Bird poop

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phlem_21
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 3:06 am

Bird poop

Post by phlem_21 »

Hi

Is it possible to train my bird not to **** everywhere and just in 1 speciafic place ?
pattiB
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:10 am

Re: Bird poop

Post by pattiB »

I've seen plenty videos on youtube showing how to teach you bird to poop in a specific spot. BUT, it's a bird and I'd think it wouldnt be 100% poopy trained proof! lol Good luck.
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Bird poop

Post by InTheAir »

Maybe. :wink:
Put him in the places you want him to go every 10 or so minutes and praise him when he does his business there. It helps to figure out how frequently he goes before yout start, get an idea of his personal schedule and all the factors that affect it. Learn his pre-toilet expression so you can get him to the right place in time or at the least get some newspaper under him.
Make sure the cage is one of the places and that he can always get to his toilet places on his own whenever he needs to! Otherwise it sets him up for failure or, possibly, constipation.

Remain completely oblivious to any accidents.

If toilet training him doesn't work at least you will become aware of his needs and get him to the right place before he needs to go.

If you do an Internet search on the subject you will probably find better instructions than mine.. It is absolutely essential that your bird has access to a suitable toilet perch at all times.
Donovan
Posts: 833
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Bird poop

Post by Donovan »

It can be done.

I have with little effort (and proportionately small success) trained my bird to go to a certain area.

He still has areas that he will go whether I want him to or not, but I have learned to put plastic down in those spots.

The main thing is -constant- observance. There are tell tale signs before the go. Once you identify the body language you have about 2-5 seconds to respond. In my case my bird would go on my desk. So I started shooing him away. Now (at least while on my desk) he'll actually fly back to his cage, do his business, and come back.

I won't say he's fully 'potty' trained because there are a couple of other places I wish he wouldn't go but I'm not able to fully monitor those spots. But at the end of the day if you can give your bird 100% attention and completely observe and decipher his/her body language, then yes you absolutely can do it..... again, for me it was just shooing him away and i'm sure i told him 'good boy' and played with him afterward.

On another note I have heard not to give treats for going in the right place. I don't know if it's a theory or if there have been actual cases of it, but the idea is that the bird may hold it and hold it because they want to wait until they think they can get a treat for it.
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Bird poop

Post by InTheAir »

Donovan wrote: On another note I have heard not to give treats for going in the right place. I don't know if it's a theory or if there have been actual cases of it, but the idea is that the bird may hold it and hold it because they want to wait until they think they can get a treat for it.
I have heard the same thing can happen whether trained with positive reinforcement or the more aversion based techniques.
Nila has lots of bombproof perches all over the house, we have always praised him when we notice him going to one of those spots to go and ignored accidents in other places. We get a couple droppings a week in the wrong places, we can live with that. We could probably train him better, but we can't be bothered.
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