Snuggle time with Birds?

[Pomlover2586]

Zazu and Iago are very hand tame and like to be held/petted. However, I tend to keep them on their play stand or on their open cage rather than on ME. I'd like to be able to have them sit on my shoulders while watching tv etc, but it seems like every time I hold them for more than a minute or two they poop on me- and this happens. every 10 minutes or so. So how do you guys hold your babies on the couch with you etc? I've seen people wear bird smocks etc, but I also don't want them pooping on my furniture (leather). Thanks for any ideas!

[terri]

We have our bird shirts ,sweatshirts,and smocks depending on time of year and what we are doing.Also I use the BIRD BLANKET or towel on the back of my couch so they can run up and down it.

[marie83]

Leather would be the easiest thing to clean poop up from, but you could put a sheet over it.
Wear an old tshirt or potty train are the only answers to the clothes thing really.

I tend to just accept I'm going to get pooped on. I can't be bothered to potty train a bird that ''goes'' every few minutes, although I guess it would help with exercise if they were flying to a perch every 10 mins to poop, its just as easy to clean up after them.

Just remembered you clip so potty training isn't an option really unless you want to get up every 10 mins to take them to the toilet.

[GreenWing]

We cuddle a lot with Tiki.

Getting pooped on by your bird is a necessary evil in life... like doing laundry. But the two go hand-in-hand. We have a laundry pile that's specifically from handling the bird.

Wear "lounge" clothing when you cuddle your bird, such as an old t-shirt. You can decrease the chance of your bird taking a dump on you if he/she does its business in the cage before handing, but it can still happen and probably will

[Kiyomi1793]

You can potty train your birds. I used to watch Casper closely and whenever he did the little poop dance, I'd repeat "poop! poop!" and now he's learned to do it on command (: So about 20 minutes into cuddling or just chilling out on my head/shoulder, I make him step up, put him over a tissue and tell him to "poop" and ta-da! But even before he learned that trick, he never pooped on me. He's such a clean freak!

As for the poop stains on furniture/clothes, towels are my best friend. I drape them over my furniture when he wants to run around and play. Just make sure their nails don't get stuck with every step they take hehe.

[pennyandrocky]

mya does the poop dance too.it might be hard to potty train a clipped bird though.

[marie83]

Personally I'm not a fan of training to poop on command. Training to potty is different though (if they can get to it) as that allows the bird to do what it needs to do. Would you like to hold onto your waste until a command was given? Eventually the bird would go anyway but what is it doing to the bird in the meantime? There may be no harm as birds work differently to us, but if we don't go when our bodies tell us we can end up with water infections, constipation etc. Dont assume it is harmless even if it doesn't appear to be harming them.

[Grey_Moon]

Jacko honestly tries very hard to hold it in and not poop on me.

I just hold her over some newspaper every 15 minutes or so and she goes.
Left to her own devices she'll suddenly pull away from my hand and walk as far away as she can from me and attempt to poop off the bed/couch etc.

[LPolliard]

I have a small perch on the coffee table between the couch and the TV with newspaper under it. Chico hangs out and has learned to do his business there. When he is on my shoulder while I am on the couch and he wants to go, he will walk down my arm toward the perch. When he is as close as he can get he will go into his pre-flight crouch. All I have to do is place him on the perch and he gets his business done. He is not completely flighted yet but I hope eventually he will just fly over to acceptable depositories.

Birds are very intelligent. I have noticed Chico actively tries not to relieve himself while on my shoulder or on my bed. I think he considers the bed as my nest. That is not to say he doesn't have accidents. Birds go potty every few minutes so if I don't place him over an acceptable depository frequently it is all on me, in more than one way, lol.