potty training?

[mrgoogls]

ca you potty train a parrot? specificly a quaker? i mean to go in a certin area of the cage. not just at random. if you can how?

 

[PortaPerch]

I noticed the Morning Do from Greybeard was huge, and his cage not messed, so it demanded a potty perch. I put him on it every morning, with about 99% success rate. Chewbaca the Galah was 5 months old when we got her, and she took right to it. We haven't tried further toilet training.

I've been told you can go too far, so to speak, potty training with treats, and have a bird hurt itself to get more treats.

You can see here: PortaPerch Portable Parrot Perches .

 

[lene1949]

I really only tell Max to go potty first thing in the morning, because his poos are huge, after sleeping all night...

During the day, I don't bother... They dry up, if I don't see them drop, and if I do, I just wipe them up. I wouldn't want a constipated bird, just because I want him to do it a certain place...

 

[lizardsmells]

Kazi's potty trained...to an extent. He goes in one spot in his cage because he has a favorite spot to sit in his cage. But he's almost never in it except to sleep.

As a general rule he won't poop on me or anywhere else except his cages or stands, but I have to remember to put him there every hour-ish or I'm apt to miss his signal that he needs to go. He'll only hold it so long before pooping down my back or on the floor anyway. But he does let me know he needs to go. I can just be oblivious sometimes.

I trained him by putting him on his cage/stand every hour and saying 'go poop'. When he did I praised him and picked him right back up again. He got the idea really quickly.

 

[KatherineI]

Not if you have a poop machine like my Loki. He poops every 10 minutes, I swear! It is also based on the individual bird. I have a friend who has potty trained one of her two cockatoo's, but her second won't train.

I also hear that Cockatoo's are the easiest to potty train. I don't think I've ever heard of a potty trained Quaker.

 

[mrgoogls]

He'll only hold it so long before pooping down my back or on the florr anyway.

time to get a bit scientific he cant hold it for very long becuz birds do not have anal sphincters so they can't "hold it" very well if at all. and i guess i will just try my best and hope he doesnt always poop all over me.

 

[lexx510]

We've got Guava potty trained. She wont fly over to go potty herself, though. We just have to remember to take her every 20 minutes or so, and she goes. I pretty much learned to read her body language to know when she needs to go. Just make sure to take them to the same location consistently and verbally reinforce/praise after they go. Here's a video clip of one of her morning 'productions.'

[ame=http://youtu.be/7Xt0NiJjQNk?hd=1]Green cheek conure potty training 2 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Violet]

While I wouldn't really use this around the house on an average day, buying a flightsuit could be a good investment if you plan to take your bird areas where it is important they don't poo on things lol. The flight suits these guys make double as diapers - I am not sure if the page I linked to really shows that with any pictures but if you look around their site it shows how it keeps everything clean and doesn't hold the waste against their feathers to make them dirty.

Flight suits for sale; bird flight suits for sale; parrot harness for sale; parrot flight suit for sale

 

[evesta]

I want to do this but my linnies go every 10 minutes or so, I swear! They've started doing it before I take them out of their cage at least. I hold them in the cage after they step up and say "poop" and the usually will go within a few seconds of me picking them up. That buys me a bit of time. I'm thinking of just having a paper plate on the couch with me and when I see them squat I will stick it behind them and tell them "poop". They usually don't stray far from me so it might work. They don't like my hands once out of their cage so moving them quickly to the same spot could prove difficult.

 

[mrgoogls]

lol that videa is so funny. i watched it like 5 times....i think i will train the bird sorta like i trained my dog. i trained my dog a very differnent way than most people do. most people train a dog to sit my dangling a treat over their head. and that makes them look up at it. then push down on their but and say "sit" at the same time. then reward them. then after a while they catch on. mine is a very stubbord dog. i had to wait until she sat on her own them say sit as soon as she started to sit. the reward her. after about a month she caught on. now(she is 4 years old now) she is the smartest and best trained dog i know. you could stand there with 100 pounds of treats and she would still come if i called her.

i will do the bird by whenever i see him about to poop, i will say "poop" or " go poop" and when he does give him a treat(whatever hsi favorite is.....)

i have a question though, when they like sit on your couch how doo you keep them from pooping(is they are not trained) or on you

 

[mrgoogls]

also, this may be obvios but im newer to birds so , what is the point of target training? also, what are all the "basic commands" a parrot should know besides step up?

