Is your conure potty trained?

YSGC

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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
Pico is. (Actually I am the one who is trained.)
I've noticed that he poops about every 10 minutes so we've gotten into a cooperative rhythm.

If he's on me, or a place I want to keep clean, about every 10 minutes I'll use a portable perch to move him to his stand perch which is over newspaper.
He'll make his bank deposit immediately.

Our success rate is around 95%, so occasionally I'm gifted a shoulder decoration. :56:

He doesn't sleep in his cage because I don't heat that part of the house at night.
He sleeps in an aquarium in the heated bedroom. (No water in the aquarium :D )
Since he never poops there/then, that first morning poop is a whopper!
He must do that on his stand perch before he's allowed into bed for our morning 15-minute cuddle session, which Pico loves so much. :rainbow1:
... and yes, the house has been warmed up before Pico leaves the bedroom.

What is the frequency of your conure's charitable contributions?

PS, aquariums as beds can't be beat for containing bird mess.
 
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Jen5200

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Most of mine are good for about 20 minutes....then a deposit is required. I have one who is potty trained - I didn’t train her, it must have come from her previous life :). The others aren’t specifically potty trained, but I have a pretty good sense of time and it’s just habit to put them on a perch at about 20 minutes and they usually take care of business so we can carry on with whatever we were doing.
 

Laurasea

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Sort of?I can tell by body language, and move them to the door I want them to poop, say poop and they do.
Morning poops are always huge, birds seem to hold it all night, maybe to reduce predation?
 

Skittys_Daddy

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Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
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(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
Skittles is potty trained, but I didn't train him. The pet store I got him from did. There was a clerk there who fell in love with him and taught him the "kissy noises" that he makes and also potty trained him because she liked to walk around the store with him on her shoulder and didn't want him pooping all over her or all around the store. In the 8yrs I've had him, the only times he has pooped on me is when we are away from home (ie, at the vet or at a friends house).

He has poop mats and tends to restrict his pooping to three places (his cage, his playstand and his playperch).

The messes he makes with his pellets is more of a hassle than his poops. He's actually pretty organized when it comes to pooping, but as far as being neat when it comes to food, not a chance. He generally goes about 20minutes between poops but he eats about every 10-15min. He is a little piggy!!!
 

LaManuka

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My dearly departed (and still desperately missed) GCC called Baci potty trained himself, I kinda looked around one day and realised he would flap back over to his cage before offloading his freight.

Believe it or not Lilly Pilly the lorikeet has pretty much also trained herself which I find pretty darned impressive for such a tiny wee girlie. She has however crapped on her daddy once or twice which is fine :)

Fang on the other hand just doesn’t get it, he will go anywhere at anytime whenever the muse is upon him ... hey as a very wise man once said, two outta three ain’t bad!
 

T00tsyd

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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Syd seems to have organised himself. He has particular spots that he aims for and only occasionally has accidents in unusual places. He has never pooped on me. I have noticed that he flies to the chosen spot carefully looks down as if checking things are as required and then lets loose.

Timings vary. Sometimes every ten minutes but often 20 or 25. It's just when I start to wonder when suddenly he flies off. If he is on my shoulder he will often nip my ear just to let me know his intentions and off he goes. He's rather a bright little chap. Food on the other hand gets tossed about willy nilly - it drives me nuts!
 

Sunnyclover

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All 4 of my Conures are potty trained. The older 3 haven't had an accident in ages. I never punish them for going on me ofc if it ever does happen. I potty trained them all from the second I got them so that helps I think because they always knew that you don't poop on mommy. Finley my Nanday will occasionally fire off a revenge poop but that's a different story.
 

clark_conure

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A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
like laurasea mine are semi trained.

They go poop on command when I put them over the shower or sink....

If I forget they will poop on me though....so it's more like they are potty trained I'm just not attentive enough.
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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I haven’t “potty trained” Kermit, but he doesn’t poop on me very often because I can see when he’s about to go and quickly move him over the floor. He seems to understand not to poop on me and sometimes moves over to avoid it, then comes right back to me. Kermit does have accidents sometimes and I’m okay with it — he’s a bird and birds poop.

Ducky, on the other hand, just poops wherever she’s sitting and it’s harder to tell when she’s about to go. By the time I realize it, it’s too late and she’s pooped on me. Ducky also poops more often than any of my other birds. I wonder if that’s a cockatiel thing?

I wouldn’t train a bird to poop on command because they might start to hold it in and avoid pooping in their cage. A better way to potty train would be to teach the bird to fly back to their cage/stand to poop, but then they would still hold it in when you’re out of the house or their cage is out of sight.
 
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YSGC

YSGC

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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
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... I wouldn’t train a bird to poop on command because they might start to hold it in ...

Good point.
I'm not a neat freak who panics over a little birdie turdie.
And of course, the inevitable accidents are never punished.

I think I read somewhere that forcing a bird to hold it is harmful to them.
I wouldn't doubt if the strain of forcing them to poop too often wouldn't be good either.
That's why I closely watched Pico in his first weeks, to accommodate his cycle and patterns.

Naturally it's not clockwork.
What's going on also affects when he goes.
If he's just chilling out he'll go longer without a poop.
Of course then it would be larger.
In his cage, or on his stand perches he poops whenever he wants so the sizes of the prizes varies - which means when I'm not involved it's not regularly timed.

