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jacksmom
09-19-2013, 12:22 PM
I thought it was pretty common to potty train parrots...but it doesn't seem like anyone on here does it? Not to use the actual toilet, of course...or to go in a particular spot...but to only go when on the playstand, in the aviary, cage, what have you.

If I am not the only weirdo on here that has done this...how long do you guys wait before bringing them to "go potty"? I had read that they can need to go every fifteen minutes, and knowing they shouldn't poop on you or your couch can hurt themselves holding it. So, I have been bringing Jack to his "potty" every fifteen to twenty minutes, depending if he has eaten recently or not...but most of the time he gives me the "I don't havta, Ma!" signal by knocking his beak on me or tugging my shirt.

Is it bad that I am thinking of training him to return to a particular stand when he is out to use the potty himself if he wants to? I wonder because this idea seems born of pure laziness! ;) I mean, he can fly, right...and is becoming a landing pro...why should I be his personal taxi? :o

spiritbird
09-19-2013, 12:42 PM
I did the potty training with my TAG and she took right to it! Each morning I took her to the toilet and set her on the rim then said the magic word "poopy" and she did her morning bomb. Then if I took her there during the day she was corporative. It was very easy because she knew what the word meant. I tried to catch her at the right times. She had no issues about going in the cage or elsewhere if she needed to.

Wayne361
12-05-2013, 12:13 AM
I have Oscar potty trained. At first bringing him to his stand every 15 minutes to do his thing. Saying poop and praising. I think the unhealthy part of them holding in their poop arises when people treat their bird for going poop. Bird will hold in poop saving for a treat. I have just never treated for going poop. Once flight training took into affect (he was a terrible flyer as he was previously clipped in previous home) I would have him fly to perch when he had to go poop. Through repetition and praise he now will fly to perch on his own, do his business and then return to me.

Wayne

Pat 621
12-05-2013, 12:45 AM
That's cool. Best I can do was teach him not to poop on couch. Lol


Julius 07/09

kendrafitz
12-05-2013, 01:16 AM
Rosie is potty trained. When I visited her at the store before we took her home I would say Good girl, you went poop!, every time she pooped. Eventually I would ask her to poop before I would have her step up. Now when I ask if she wants to cuddle or if she just decides she wants to cuddle, she automatically poops and then looks at me with her foot up.

She rarely poops on me unless she is really, really mad at me (usually if she perceives I have wronged her in some way or if I am talking to someone else and ignoring her while she is on me). Other than that, I can usually read her signs and when I ask if she needs to poop she will say uh huh.. and hold her foot up. She is really good for the most part. :) But the girls at Bird Paradise told me Macaws are good and generally won't poop on their people if they can help it. Don't know if that's true, but it works for Rosie.

ShellyBorg
12-05-2013, 04:07 PM
For me I watch my birds. They all will start to wiggle more just before and I will hold them above a section of news print I keep on the floor near where we are. Only one of my 4 will poop on me and that is only when I don't read the signal fast enough. Paris and Demon will really hold it if I don't pay attention.

Wayne361
12-05-2013, 10:35 PM
For me I watch my birds. They all will start to wiggle more just before and I will hold them above a section of news print I keep on the floor near where we are. Only one of my 4 will poop on me and that is only when I don't read the signal fast enough. Paris and Demon will really hold it if I don't pay attention.

Ya they tend to get fidgity eh. Before oscar would fly to perch to do his business, he would say "step up" and I would let him step up....that was his way of saying "take me to my perch I need to go poop" He was training me and I was a good student :) Until I got him to fly on his own to perch :)

spiritbird
12-05-2013, 11:20 PM
They really do understand what we want. I also trained my GCC to poop. I would watch him for a while and just felt he had to go. Then I put a paper behind him and said "Poop" and he backed up and did his thing. Some non bird people would think I was crazy! :th_faint:

JadeC
12-06-2013, 04:35 PM
Meiko is pretty good about going potty on command.. I feel bad sometimes because I'll put him on his stand and tell him to go potty and he'll look at me and squeeze out the tiniest poops of all time just to make me happy!!! Haha He's still not fully potty trained though, but we're working on it. :)