Loving my new friend, Yoda! (GCC)

Hello all!

I've been reading this forum for months now as I was researching and getting ready to get my new bird. We brought our 3 month old Green Cheek Conure home a week and a half ago and shortly after that I registered on these forums. So this is my first post to introduce myself and my new feathered master, Yoda!

I work from home so I get to sit with him and play with him almost all day long. My husband and I have read and watched and studied and questioned everything and everyone we could find. We got the best cage we could afford and plenty of nice toys and perches. The bird store/breeder we got him from had weened him onto Tropican pellets which I have continued to feed him along with 2-4 nutriberries per day. He also gets a little of whatever veggies we are eating added to his dish. He loves carrots and tomatoes especially!

We are trying to potty train him and have had great success so far, but I think we confused him. We say the potty command word when he acts like he needs to go and place him in either his cage or on his playgym. We also say the potty command as soon as we see him actually pooping and then he gets picked up and praised afterwards. But now, he doesn't seem to want to go in his cage at all, and he tries to hold it to only go on his playgym. I'd much rather he go in his cage and not hold it, I don't want him to get sick. Any suggestions?

Anyone have any general advice or suggestions on training? We're thinking of getting some of the DVD's by Barbara Heidenreich "Good Bird, Inc".

Thanks!

Welcome to you and Yoda! Nice to have plenty of available time to kindle the relationship. We have many GCC members who can offer more targeted advice.

I haven't specifically potty trained a bird, so can't offer much guidance. seems Yoda is well socialized and ought be a great candidate for training.

Welcome to you!

Ollie (potty training champion of the world) used to also not want to go in his cage because birds naturally don't like to poop where they sleep. It's an instinct some pet birds carry on with even in captivity. We decided to get Ollie a sleep cage for night time that he never ever poops in even if I put him in there for some other reason he will hold it. We got the sleep cage for many reasons but I also wanted him to feel safe. It worked, Ollie will poop up a storm in his day cage now with no issues. You could also stop training him to go in his gym for a while and focus on the cage. Wait until he goes his big morning poop in his cage and praise him, then praise him any time he goes in the cage only. Stop praising him for going "anywhere" now because he probably is past that point in training and doesn't need to be confused. I also added an action for Ollie. If I want him to go potty I double tap his tail and say "go potty", this way there is NO WAY he can get confused on what I want him to do. Now I can literally do the action and say the words and he'll go anywhere I want him to. He even goes in the toilet for his big morning poop so we don't have to clean it up. Hope this helps.

Welcome and be welcomed. I never trained Salty on command pooping, I figure he has enough 'tricks' to learn, so kleenex are our best friends here. Your bird is clearly a learner, a good candidate for further training. Learners love to do tricks, and the more you teach them, the faster they learn. I usually do a trick with Salty once or twice and he has it. I'll say 'we do it together' a few times and boom, he has it.