Potty-Training Baby Blue-Headed Pionus

[lilmangoseed]

Hello all,

I just took home a baby blue-headed pionus the other day. He's about 4 1/2 months old, and I wanted to start watching him for future potty-training. But right now, he can take anywhere between 1 and 2 hours between poops. It's kind of nice because I haven't had to worry about him pooping too much when he's out of the cage, but it doesn't stop him from taking an occasionally big dookie on my shoulder.

Do you think this is because he's young? Or more likely that he still feels uncomfortable in the new environment? I know I should I just give him time to normalize more (it's only been 2 days!) but I'm just wondering if any of you have experienced something similar when bringing home your babies.

[Wolf]

First of all I do not potty train any of my birds, but I do use a lot of rolls of toilet paper as I keep a roll with me and the birds at all times. None of my parrots go anywhere that long between poops.
I am now going to try something so please tell me if I am wrong as although this may help you, I am also testing myself on this.
You have a very young bird who should be pooping every 15 to 20 minutes or there about. It is not and it is doing large dumps at long intervals, so(test) I am thinking that you are feeding this bird mostly pellets of some sort. ( let me know if I am right or not)
At this age your bird should be getting soft moist food twice a day and it should do a large dump shortly after waking up in the morning and then a smaller normal sized poop about every 20 minutes or so.

[Pajarita]

Yes, the age of the bird and the long waits between poops are a concern... it seems the bird is not eating enough.

By the way, I think that potty training birds is dangerous in the long run. I would much rather end up with poop on my furniture (my husband walks around the house with a wet sponge in his hand ) or on me (I went out shopping yesterday with a small poop on my back which I had not noticed) than risk my birds' health. The way I see it is, if you can't stand a little noise, a little chewed up furniture or a little poop, you are not a parrot person.

[lilmangoseed]

Well, my dear baby is doing much better and pooping much more frequently. It turns out that he wasn't eating enough -- most probably because he was still very anxious after coming to a new environment. Now, he's eating much more frequently and pooping every 16-17 minutes.

BTW Wolf, my bird is freefed a custom blend of seeds, pellets, nuts, and dried fruit. He's also still handfed with Zupreem Embrace once every 24 hours.

As for the debate on potty-training. My personal view is to agree with Michael Sazhin's approach. It's simply to time out the bird's poops so that when he does use the bathroom, it's in his cage or on his training perch rather than on me. I certainly don't mind having poop on my shoulder. But would I prefer that I don't have a giant poop on my shoulder? Of course

[Wolf]

I think that I would do more research on parrot nutrition as seed, pellets, nuts and the handfeeding formula are all high in fat and protein. I don't know what dried foods but your bird needs fresh vegetable and fruit, the hand feeding formula and then seeds or pellets in the evening. I am pretty sure that its diet is way too high in protein and fat.

[liz]

I get it. It's like timing 2 hours while potting training a kid. You will be working on it's body schedule. That's not bad as long as you don't say "poop" and expect him to do it when you want him to. Or expect him to hold it because you want him to.

[Pajarita]

Well, my dear baby is doing much better and pooping much more frequently. It turns out that he wasn't eating enough -- most probably because he was still very anxious after coming to a new environment. Now, he's eating much more frequently and pooping every 16-17 minutes.

BTW Wolf, my bird is freefed a custom blend of seeds, pellets, nuts, and dried fruit. He's also still handfed with Zupreem Embrace once every 24 hours.

As for the debate on potty-training. My personal view is to agree with Michael Sazhin's approach. It's simply to time out the bird's poops so that when he does use the bathroom, it's in his cage or on his training perch rather than on me. I certainly don't mind having poop on my shoulder. But would I prefer that I don't have a giant poop on my shoulder? Of course

Michael's birds are very young and he still doesn't really know if his methods have negative long term effects so, please, take that into consideration. By the way, you never end up with a giant poop on your shoulder even when birds are not potty trained.