Seeking the perfect ONE

[CuriousFeathers]

I could think of maybe changing the rooms around so that I sleep in the reptile room and put my office where my bedroom would be...that could work....then I could keep the main cage in my office still, which has a window, so could definitely do the indoor/outdoor caging idea.

That could actually work!

Though, would the geckos be ok around the bird? I think I'd be more worried about the bird getting at them than being stressed by them....

I will say that I'm still pretty sold on a green aracari though. According to others that keep them and the breeder I have been talking to, they are very trainable, including potty training and should cost about $30 a month to feed. Also, if I do decide to add another bird in the future (big if), they do very well with conyers and other parrots.

[marie83]

To be honest there is another reason I wouldn't keep reptiles and birds in the same room which I failed to mention earlier and that is reptiles can carry a lot of things that would cause harm to parrots, some of which isn't as common as it used to be due to health care and captive breeding programs but some of which can still be an issue. I'm talking things like parasites and salmonella to give two examples.
It wouldn't take much for a parrot to pick up something like that even with good husbandry.

I'm so pleased you are researching everything properly our pets deserve such dedication and I'm sure you will find a way to make it work for you if you decide to go for it.

I think the aviary attached to your office sounds like a fab idea and is exactly the sort of thing I would want for my birds if I had a garden.

[Wolf]

with what little I know about Toucans and their diet, I would be concerned that the toucan would want to eat the geckos. but the real reason that I am posting again is the potty training idea that you have. Although it is very easy to accomplish, often by accident, it is not something that I would encourage as it can have severe repercussions for the bird, requiring surgery to correct. Please do research on this particular topic as it is a bad idea.

[Pajarita]

I agree! Potty training a bird is a REAL bad idea! There have been cases of cloacal prolapse from it -and that requires very expensive surgery to fix!

And, yes, again, a toucan will eat your geckos as small lizards are part of their natural diet but they would be safe with a conure because they are basically fruit and grain eaters.

[CuriousFeathers]

From what I have read about potty training is that it is not meant to train them to hold it, but to go in a specific place. So the bird would still be able to go whenever they need to.

Also, I wouldn't worry about my geckos being eaten as they would never be out at the same time as the bird.

Thank you for your input! It really helps me rethink certain things. =)

[Wolf]

I was pretty certain that you meant teaching them where to go and not holding it, but parrots do not always take things the way that we would like them too. For this reason they will take it as that is the only place that they can go potty and they will hold it until they can go in that spot. Most of the people that have used potty training have only meant to get the bird to use just certain easily accessible places for pooping but the bird decided that it meant that it could not poop in any other place. Neither you nor I can tell them how to think.

[Pajarita]

Wolf is right. There was this member whose bird had decided that he couldn't poop in his cage, only outside his cage and that meant hours and hours and hours of the bird holding it - not good at all!