Green cheek pottying on couch

[cdub11122]

I am new to owning a parrot...I worked in a pet shop right when I got home from the military before school started and fell in love with them, so I bought a green cheek. I have done a lot of research into their care and picked the brains of my boss about them. But now I moved to an apartment, and my green cheek Alf absolutely hates pottying in his cage or on his play gym. The only times that he pottys is when he is on my couch or after he makes an attempt to fly. I have tried putting paper on the couch and he just backs off of it, so i put a bigger sheet of paper and he backs up faster. I even tried to cover the whole seat with paper and he just backed up to the corner and let her go. Anyone know anything that might be able to help me get him to learn where to use the restroom. I have looked up potty training them and I cant get him to use the restroom on the paper to praise him or give him a treat.

 

[LittleGreenBird]

My GCC doesn't like to go in her cage either. For a while we'd just put her back in her cage for a few minutes after she "went" somewhere she oughtn't and that worked to get her to stop going on everything she wasn't supposed to- except the couch. I can't get her to stop doing it. I got a $2 piece of muslin and put it over the cushions, I just throw it in the wash and it comes out fine.

 

[cdub11122]

yeah i been doing the same thing, whenever he goes on the couch i put him back in his cage, and he usually gets mad and throws a temper tantrum.

 

[BoomBoom]

Hi! I'll share what I know based on my experiences with our 6 month old Sun Conure, Boomer.

Your bird has learned that your couch is his toilet pretty much. Help your bird to re-learn a new poop area. What we did with our conure is we designated a poop perch which we attached to the exterior of his cage (we always place paper around his cage all the time to catch all his mess). Everytime we take him out of his cage, we know he is bound to poop so we let him stay on that poop perch till he goes. We say 'poop!' as he is pushing it out. Doing so helps him learn to associate the word with the action. We reward him with praises, kisses, head scratches and shoulder time. Don't give food rewards, I read somewhere it is not good when potty training.

When he poops on us (he is not 100% trained yet, I don't think he will ever be), we give a dissapointed sound and take him back to his cage so we can clean up. We also time him, so we know to bring him back to his poop perch every 15 mins or so. The less he poops on an undesirable area, the lesser chance he will develop the habit.

It will be a little harder with your bird since he's already made it a habit to poop on the couch but with enough repitition on getting him to poop in the right spot and positive reinforcement, I'm sure he will pick up. It will just take some time and a lot of boo boos. Good luck!

 

[Trina]

I agree he learned to potty on couch as boomer said, however I have never potty trained my conure he doesnt like to poop on me and thats a good thing LOL I dont let my birds on my couch or chairs though without a throw blanket, I purchased a throw the same color as my couch at walmart and it covers my entire couch..

On potty training it can be good to an extent, you should not give them treats and you should not really press the issue. The reason is if you potty train them well eventually they will not poop unless the command is given, they will hold their poop which is not good. So fully potty training a parrot is not something that should be done.

Conures poop alot as Boom said about ever 10- 15 minutes, so take him out for 10 minutes put him in a poop spot until he poops and remove him. i do set my boy on a perch every so often so he can poop.

 

[LittleGreenBird]

Since I responded to this post I have been upping the praise BIG time when Casady goes where she is supposed to- just over the top, ridiculous-sounding stuff. Just now she chirped at me and when I looked up she wiggled, it was very obvious what she was trying to tell me. I put her on her cage and voila! Maybe we are turning a corner?

 

[BoomBoom]

Glad to hear it!!! Isn't great when they have this light bulb moment, realizing they did something we like? Boomer always gives me this look after a potty, like he's so proud of himself or waiting for his applause.

It may or may not be a gradual process for Casady and there may be boo-boos along the way but its worth it! It's just a matter of repetition and positive reinforcement.