outsmarted potty training?!

[ali_and_birdie]

My 2 yo caique has been potty trained since about 3 months after coming to live with me, so for about a full year now. We have trained her to go poop in one of 3 spots around the house. She gets a seed after pooping in the right spot.

2 problems:

1) I know that intermittent reinforcement is the best, so giving her seeds randomly after she poops, rather than every time. However, whenever I don't give her a seed after she's pooped in the right spot, she seems to take a "revenge poop" -- her next poop is somewhere she knows she's not supposed to poop, like on the bed. I've reverted back to giving her a seed after every poop. Any suggestions?

2) This might be related to problem 1, but it seems that recently she has realized that she only gets a seed if we *see* her poop. Therefore, when we are in the room with her, she will poop in the right place. But if we are not there to see her poop, she will just poop anywhere she pleases, like on the floor.

Help please! On the one hand, I'm amazed by her smarts; on the other, I'm getting tired of poops around the house.

 

[tka]

Honestly? Stop potty training her. 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 a few times a day, and who you can train to go outside.

She's obviously worked out how to get around the "training" so it's already proving more trouble than it's worth in terms of behaviour. I would focus on preventative measures. Keep some paper towel and spray bottle of Poop-Off or a solution of water and a drop of washing up liquid on hand. Put an old sheet on the bed. I have an old curtain draped on the back of the sofa and another one on top of a bookcase/dresser where Leia likes to hang out. Put paper or plastic sheeting under her favourite perches. It's easier and safer for us to adapt our housing for a bird than it is to expect a bird to do something that goes against their physiology and instincts.

 

[Miss Annamarie]

I agree, stop with the potty training no matter how appealing it sounds. I have fleece blankets covering all the couches etc and change them out daily. I have pieces of vinyl underneath playstands, perches etc. It's what comes with owning a bird.

 

[Ali]

Honestly? Stop potty training her. 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 a few times a day, and who you can train to go outside.

She's obviously worked out how to get around the "training" so it's already proving more trouble than it's worth in terms of behaviour. I would focus on preventative measures. Keep some paper towel and spray bottle of Poop-Off or a solution of water and a drop of washing up liquid on hand. Put an old sheet on the bed. I have an old curtain draped on the back of the sofa and another one on top of a bookcase/dresser where Leia likes to hang out. Put paper or plastic sheeting under her favourite perches. It's easier and safer for us to adapt our housing for a bird than it is to expect a bird to do something that goes against their physiology and instincts.

This exact message needs to be posted on every new potty training thread.

Thank you @tka great mesaage

 

[Ali]

I agree, stop with the potty training no matter how appealing it sounds. I have fleece blankets covering all the couches etc and change them out daily. I have pieces of vinyl underneath playstands, perches etc. It's what comes with owning a bird.

I go a round with an antibac wipe and check every pillow and everything. I plan to get a new play gym area too, so hopefully they'll stay over that and most of the poop will be in one area, saving my poor wallet from getting even more expensive wipes

 

[Hankmacaw]

"...although it is possible to train a parrot to defecate on verbal command, this method is dangerous. Occasionally, a bird may be so eager to please that it will incur life-threatening kidney damage waiting for that verbal command. This becomes an issue if the owner is ill or injured or must go out of town. A forgotten instruction to command the bird to defecate has proved fatal on at least one documented occasion (Athan 50)."

from Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot

 

[Miss Annamarie]

from Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot

Candi at the shelter near me had her macaws potty trained when she was younger. This started happening and she stopped with it immediately. Just thought I'd shout out an example of it happening.

 

[ali_and_birdie]

Super interesting replies! Thanks everyone.

I should note that she's not trained to just poop on command (re: the issue that @Hankmacaw raised); rather, she's just trained to poop in certain spots when she wants to poop. She is allowed to fly around the house, so she can always access her poop spots (one of which is her cage). Her other 2 poop spots are both play gyms that she enjoys spending time on.

I'm glad that she poops whenever she needs to. I think for the time being, I'll just start doing more intermittent rewards when she poops in the training spots, and I'll just deal with it, as I have been dealing with it, when she poops elsewhere!

 

[tka]

Read what I wrote again. The usual sequence is poop then fly; it's not natural for them to fly somewhere then poop. This is true for most flying species of bird, from little songbirds to vultures. Parrots are no different in that respect.

I really would move away from this idea of training her to poo in certain areas and linking this to rewards.

 

[Hermesbird]

I too have fell for the cute potty training, but I love my birds more to be healthy and not hold it to please me after I read exactly what @tka had posted on another thread I eagerly shared my experience with. great thing about their poop is that it is easy to clean up.