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Potty Training- Good or Bad?

NeptuneGCC

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Hello everyone, I have a few questions about potty training, and I’m leaning towards not doing it.

If I train Neptune to go in his cage, would he only poop in his cage? Would he not go in his travel cage either then since it isn’t his cage?

Is it possible to teach multiple places for him to go on, like his cage, paper towel, playstand, travel cage, etc.

I know it isn’t good for them to hold it, and I definitely do not want him to feel that he can only go in one place. Especially if/when I take him places, I’m worried he won’t think he can go since his cage isn’t there, even if a paper towel or his travel cage is.

Some say it’s about training on to go on command, not to go in a certain spot. If it were on command, wouldn’t the bird then hold it in their cage too? Waiting for the command? That doesn’t sound safe.

The only reason why I was wondering about this is because I have carpeting but I am going to buy mats to put under his cage and playstand.
 
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Tara81

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I think this may be controversial. I’ve tried to teach my tiel to poop anywhere besides on me but she didn’t catch on hehe. She also might not be the right species to teach . I never gave her treats for not pooping on me, I just brought her away from me every 15 minutes to different places, no command. I think the larger birds can be loosely potty trained with no command using this technique however. I’ve also read some birds can give signs when they want to go so u can bring them somewhere which seems great.

On one hand I’ve read a bird has never died from holding it in or from forcing it out on command. But is it true? No idea. Then on the other hand I’ve read that training them to go on command is bad for them .

Sorry I’m not much help :) I’m sure someone who owns the bigger bird species can help more!
 
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Zara

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I’ve tried to teach my tiel to poop anywhere besides on me but she didn’t catch on hehe.
lol ahhhh to be bird mums :roflmao: a couple of hours ago Adelie sat on my head and pooped on my forehead hahaha I´m not mad about it.
My other birds don´t tend to poop on me, they usually do it on my boyfriend hehe

I can tell when my birds are going to poop (if I can see them), so when the are sitting on my laptop and start the movement, I move their tail around so they poop over the table and not on my screen.

Sorry, I´m not much help to this thread. I let my birds poop wherever.

There´s a big plastic sheet you can buy, it comes in a roll, people usually buy a metre or two for infront of the kitchen sink, maybe that could help? It´s pretty heavy duty stuff. you could lay it down before letting your bird out in the morning, mop it down and roll it up at night. That´s what I´d do if I had carpets.

IMO I don´t think birds should be trained when and where to poop. But each can do as they please.
 

Tara81

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yeah I can usually prevent her going on me if I watch her , but sometimes I’m just not paying attention. She usually goes after a nap, after preening and stretching, and she backs up just before she goes. I still remember when I first got her, I thought she was the smartest bird for not pooping in her hammock where she sleeps. Then I realized it’s because she backs up and the hammock isn’t large enough to poop on because of this. Even if she did it would fall through the holes,
 

NeptuneGCC

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I'm most likely not going to potty train him, he's going to be my first feathered friend so just wanted to explore all options! Letting him go wherever definitely seems like it would be the best option though, I have hedgehogs so I've dealt with plenty poop and it doesn't bother me.

Hopefully his favorite place to poop won't be over carpet! I'm so so excited to get him, all I can think about is birds! I've been on the waitlist for about a year now, and in a few weeks, the breeder is hoping to have babies. I don't know if they'll be yellow-sided turquoise, but she hasn't had any of them since last spring so hopefully! Sorry I went off topic there, like I said, it's hard to not talk about them haha :D

Thanks everyone!
 

Imogena

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I was considering training Edgar to go on certain surfaces (like white paper which he also has in his cage). For now I'm not doing this because I'm still unsure if it is healthy for him. I thought I would put paper in several places so Edgar has a lot of opportunities to do his thing. But I still don't know if Edgar will not hold his poop while beeing busy with something more important (birds outside the window or killing the computer mouse). Maybe no bird died from holding the poop but it is still unhealthy for them. Althought it would be very comfortable not to clean poop from my sweater or armchair.
 

cassiesdad

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IMO I don´t think birds should be trained when and where to poop.
I agree....let's face it, we're talking about a natural process here...
 

AviaryByTheSea

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At the very least train your bird to poop on command, it is probably the easiest command to train. Watch your bird... when you see it is about to poop (or immediately after if you missed) simply say whatever phrase you want to be the poop on command phrase. I am partial to "Bombs Away!" At the very least you can make him do his business before you pick him up, so he doesn't do it on you.

After that... you can teach him to poop in certain spots... Cages, perches... etc. They will fly to their spots. This doesn't mean he won't poop elsewhere if he can't get to his designated spot... just my 2 cents.
 

Imogena

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At the very least train your bird to poop on command,
What if I'm not around to give the command. Or I will be so engaged in something else that I will forget to give the command? I would be afraid to do so. Too many things can go wrong.
 

