Not going potty in his cage

[thesarahdox]

Last weekend, Punku spent most of his time outside of his cage with me. I spent a lot of time working with him on potty training. When I'd see him start to do his potty dance, I would hold him above a paper plate or put him down on the paper plate and let him do his business. He was doing great! We used the clicker to let him know he did a great job going potty when we'd say "Go potty"....

Here's the problem. I think we inadvertently taught him to NOT go to the bathroom in his cage. I've tried everything to get him to go in there and he refuses. When I see him doing his potty dance, I put him back in his cage and he will sit there and hold it.

The timing of the potty training also coincides with us removing the newspaper from the bottom of the cage. I don't know if he's just not used to walking on the grate or what.

Help! He is a poop monster and I'm running out of paper towel! Lol

 

[Kiwibird]

If he has been trained to poop on a paper plate, then perhaps putting one in his cage under his perch would be a good idea until you can train him differently? It is very bad for a bird to hold it's poop, and unfortunately, is an unintended behavior of certain methods of potty training. I highly suggest starting working with him ASAP on learning to poop on a perch rather than on a plate or over the trash while sitting on your hand so he won't be so confused. Potty training can be an extremely confusing thing for birds, so you really need to have a good plan to get him back to a perch/cage and let him go on his own so he understands where is and isn't ok. Kiwi lifts his foot when he has to go, and we either put him on his t-perch, play stand or back in his cage (whatevers closest). If its close enough, he will actually return to his t-perch on his own to poop, then climb back down and go back to what he was doing. He has not been trained to poop while on our hand, he is always put on a perch in one of his "areas" to go. I personally feel this is a much less confusing way of going about potty training (for the bird) and eliminates the issue of them interpreting their areas as not ok to go on.

Wanted to add, a t-perch may be a good thing for you, since they are portable and (to a bird) are definately different than other things they are being trained not to poop on. Parrots are smart enough to know the difference between a perch and the couch, and they can also make the connection between a small perch they are "allowed" to poop on, and the perches in their cages or play stands.