 

[lexx510]

lol that videa is so funny. i watched it like 5 times....i think i will train the bird sorta like i trained my dog. i trained my dog a very differnent way than most people do. most people train a dog to sit my dangling a treat over their head. and that makes them look up at it. then push down on their but and say "sit" at the same time. then reward them. then after a while they catch on. mine is a very stubbord dog. i had to wait until she sat on her own them say sit as soon as she started to sit. the reward her. after about a month she caught on. now(she is 4 years old now) she is the smartest and best trained dog i know. you could stand there with 100 pounds of treats and she would still come if i called her.

i will do the bird by whenever i see him about to poop, i will say "poop" or " go poop" and when he does give him a treat(whatever hsi favorite is.....)

i have a question though, when they like sit on your couch how doo you keep them from pooping(is they are not trained) or on you[/QUOTE]

Observe their body language so that you know how they behave before they go potty. You'll have to take them when you notice they're showing signs of going or take them every so often just in case. If you forget, they won't wait and will go potty either way.

 

[Julieanne4792]

LOVE this!

 

[mrgoogls]

kool. glad my thread helped someone besides me! but may i ask, why?

 

[BMac]

I toilet trained Piki like I would a puppy. Everyday . . . same place . . . same command. I was surprised he was trained faster than Rocky. He sits on my finger each morning after getting out of his cage and goes outside. When I first started I just said 'Poopy' to him as it is a word lorikeets can easily say. He was never rewarded except he would display by raising one leg and stretching one wing and tail. I told him he was a pretty boy, a good boy. That always gets me a kiss. During the day I knew his body language and could see when he had to go. So it was take him outside again or just say 'poopy' if we were elsewhere. He now tells me when he has to go outside and he has not messed in his cage for 7 months. When he has an accident I would say now I have to get the mop. The word 'mop' stuck and now when he has an accident he calls out when I come into the room "poopy! Mop!" so I have to get the mop and clean it up as I wasn't there when he called. When you think about it, I think our animals are training us and not the other way around.

 

[AFP520]

Lucy took to potty training very quickly. At first, we used a towel to catch her droppings. She could see it was white with a blue stripe, and we just kept taking her there, and saying "go poop" every 10-15 minutes or so, and as others have mentioned, after taking her out of the cage in the morning or being in there for a period of time.

Cleaning that towel got old (since those first morning ones are HUGE) so we just started bringing her to the garbage can. She has it down to a T without any treats what so ever, all praises.

The good news is that she does not hold it in, but whenever she flies from a height to the floor, she will drop little specs. So now I'm trying to figure out how to stop her from doing that all the time. We go through too many tissues!

 

[antoinette]

lol that videa is so funny. i watched it like 5 times....i think i will train the bird sorta like i trained my dog. i trained my dog a very differnent way than most people do. most people train a dog to sit my dangling a treat over their head. and that makes them look up at it. then push down on their but and say "sit" at the same time. then reward them. then after a while they catch on. mine is a very stubbord dog. i had to wait until she sat on her own them say sit as soon as she started to sit. the reward her. after about a month she caught on. now(she is 4 years old now) she is the smartest and best trained dog i know. you could stand there with 100 pounds of treats and she would still come if i called her.

i will do the bird by whenever i see him about to poop, i will say "poop" or " go poop" and when he does give him a treat(whatever hsi favorite is.....)

i have a question though, when they like sit on your couch how doo you keep them from pooping(is they are not trained) or on you

You mentioned ....
i have a question though, when they like sit on your couch how doo you keep them from pooping(is they are not trained) or on you

It is so easy, watch your bird body language, the moment he begins to squat, and wiggle his tail he is ready for a poopie. Mishka is potty trained, I place him on the potty about every 25 minutes.

Place a piece of newspaper on the floor, near you. Hold him a little bit higher than the paper and say poopie. If there is no response, try a few minutes later, also watching his body language. This may take a few tries, a few days, each bird differs.
Remember when he poopies on the paper or the potty, make a big deal out of it..............Praise him, kiss him, give him loves and offer his treats.