Time for poop training...

[shiraartain]

My mom is extremely frustrated and I've been getting an earful about Fajr pooping everywhere. My dad is Fajr's favorite person, and he takes Fajr to his room every day, and so the result is bird poop all over my parents' bedroom. This isn't strictly my fault, but since Fajr is "my" bird, I have to take responsibility for it.

I was fine with cleaning up after him, but now my parents are suggesting getting a bird diaper (the flightsuit we had gotten for my 'tiel had also doubled as a bird diaper), but seeing how restrictive it was on my tiel makes me really dislike the idea. I do prefer the aviator harness, since it covers a lot less of the bird while still allowing the bird to fly-but that does not function as a diaper.

And so, I've decided to start doing training as a compromise of sorts. I'm extremely on edge about the idea though, and will cut off the training if at any point it looks like he is forcing himself to poop or holding back. I'm extremely concerned about something going wrong during the process. I have read Michael's post and seen his video on how to go about the training and will do my best.

Obviously, birds do poop and Fajr is a family member, so even if this doesn't work out, he's here to stay-poop and all. I will keep you all updated on our progress!

Two concerns though:

One: In the past, when I noticed he needed to go, I've put him on a sheet of newspaper (not with the intent of training, and I was not consistent).The issue is that he will often back up onto the edge of the newspaper and poop on the surface underneath . Any suggestions about what I can do to prevent that?

Two: If anyone has access to any other resources on safely training this, I would appreciate it if you could post a link!

[Wolf]

I will not train my birds to poop when or where I want as it is too easy to cause health problems for the bird. I do two things about it myself, 1) I keep a roll of toilet paper handy to clean up right away and 2) I know that my birds are going to need to poop approximately every 10 to 15 minutes and can put them in a safe place to poop, such as a trash bin, top of cage, on paper or similar places.
I would think that clean up would be the responsibility of the person who has the bird in their possession at the time of pooping. How could it be fair to hold you accountable for your bird pooping where someone else is taking it. It is like you have bird in cage and go out, dad comes along gets bird out of cage takes bird to his room bird poops on hi pillow. Dad is responsible as he was in possession of bird, you had bird in cage. Just my viewpoint.

[Pajarita]

Poop training is a bad, bad idea, especially for the little guys that 'go' so often. Tell your father that, if he wants to spend time with the bird, he needs to wear an old shirt and keep him on his shoulder all the time. That's what I do (I have an entire shelf in my closet with 'bird clothes'). My husband (who is not a bird person) complains every now and then but he knows that this is what it is when you have birds. Keeping animals as companions has drawbacks, dogs will shed and cats will, too, as well as sharpen their nails and both will have accidents, and birds chew stuff and poop. It's the way it is. You can't have the benefits without having the drawbacks.

PS. The reason why he 'backs up to the edge of the paper' to poop is because they do this instinctively when in their nest so as not to mess it up.

[shiraartain]

My Dad doesn't have a problem with the bird poop, it's my mom who's been going crazy over it-my dad does take napkins with him.

I think when I made the post, poop training seemed like the only solution. I thought about it for a few days and read your responses and to be honest, I really don't think poop training is necessary. I've talked to my parents a bit more and will be putting newspaper in every room in which he will be taken. My mom has clearly made certain places prohibited, and hopefully everyone will adhere to the new rules so we can all live peacefully.

[Wolf]

That sounds like a winner to me! If it was not for the risk of harming my birds I would potty train them, but since it could, I don't.

[Pajarita]

Good for you and better still for your bird! And your parents sound like champions to me as they are being so very reasonable and willing to adjust to the bird's needs! I predict a wonderful long term relationship for everybody in the household!