Potty Help!

[Kern2012]

I just got Cooper my FGCC about three days ago and Im in love! He is the most intelligent bird Ive ever met and he is only 3 months old! My question is what is the best way to deal with him and his potty habits. Like when he is sitting on my shoulder or on my husbands chest he poops.. What is the best way to get this under control or try to control this and clean up so he isnt poop everywhere and on everything or is this just a baby thing? Thanks to everyone who responses and waiting to hear all your advice! Thanks again!

 

[greycloud]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new GCC! Most definitely this is a baby thing. As he matures you see a change where he will learn better control. Most will learn to hold it respectively till they are put down or returned to their cage. I do not recommend potty training as it has been found to sometimes cause birds to have bowel problems due to them holding it in for unreasonable amounts of time before being placed somewhere they can go.
Keep a towel on your chest or shoulder for easy clean up.

 

[Parrotmamma]

You can watch them and can tell when they are getting ready to poop . When my GCC was about to potty I would hold her over her play stand and say "poop" or " Potty" and when she did I would praise her for it and give a little treat . It didn't take very long for her to learn the word potty. Now she always hops off me before she poops. She does not always make it to her stand , but at least I don't get poop in my hair. Also , when they do learn the word " potty" before you pick them up you can ask them to potty first . If they need to they will do it pretty quickly , if not they won't and you can try again in a few minutes. Pretty soon You will learn their poop habits about how often they go : )

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new Baby All you can do really is put a towel over you!

 

[Kern2012]

Thank you all for your responses... Ill just wait since he is still little! The advice is appreciated since Im new to the bird world!

 

[AFP520]

I started to associate the word "poop" when I know Lucy is about to go and she has picked up on it pretty quickly. Just keep making it a routine everytime you take your bird out of the cage.

I do agree with greycloud that I don't want her to only go in one spot and develop problems, so I'm going to start moving her to different places and keep at it. The good news is that I know she is still going in her cage (just look down)

 

[lexx510]

You can watch them and can tell when they are getting ready to poop . When my GCC was about to potty I would hold her over her play stand and say "poop" or " Potty" and when she did I would praise her for it and give a little treat . It didn't take very long for her to learn the word potty. Now she always hops off me before she poops. She does not always make it to her stand , but at least I don't get poop in my hair. Also , when they do learn the word " potty" before you pick them up you can ask them to potty first . If they need to they will do it pretty quickly , if not they won't and you can try again in a few minutes. Pretty soon You will learn their poop habits about how often they go : )

This exactly. Now we just have to remember to take Guava to her potty place every 20 or so minutes, and she will usually potty on command. I also take her first thing in the morning after getting her out of the cage. Of course, if we forget to take her or miss her body language telling us that she needs to go, she has no problem going anyplace she happens to be.

 

[beck]

You can watch them and can tell when they are getting ready to poop . When my GCC was about to potty I would hold her over her play stand and say "poop" or " Potty" and when she did I would praise her for it and give a little treat . It didn't take very long for her to learn the word potty. Now she always hops off me before she poops. She does not always make it to her stand , but at least I don't get poop in my hair. Also , when they do learn the word " potty" before you pick them up you can ask them to potty first . If they need to they will do it pretty quickly , if not they won't and you can try again in a few minutes. Pretty soon You will learn their poop habits about how often they go : )

This exactly. Now we just have to remember to take Guava to her potty place every 20 or so minutes, and she will usually potty on command. I also take her first thing in the morning after getting her out of the cage. Of course, if we forget to take her or miss her body language telling us that she needs to go, she has no problem going anyplace she happens to be.

Just wanted to add that this is what I did with my Quaker. When he was little, I would hold him out over a paper towel or the trashcan every couple of minutes and say "Go potty!" and make a big deal out of it when he went. Now when he's out, I just hold him over where I want him to poop and he says "Go potty!", and then after he goes he'll tell himself "Good boy!" hehehe.

 

[lexx510]

You can watch them and can tell when they are getting ready to poop . When my GCC was about to potty I would hold her over her play stand and say "poop" or " Potty" and when she did I would praise her for it and give a little treat . It didn't take very long for her to learn the word potty. Now she always hops off me before she poops. She does not always make it to her stand , but at least I don't get poop in my hair. Also , when they do learn the word " potty" before you pick them up you can ask them to potty first . If they need to they will do it pretty quickly , if not they won't and you can try again in a few minutes. Pretty soon You will learn their poop habits about how often they go : )

This exactly. Now we just have to remember to take Guava to her potty place every 20 or so minutes, and she will usually potty on command. I also take her first thing in the morning after getting her out of the cage. Of course, if we forget to take her or miss her body language telling us that she needs to go, she has no problem going anyplace she happens to be.

Just wanted to add that this is what I did with my Quaker. When he was little, I would hold him out over a paper towel or the trashcan every couple of minutes and say "Go potty!" and make a big deal out of it when he went. Now when he's out, I just hold him over where I want him to poop and he says "Go potty!", and then after he goes he'll tell himself "Good boy!" hehehe.

That's exactly what we did with Guava, too! I'm jealous that she doesn't praise herself afterwards like your Quaker does. That is too adorable! lol

 

[Bobioden]

There is no type of Green Cheek Conure called a Fancy. That is just the name some pet stores call the mutations other than the normal. If you post a pic, we can tell you exactly what type you have. Petsmart or Petco usually call the Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conures, fancy.