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Knowing when your parrot is going to poop (potty training body language)

Meerkat07

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So ive decided to start potty training the birds and am having a lot of trouble figuring out when they are going to poop. I know that smaller birds poop every 15 ish minutes and bigger birds poop every 30 minutes or 1 hour (sometimes longer). Im just looking for body language that you guys use to tell when your birds about to go.
 

Hermesbird

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I can tell when my parrotlet is going to poop, she lifts her tail and kind of arches her back. Use a code word when they poop in cage and/or stand you want them to poo on. My word is doodle and my sister in-law uses poopy for hers. Its amazing how they understand what things mean. Treats always help to!!

*edit
Also YouTube videos of your type of bird you want to train to get an idea of how they do it or just watch them in there cage to see their body movements. they will tell you everything or in the least show you lol
 

tka

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Potty training is dangerous for birds. Birds are not mammals. Their bodies are designed to release waste very, very regularly to keep their bodies light enough to fly. Indeed, a flighted bird often poos just before they take off because even a gram or less makes a difference. They are not like a dog who only needs to defecate and urine a few times a day, and who you can train to go outside.

Training a bird to release waste on command by using a prompt word is again very dangerous. You risk your bird holding it in until they hear the prompt word, and not pooing unless they do. Their bodies are simply not designed to hold onto waste. There are horror stories of birds learning to hold their waste until they hear the prompt word, the prompt word not being given for whatever reason, and causing all sorts of physical problems as a result.

I have come to an understanding with my girl where she mostly doesn't poo on me but can poo anywhere else she likes. I can feel her do a little shuffle just before she poos, and when she does this I ask her to step up, put her somewhere else, and say "thank you!" when she does poo. No rewards, no treats, not even the usual word I use to praise her when training. I try to keep the two (toileting and training) as separate as possible.

If she does poo on me, no big deal. It's just a bonus if she doesn't. I provide some perches that she hangs out on when she's out of the cage and make sure that the surface under them can be easily cleaned, and I keep a spray bottle of Poop-Off and some kitchen towels to hand.
 

Hermesbird

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If she does poo on me, no big deal. It's just a bonus if she doesn't.
I agree with this and everything else about pooing, I don't do so frequently that she holds he poo in because we still have accidents on me lol but I like to know that we have a understanding of each other to poop on the t stand every 10 or so mins
 

tka

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I agree with this and everything else about pooing, I don't do so frequently that she holds he poo in because we still have accidents on me lol but I like to know that we have a understanding of each other to poop on the t stand every 10 or so mins
Then stop using a prompt word, stop giving treats or rewards, and stop training your bird to poo in a specific place. You're training her into a really unhealthy thing. Your bird should be pooing where she wants, when she wants for the majority of the time.
 

Zara

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Honestly, for the size of a budgie poop, just keep a loo roll nearby and spot clean after them. I keep a loo roll on my table and a spray bottle with water and 1 tsp Fairy in to clean.

I can understand Tka and others who live with larger birds putting a little more effort into trying to not have their birds poop on them, but for a few budgies it´s just not worth it at all.
 

Lady Jane

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This is completely unecessary and unhealthy for the bird. Advice is not to do ths.
 

taxidermynerd

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My Jade will kind of lower herself a bit, so when I see that, I know to hold her over a surface I can clean up easily. When she was younger, if she was on a flat surface she'd run backwards before the poop.
 

Snacking

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When my Charlotte pops she kind of backs up a little and then wiggles her bottom, I have to smile when I see her do that , it’s just too cute! And she is always pooing on me!
 

Meerkat07

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Potty training is dangerous for birds. Birds are not mammals. Their bodies are designed to release waste very, very regularly to keep their bodies light enough to fly. Indeed, a flighted bird often poos just before they take off because even a gram or less makes a difference. They are not like a dog who only needs to defecate and urine a few times a day, and who you can train to go outside.

Training a bird to release waste on command by using a prompt word is again very dangerous. You risk your bird holding it in until they hear the prompt word, and not pooing unless they do. Their bodies are simply not designed to hold onto waste. There are horror stories of birds learning to hold their waste until they hear the prompt word, the prompt word not being given for whatever reason, and causing all sorts of physical problems as a result.

I have come to an understanding with my girl where she mostly doesn't poo on me but can poo anywhere else she likes. I can feel her do a little shuffle just before she poos, and when she does this I ask her to step up, put her somewhere else, and say "thank you!" when she does poo. No rewards, no treats, not even the usual word I use to praise her when training. I try to keep the two (toileting and training) as separate as possible.

If she does poo on me, no big deal. It's just a bonus if she doesn't. I provide some perches that she hangs out on when she's out of the cage and make sure that the surface under them can be easily cleaned, and I keep a spray bottle of Poop-Off and some kitchen towels to hand.
Sorry for not explaining i'm not trying to potty train them I just would like to know the body language that birds show before they poop so that I can reduce the number of times they poop on me.
 

Meerkat07

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This is completely unecessary and unhealthy for the bird. Advice is not to do ths.
Explained this to Tka too
Sorry for not explaining i'm not trying to potty train them I just would like to know the body language that birds show before they poop so that I can reduce the number of times they poop on me. Its not a big deal for me but I would like to reduce it.
 

Teckechick

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Jenks goes where he wants but tends to fly off of us to poop which is nice. We didn't train him to do that nor would we train him to do that for all of the reasons others have mentioned above. I keep a box of tissue in almost every room so we just wipe up as needed.

Jenks will back up a bit then put his tail up in the air a bit before he goes. If I can grab a video tonight of him going I'll post it so you can see his body language.
 

Teckechick

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Here is a little video of Jenks pooping. The video is from behind him so you can’t see the wing movement very well. I’ll try to get one from the side if I can catch him going again on video tonight.

Enjoy LOL
 

BirdWorld

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I’ve never seen Blinky make any sign that he’s going to poop before he does it, but Spring puffs up and lifts her tail.
 

Teckechick

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Here is a better view.

 

Olliebirb

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My budgies poop everywhere! They kind of squeeze my finger with their feet and occasionally shake their bottom when they are about to poop. Sometimes there is no warning signs though. But I agree, poop training is bad.
 
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