What to do when a conure comes between you and your man

[jenny99]

My boyfriend has a 17 year old dusky headed that he's had since it was a baby. We moved in together in March and we got a 3 bedroom purposely so the bird could have its own room. He has toys and a cage and 2 windows in his room. His wings are not clipped, and when my bf is home he lets the bird fly where ever he wants. He poops on everything.

My bf tries his best to clean up after him, but everytime I look at our couch there's poop on it, or on the floor, or the fridge, etc. I hang dry our clothes around the apartment and he hangs on them and poops on the clean clothes.

My bf gets extremely defensive and very upset if I point out the poop, but I just don't find it acceptable to live with piles of poop in my home. It's gotten to the point where this bird is really coming between us, he is the only thing we ever fight about. I don't know how we're going to raise a family with this bird squawking its head off and pooping everywhere. I really don't like it at all but I'm in love with my bf.

How do we live peacefully when one of us loves the bird and one of us hates it?
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to live with a bird and a non-bird lover?

 

[Flyte]

Well, I can certainly understand how you feel about the bird. I think if you guys can come to a compromise and maybe even potty train the bird, that you'll find your not a bird hater after all
I would maybe purchase a book or two on training.. you can probably find all the information you need online but I think the books would help with your boyfriend. He would see your willing to work with him and the bird. (If you are, that is!)
If the bird can't be trained, (unlikely) he really can't expect you to live like that.. It's disgusting to have that poop everywhere. It will not work when you have children and could be dangerous, for the bird and child. You guys need to talk, for sure!!

 

[jenny99]

Wow, I didn't know you could potty train a bird. Can you recommend any books?

 

[Chewy]

I don't know what to say. My theory is it 's just poop. But I do understand some what of where you are coming from. My caregivers hate it when Chewy poops on me so I wear a cover up shirt. A shirt that covers up the shirt that I am wearing underneith.

 

[Redballoon]

Have you tried the Davinci code?
I heard that was good.

 

[jenny99]

Have you tried the Davinci code?
I heard that was good.

I read the first 30 pages and couldn't stand it, so I'm not interested. Thanks though. I was specifically looking for books about potty training birds.

 

[Redballoon]

mmm I also tried to read it without success.
The potty training thing is not new.
To cut a long story short,... you just watch your bird, and just as they ruffle their feathers to poo you give them a catch word. Eventually, they will poo as soon as you say the catch word. It would take time and the bird you mentioned is older, So some patience would be required and you sound like you may put the next poo you find on his sandwiches for lunch.

 

[pheobus]

To cut a long story short,... you just watch your bird, and just as they ruffle their feathers to poo you give them a catch word. Eventually, they will poo as soon as you say the catch word. It would take time and the bird you mentioned is older,

Only don't forget to give him a treat and lots of praise when he does it...He will finally learn to do it on cue...

P.s. Welcome to the forums!We' d love to see pics of your birdy...

And stay around...See that you learn things you have never imagined?

 

[TexDot33]

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to live with a bird and a non-bird lover?

I remember when I first met my Sun Conure, Hamlet, in a shoddy cage in a PetCo birdroom ... all this little ball of fluff wanted to to was perch on my finger and cuddle under my chin - I was in love instantly.

I came home and told my fiancee, Christy, what I had seen and just how cute this little birdy was, I was really excited and I couldn't wait for him to stop hand feeding and bring him home. Her reply,

"We are NOT getting a friggen' bird!"

Now, today, she has handled birds from Hawk-Heads to Blue and Gold Macaws ... and we have even added a second bird to our flock, at her request!

Birds are not like dogs, or cats, or any other animal that one might try to domesticate ... but domesticated animals come with "down sides" ... birds are no different, they need to be cleaned up after and cared for.

If you want this relationship to workout the bird is a packaged deal with your BF ... c'mon now, seriously, he's had his birdy for 17 years ... 17 YEARS ... the only relationship that has probably lasted longer than that is with his mother! It will have to be YOU who makes an adjustment ... instead of pointing out the poop and getting upset with your BF just ignore it, or even better, help him clean up - becasue as we can all attests to it's a never ending job cleaning up after our fids ...