Sometimes I'll put him down to poop and he won't.
No problem; I don't stress out his mind or body forcing it.
If he's very excited he'll poop more often.

Sorry for starting such a crappy thread. :p
 
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YSGC

YSGC

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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
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... Finley my Nanday will occasionally fire off a revenge poop but that's a different story.

LOL, "revenge poop".

It'd be funny if we did that.
I'm not a parent so I don't know, but maybe babies fire off revenge poops right after a diaper change. :confused:
 

Sunnyclover

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Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
... I wouldn’t train a bird to poop on command because they might start to hold it in ...

Good point.
I'm not a neat freak who panics over a little birdie turdie.
And of course, the inevitable accidents are never punished.

I think I read somewhere that forcing a bird to hold it is harmful to them.
I wouldn't doubt if the strain of forcing them to poop too often wouldn't be good either.
That's why I closely watched Pico in his first weeks, to accommodate his cycle and patterns.

Naturally it's not clockwork.
What's going on also affects when he goes.
If he's just chilling out he'll go longer without a poop.
Of course then it would be larger.
In his cage, or on his stand perches he poops whenever he wants so the sizes of the prizes varies - which means when I'm not involved it's not regularly timed.

Sometimes I'll put him down to poop and he won't.
No problem; I don't stress out his mind or body forcing it.
If he's very excited he'll poop more often.

Sorry for starting such a crappy thread. :p


All 4 of my birds poop on command and none of them hold it in or do anything weird or unhealthy. It's a lot about it using positive reinforcement because the issues lies in if they become scared to poop and hold it in because they're scared.
 

Skittys_Daddy

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Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
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(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
Its funny how 'non-bird' people (even ones with cats/dogs) will got into a tizzy when it comes to bird droppings! My neighbor (who does not own a pet) would just about lose it when Peaches used to poop on her floor when I'd bring her over and would be all worried like she was gonna get the plague, she'd go grab Lysol to disinfect it and all that BUT when it came time to petting the other neighbors cat, she didn't even wash her hands after! Peaches pooped on me about every 5 minutes and my shirts would be covered in droppings and my neighbor used to tell me to change my shirt. I wore old shirts around the house for that very reason, although now I wear the old ones for Skittles in case he chews them up.

I don't wash my hands after holding or petting Skittles. I'm actually MORE worried about him getting contaminated from me rather than me from him. Their poops are odorless (with the exception of the "morning dump", lol) and they dry up and can then be picked off, no problem.

I used to be a neat freak and anything out of place would irritate my OCD like you wouldn't believe. I had to learn to get over that and I did. I've accepted that Skittles is going to make a mess and there isn't anything I can do about that, they are messy. So now, I just wait til after he goes to bed and I clean up his messes (mainly discarded pellets etc).

While I'm not a dog person (I do love goldies, collies and huskies) I don't show it when I'm around other peoples dogs. I treat their dogs how I'd want them to treat my birds however, that's often not what ends up happening. I was attacked by a dog when I was a kid and I'd have every right to freak out if a dog jumped up on me, but I don't. I stay calm and 99% of the time the owner will call them away. Yet somehow a bird landing on them is the end of the world.

I was talking with someone this afternoon who mentioned they knew someone who had a sun conure with special needs and how the sunnie was 'mean and vicious' to everyone but his/her owner and that somehow made him/her a "nasty, nasty bird". Even when I try to explain WHY they are like that, the protective instinct, it gets dismissed. While a properly socialized parrot shouldn't attack everyone else, if the parrot is bonded to its owner, there is a certain degree of 'possessiveness' that is normal. By that, I mean its more protective instinct vs "this is mine!" Given that the sunnie had special needs, it was likely more protective for that very reason as well, vulnerability. I don't care how possessive Skittles is, the more he is, the better for me. It makes me feel safe. BUT, just in case, I have it noted in his file (to be used should something happen to me) about him not being socialized so any potential new owner will know what they are getting into.

I just hate how much of a bad rap parrots get. Not only that, but too many people see a parrot that does NOT talk or do tricks as somehow worthless. TBH, it ticks me off! Sorry to veer off-topic. I just had to vent that since 'bird droppings' are such an anathema to non-bird people.
 
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clark_conure

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GaleriaGila

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I LOVE this thread! The stories are fun, and I have a chance to repeat my obnoxious tale about...

"The Sad Story of How the Rickeybird was Toilet-trained for About an Hour".

It was back around 1990. I think he was maybe 6. I was reading Bird Talk, by then, and decided that I would try out some of the techniques. So I began taking the Rbird over a paper every 10 minutes or so and holding him there until he pooped, at which time I said "Boo-boo!" in a happy voice. Soon, I could take him to the paper say Boo-boo and he'd poop. As hoped for, as the day wore on, HE began to say Boo-boo and then poop when I held him over the target. He and I were both delighted, and we practiced and practiced. Sadly, it wasn't even an hour before he began saying Boo-boo every 30 seconds and then flying away when I headed for the paper. I accepted defeat graciously. To this day, he will sometimes yell Boo-boo ten or fifteen times within a minute or so, usually pooping wherever he happens to be. *sigh*
 

Skittys_Daddy

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Jan 6, 2014
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Lewiston, Maine
Parrots
Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sammy"
(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
They had Bird Talk back then when the RB was still a young'un? I wonder if AK & HI were states yet....hmm. lol.
 

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