AviaryByTheSea

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What if I'm not around to give the command. Or I will be so engaged in something else that I will forget to give the command? I would be afraid to do so. Too many things can go wrong.
Training your bird to "poop on command" doesn't mean the only time he will poop is when the associated phrase is issued. Rather, he will poop for you when you ask him to poop if he has anything to eliminate. He will still go when he has to go... natures call so to speak. You are not trying to train him to hold his poop, although they might try and hold it a little until they can get to their spot... but it won't last very long. Additionally, training him to do his business in certain spots is simply making your job of cleaning up after him easier.

I have 8 macaws... they all know "bombs away." They all also know that when they are inside the house, particularly in the living room - to fly to a perch and do their business... this doesn't mean there isn't the errant dropping once in a while. It simply means there isn't giant bird craps all over the place.
 
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Imogena

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Rather, he will poop for you when you ask him to poop if he has anything to eliminate.
Won't the bird strain himself if he has nothing to eliminate? I've read that straining to poop is also unhealthy.
 

AviaryByTheSea

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Won't the bird strain himself if he has nothing to eliminate? I've read that straining to poop is also unhealthy.
I am not sure I would describe it as "strain to poop" - I tell them to poop, they either do right away or don't. They know what is expected, but I also know what to expect. If they don't have to go, they don't go. If I was to stand there and tell them over and over "bombs away" - then yeah they would probably strain to poop if they didn't have to go.

I sometimes tell people - "the birds know I am boss." That doesn't mean I am the mythical "Alpha Bird" - it simply means they understand me and know what I want them to do - and usually they comply. But, they actually have a choice.
 

Kodigirl210

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If people forced their bird to go only on command, I could see that as being an issue. The fact is that I don’t train my birds to go only on command. I train them to go on command if they need to poop. I don’t sit there forever and keep asking them to go until they do. And it’s not about training a bird to go only in one spot. I teach my birds to go basically anywhere but me and I see nothing wrong with that. I also don’t get fired up if they do go potty on me so maybe it should be more I’m teaching them to honor my request not to go on me. ;)
 

AviaryByTheSea

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Someone potty trained my U2 and she has never pooped on me. But this isn’t good for her. It can cause kidney damage
I read the screenshot of the previous post by JLcribber. And while I am not a vet, I would agree that if force your bird to physically strain to eliminate waste this could potentially lead to a manifestation of physical medical issues.

To train your bird to strain is totally improper and irresponsible training. Clearly, that bird was taught that it had to poop when issued the associated phrase by continuously telling it to poop over and over even when it didn't have to poop, and that is just flat out wrong.

I think it is important to note there are major differences between proper training and improper training. interestingly, once my birds learned not to poop all over the place inside the house and to poop at the perches it became unnecessary to tell them to poop, the training became passive as they understood what was expected. When I was training them, I would ask them to poop before I asked them to step up in the morning before I put them outside... if they didn't poop when I asked them, I would I would say "No, ok, Step up" My birds are flighted, spend all day outside in an aviary and come in at dark.

Anyway... knowing that people could improperly train their birds to strain which could lead to medical complications makes me want to reevaluate how to train this behavior. I am going to consult with a few of my avian vet friends.
 
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Farlie

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Fortunately, my baby has trained himself where to poop. He doesn't like pooping in his cage so when I open it he'll run out to his 'pooping perch' and let go. If he is playing somewhere on or in his cage and needs to go, he'll stop what he's doing and run to that 'poop perch' and go.
When in his cage there is only two places he'll go and not all over the place.
Now, when playing on me I will have to get him on my finger about every 20 minutes to hold him over a small trash basket in the room and I tell him to 'poop' and he will.
So basically, I'm teaching him to poop when on my finger and not on my shoulder. It is working most of the time although accidents do happen.
 

Mark & Da Boyz

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Cheddar, like Farlie, doesn't like to poop in his cage. When I let them out in the morning he takes off to the Tiel cage and lets loose. How such a little fella can hold so much I don't know. It hits with a Thump...and Echos!
 
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d_msparkles

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Yeah, Waffle has never really pooped on us. Sometimes on our clothes but never on bare skin. If I pay attention in the morning, I can get her to let her big bomb go in the trashcan (for which she receives lots of enthusiastic praise!) but I decided pretty early on not to potty train.
She has a mat outside her cage even though we have hardwood floors—just makes training easier. I’ve seen people on Instagram post video of their beebs pooping in the toilet and it gives me anxiety about them falling in the bowl. :unsure1:
 

lexalayne

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My girl doesn’t fly (not clipped) and she won’t alert me in any way when she has to go. I need to put her on her tree and then she’ll go. I just hate to feel like she’s uncomfortable or hurting herself.
 
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