Welcome to the wonderful world of birds ... they really are amazing creatures, and if you get to know your BF's dusky, you might come to find out that your birdy is smarter than your BF (as Christy can attests to in this house)! :18: :18: :18:
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[Peta]

"We are NOT getting a friggen' bird!"

Yep I can remember Andi saying the very same thing when we had 2 of them. A few more down the line and its now him saying "Oh do ya think we've got room for this one"

I agree with Tex on this, if you try and get your BF to choose he's gonna go with his bird. Potty training them is relatively easy, but it does take time, yep even with flighted birds. Mine are Potty Trained and flighted (yep still I just can't bring my self to clip them) they are potty trained but we do still have accidents.

Find out where your fid goes more often (I know it seems that at the moment its everywhere but I think you'll find he has at least one spot where he goes more often) and put newspaper or something else of your choice down there. Whenever he goes there give him a treat and really lots and lots of praise, when he goes anywhere else don't treat and don't say anything to him, just go and clean it up. He'll soon get the idea that when he poops in that one spot he gets rewarded and come back time after time. If his favourite spot is not somewhere you would really like him going then you can slowly move the paper and he should come back to the paper each time. Its not gonna happen overnight I'm afraid but it will happen eventually. We still get the odd accident now and again but thats to be expected I just clean it up and get on with it. Work with your BF and he's gonna be impressed that your at least trying

Good luck to ya, and please let us know how you get on with it.

 

[Flyte]

These guys are right, you definitely aren't gonna win if you make him choose, however you can make better arrangements to suit both your needs. I don't think ignoring it is the best idea, If the bird is flying all over the house and the poo isn't all getting cleaned up, your eventually going to have a really huge mess on your hands. It's hard to even find all the poop when the bird is just flying everywhere untrained. While I agree it IS a never ending job, it doesn't have to be quite that crazy.
I would definitely be in there cleaning it up to help but the guy should be able to do a little compromising of his own. The training is not unreasonable.
Good luck!!!

 

[Peta]

I don't think ignoring it is the best idea,

Sorry I should have made myself clearer, I didn't mean ignore the BF, I meant ignore the bird when he poops somewhere you don't want him too.

but the guy should be able to do a little compromising of his own

Oh yes I agree, and I think the only way round this is for them to sit down and talk about what each of them wants regarding the house bird etc. and then work on it together.

 

[Flyte]

Oh I didn't mean ignore the BF either. That never works!
I meant the poop, I thought thats what Tex meant, anyway.

 

[Peta]

Seems we are all at cross purposes here.

 

[jenny99]

Thank you so much everyone, I think this advice is really going to help! I'm excited to talk to my bf and put the plan into action. If you want to see Spike (the conure) you can go to his MySpace page
http://www.myspace.com/spikeliebman

 

[pheobus]

Hey Jenny, your fid is gorgeous! And cool song!

I'm happy if you feel we helped you guys...

 

[Peta]

He is beautiful thank you for sharing him, and I'm glad we were able to offer you some help.

 

[TexDot33]

OK OK OK!!!

YOUR BIRDIE HAS A MYSPACE PAGE - HONEY, your BF and his bird will never be separated ... you the sooner you accept this, the better your relationship will go ...

I mean, come on your BF and his birdie leave each other messages ... :35::35::35:

 

[Kokihi]

Um...I don't think ignoring the poop is a good idea either. That could potentially lead to serious health problems for all people and animals involved, especially if they decide to have children. Babies put everything in their mouths!

My conure has its wings clipped at the moment (I plan on letting his flight feathers grow back when he is socialized properly. I don't like it that he can't fly.) so I watch him like a hawk while he is out of his cage and clean up any poop immediately.

I think that your BF needs to consider the fact that having poop everywhere is just not sanitary. Not only that, but he is sharing a home with you, so he will need to make compromises out of respect for you and you will need to do the same for him. Once you two have reached an agreement, I'm sure you will be able to appreciate the bird, and see the good in him over the things that annoy or irritate you.

 

[Bobby34231]

I doubt you get any kind of reply as this thread is over 3 years old and most of the members in it are no longer active, I do have to say I give her credit as a non bird person for comming on here seeking advise to save her relationship, I guess we may never know how that all turned out :31: