on his window perch to poop, the sink is a great idea though and I think I may just use that! I was also thinking about using a different cage for him to sleep in. I'm wondering if he will start pooping in his daytime cage then. I'm not sure but I'm worried about leaving him for a while now just because I don't want him to get sick from holding it in.

 

[Puck]

This is actually NOT common for small birds in large cages; however, you said this only started a few days ago and so I assume he was pooping in his cage before that? I might take him to the vet--it could be coincidental that he poops when you remove him from the cage and he might just be having bowel problems in general. As for the bed example, birds really should not be left alone in a human's bed at all--that is a danger zone waiting to happen. The second sleeping cage is another thing to try, but please do not think this is normal behavior--a bird should be able to be left in a large cage for MANY hours, not just one or two and have no problems--that is necessary for their safety in case there is an emergency and you are not there to "free" them to poop. You might ask consider removing some of the many toys in case it is making the cage feel smaller than it is. What are the actual dimensions of the cage you are using?

 

[PipnMe]

This is actually NOT common for small birds in large cages; however, you said this only started a few days ago and so I assume he was pooping in his cage before that? I might take him to the vet--it could be coincidental that he poops when you remove him from the cage and he might just be having bowel problems in general. As for the bed example, birds really should not be left alone in a human's bed at all--that is a danger zone waiting to happen. The second sleeping cage is another thing to try, but please do not think this is normal behavior--a bird should be able to be left in a large cage for MANY hours, not just one or two and have no problems--that is necessary for their safety in case there is an emergency and you are not there to "free" them to poop. You might ask consider removing some of the many toys in case it is making the cage feel smaller than it is. What are the actual dimensions of the cage you are using?

I will have to measure the cage tomorrow morning but it is bigger than the typical 24” wide, 24” deep, and 24” tall. I'll even post a picture. He is not having trouble pooping at all, believe me, he goes on time all the time, he just refuses to do it in his cage. I can wait hours to take him out and he will hold in his poop. I never take him to my bed. Maybe I should stop by the vet to have her check him out...

 

[plumsmum2005]

Do you put paper over the grate in his cage? If so try making one corner of his cage different (different paper) and ask him to go poop there. Plenty of praise if he does.

There are issues with him holding it for so long, ask your AV about this?

 

[Tami2]

Hello, I have an CAG. He's a little over a year now and from day one he avoids pooping in his cage. He has a big cage as well. I take him out every morning and put him on the training perch and than has his morning poop. Same with the counters he walks to the end & poops on the floor instead of the counter. I'm actually very happy about that. Same as when I'm out. He waits for me to put him on the poop perch. That's what I call it now. Unless of course I'm out for a long time and he can't wait. Most of the time I'm cleaning his cage more for food & toy debris not poop.

 

[clark_conure]

yep.

Thanks Tami2

Also I don't let clark sleep in the bed with me, only when I'm gone at work. And I bird proofed the room.

Also the comment... it's not usual for small birds....maybe, but it isn't ain't not uncommon for smart birds and a conures sure is a super smarty bird.

(Spelling and grammer incorrect on purpose.)

 

[Puck]

Honestly I don't consider a room with a bed in it birdproofed (they can chew through the mattress and hurt themselves in the coils or by choking on the stuffing, they can get stuck between the mattress and the frame, they can smother themselves getting stuck in blankets and pillows if you leave bedding on it). Of course I would be fine at leaving a bird in a bedroom if I was home, but gone to work? For me it would be a 100% converted bird room or a cage--no still usable bedroom that is bird proofed. I am hoping all the outlets are at least covered with baby safe caps even though you still use it as an extra bedroom? Maybe I am just a safety fanatic, but if I am not in the house then I am uber conservative about where I am willing to leave my birds, but maybe I have seen too many lost feet over the years.

As for the not pooping in the cage--holding for hours and hours is not normal for any size bird unless the cage is very small. It is dangerous. If they hold but eventually give in and poop, okay, (though you want them to give in within an hour or two, not when their body flat out FORCES them) but if they refuse to poop at all like the OP says? Imagine if you are injured in a car wreck and go to the ER for a broken arm. You will be there MANY hours. The bird MUST poop, which means this is a training issue that should be addressed rather than something to be considered normal. It has nothing to do with a bird's size or smarts--I have kept all size birds. It has to do with the fact that SOMETHING is causing this mental block and it is necessary to find out what it is, whether it's a cage size, amount of toys, a paper issue like Plum's Mom suggested... if it is simply a mind issue then training needs to go into it so the bird will experience the normal behavior of pooping in its large cage rather than having a "this is my nest" idea about a large space. Consider how your bowels would feel if you held back until you literally were forced to poop your pants--and birds have a LOT less control over their pooping than we do because of how their bowels and anus are constructed. Just because you have seen birds do it doesn't make it normal or safe. This needs to be addressed in case you CAN'T "free" your bird to poop.

Edit: I was thinking and we may be saying similar things but getting twisted by a word: when I say "normal" I mean something like this metaphor: It is normal for an adult human being to ONLY poop in a toilet or some place reserved for pooping. However, if a human being were locked in a room for five days, it would NOT be normal if the human chose to try and hold it until it severely strained his bowels and was forced out rather than to pick a corner and go there. It is normal for a human to be able to overcome their mental block and disgust before it becomes painful (and is unhealthy for their bowels) and go in a corner. I am saying that, when it comes down to it, it's not normal if your bird does the birdie equivalent of hurting his bowels and having it erupt out rather than choosing to go somewhere he would prefer not to.

 

[Tami2]

PS) I mentioned this to his Vet as soon as I noticed the patterned. She told me, that is was fine, some birds don't like to soil their living space.
But, like I stated earlier if I'm gone for long periods of time he does indeed poop in the cage.
If you're concerned, you might want to ask your Vet his/her thoughts. ��

 

[clark_conure]

There is the occasional accident, but it's usually on the headboard and easy to clean up. It's not a digestive issue, more a respect thing. I think for the most part it's the fact he's asleep all that time. And he doesn't wake up till the garage door opens. Then he figures within two minutes my owner will be here so he just holds it in...If he was pooping all over my bed he wouldn't get the privilege.

He has no problem pooping in the sink or even on me still if I forget to take him there in a reasonable amount of time.

Also the room is safe, we've been doing this a while. It's more like the front porch to his cage.

 

[itzjbean]

This sounds very similar to when I potty-trained my Jenday Conure. It only took him a couple days to learn to go potty over the trash or when I held him on my hand over his cage. He would NOT go when he was IN the cage. It got to be a problem as the only times he would go would be when I took him out and held him over the cage. So I abandoned the potty-training and within a couple days he was back to going in his cage. But I believe it was because of what others mentioned, he didn't want to soil his house.