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Potty Training

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

Re: Potty Training

Postby windharper » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:31 pm

I've researched this one a bit. The objective with potty training is ~not~ to reward your bird with food for going potty. It is these cases where the bird with hold it in at all costs until the owner is around to reward it. So, instead just identify (or praise) it verbally. This actually works.

Everytime Tamber :senegal: would let go in his cage, I'd say, "Good poop." No reward....just identifying what he has done. After a short time, he'd poop and say, "Good poop," all by himself. So now I am able to say, "Good poop," and he will let go, if he has to. This gives me a little control over it. I also ~never~ scold him if he poops, no matter where he does it. I'm okay about cleaning it up.

Apparently, a bird will go potty approximately every 15 to 20 minutes. You can also time this with when you want your bird out of its cage. Watch for it. Then let your bird out for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are training him, you can say, "Go potty" when he is in his cage and then let him out again after the deed is done.

Having said that, I will add that invariably, if Tamber gets spooked (which happens more out of his cage rather than in), the first thing he will do is fly somewhere and the second thing is poop. Birds will be birds. :D

Best wishes,
Deb
a.k.a windharper
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Re: Potty Training

Postby Michael » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:51 pm

Most of the time my parrot just flies to her climbing tree to poop there.
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Re: Potty Training

Postby sift » Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:25 am

windharper wrote:
Apparently, a bird will go potty approximately every 15 to 20 minutes. You can also time this with when you want your bird out of its cage. Watch for it. Then let your bird out for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are training him, you can say, "Go potty" when he is in his cage and then let him out again after the deed is done.


A few sources that I've read indicate that the verbal command training is very dangerous if the bird does as the OP suggested and decides to hold it because it's waiting for the command. The best suggestion I read to overcome this is to associate the bird with a specific thing (i.e. a perch or newspaper) instead of with a word or phrase so that the bird will continue to go to the bathroom without its owner's presence.

As was mentioned, I don't find bird poop to be that difficult to clean (I've been used as a loo more times that I'd like to count when dealing with other birds!). If you get it right away it's super easy to wipe off with water and if you don't, then it tends to brush off with something like a nail brush in no time flat.
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Re: Potty Training

Postby MandyG » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:16 am

I didn't teach this, but now that Mojo flies he will fly to his cage or to his perch and then go there. The only 'inappropriate' place that he goes is on a chair in our office that I use as a perch, but when I have him on that chair the office door is usually closed so he can't fly to his preferred potty places. I have toilet paper in that room and it's really easy to just wipe it up!
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