Potty Training. Views and how to i get started

[Bradari]

Right so the only complaint I have about my Fidget is that he will poop everywhere but his cage (the pooping everywhere is getting to hubby). so I have read about the potty training and want your views on it.
Is it a good or bad thing to potty train them. and if so how do I start?

 

[LeaKP]

I have potty trained our GCC Peep. Except for the odd mistake, he will go back to his cage or perch to poo. Parrots are so very smart. Use the same logic as you would with house training a puppy. Now we are working on him going over the trash can and we are doing well. Remember, there will be mistakes but with time it gets better. Just requires patience. Smaller birds need to go every 15 mins or so. Use the same command each time and praise him when he does the deed!

Now, he does revenge poo from time to time if he gets cross with me (like he does after his bath...).

Hope this helps!

 

[DallyTsuka]

its actually a bad idea to potty train...

especially the smaller birds who go so frequently.

some birds hold it for too long and this can cause bacterial infections and possibly even kidney failure.

maybe think of some other alternatives instead...


some repercussions to think of as well to potty training... say your bird needs to be boarded at a vet for whatever reason... they may not go because they dont that their "cue" or "special spot" to go. what if you go on vacation and your bird holds it because he doesnt have that "command" to go, especially since you say he doesnt go in his cage... of or if the unthinkable happens and he needs to be rehomed for whatever reason... you can be setting a parrot up for a lot of problems by this unnatural behaviour. i just dont see enough benefits to it other than pleasing the humans involved. dont mean to sound harsh, if i am, i apologize--thats not the tone i want here--but its true.


do you have a playgym for your bird to play on when he is out of the cage? if so, most of his poop will end up over there, put a base on the bottom to catch the mess if you dont have one

put newspaper under the places he likes to perch the most and clean them up when he goes back into his cage.

keep paper towels handy every room so you have quick-access to clean any mess.

 

[Bradari]

ok so its not that I want him to poop on command more that I want him to know he should go to a specific place to poo, for example in the kitchen he should go to his playstand and poop on the newspaper. the lounge he must go to the newspaper and the same in the room.

 

[chucka]

Im not a fan of potty training for the same reasons Dally stated.

You could find a happy medium between where and when and comands but if you train him wrong it could cause problems....

I have a box tissues in the main room and just clean up after them

We also bought one of thoes atuomatic vacuume cleans for the food/crumbs .

 

[Kiwibird]

I personally see no reason NOT to potty train, but I strongly disagree with training to poop on command. Some birds learn "too well" and will not poop except on command even in their cage or other places where its ok for them to go freely. As stated, that can lead to health problems from holding it.

Kiwi is potty trained to alert us when he actually needs to go, so we can put him on his perch/cage/play tree. I want him to go when he needs to not when we want him to, so I find my method of training a fair balance We actually never intended to potty train him, he's just a smart bird. We actually always watch him like a hawk when he's away from "his areas" for a variety of reasons (safety being the main priority). When he would get that antsy little dance right before he dropped his butt, we'd grab him and put him on his perch. Then one day, he came up and lifted his foot like he wanted to step up, I assumed he wanted to go home, so I put him on his cage and he pooped. It was like a lightbulb went off, he had gotten tired of being, er, 'interrupted' so he started alerting us by getting our attention and raising his foot to step up. I was a proud parrot owner that day He hasn't had any accidents since. It really boils down to keeping a close eye and "listening" to what your bird wants to communicate

Not sure how offensive a conure poop is, but I'm surely not interested in amazon poops on the floors and furniture:54:

 

[Anansi]

April just hit the nail right on the head. I believe that the danger that she and Casey have mentioned is really in teaching your bird to go on command. Not sure if it's an urban legend or not, but allegedly one bird left at a boarding facility died because the caretakers didn't know to give him his "poop" command.

What I've done is more or less what April just posted. I learned Bixby's approximate go schedule, and then I would place him on his closest perch. (I purposely kept Bixby's acceptable go place as generic as a perch. After all, what is the likelihood of his being unable to find a perch in my absence?) Now, around a good 70-80% of the time, he'll simply fly over to one of his perches whenever he needs to go.

Of course, this method isn't airtight. After all, some things SEEM like perches when they're not. Like the backs of my wooden kitchen chairs, for instance. But at least he's not going on my clothes! Lol!

( I only mention Bixby because Maya has displayed a thankfully natural aversion to dropping poop unless she's on a perch. Very convenient.)

 

[Bradari]

Thanx for the tips all. As I said I don't want him to poop on command just want to teach him the appropriate places to poop.

Will be doing a lot more research before I start but for now I'm praising him when he poops where I want him to

 

[Nexus]

Thanx for the tips all. As I said I don't want him to poop on command just want to teach him the appropriate places to poop.

Will be doing a lot more research before I start but for now I'm praising him when he poops where I want him to

My Jenday poops on command, which means he does hold it in, but he knows he's allowed to relieve himself at anytime on his perch and in his cage, and it's not like I carry him around for hours without giving him regular chances to go.

But birds and their poop, ugh. If only they pooped once a day! If they weren't trainable, I wouldn't have got one. (Well, budgie scrolls aren't so bad, so I would've got another budgie instead).

 

[LeaKP]

Just give birdie access to his poop palace and it becomes easy. Peep now goes to his perch, poos, and returns. What a great bird!

 

[EAI]

Just give birdie access to his poop palace and it becomes easy. Peep now goes to his perch, poos, and returns. What a great bird!

Same here! Gizmo is able to poop wherever he pleases but I figured out that if I place him on a certain perch on his playstand he'll go in the next 2 seconds.