potty training

[Gloria]

Hello folks,

I am new to the forum and have appreciated the good feedback and information to my previous question. Now I have a new one: My grey is almost 6 mo. old.

1. When is the best time (age)to start potty training and how do I go about it?

2.I noticed that when Kofi gets upset (not enough attention from me ) he does projectile pooping outside the cage. Is this common? I have simply ignored it and tried to be more proactive and give him as much attention as I can, but it is hard with a full-time job and other responsibilities.

any assistance with the potty training will greatly be appreciated.

Thanks much, Gloria

[judygram]

Hello, Gloria, the best time is now or anytime, but the younger the better, 6 months is fine. We already have a thread that deals with the potty training, it is in the popular threads section on the front page.

 

When they do get upset or stressed out they tend to poop more and that is ok, but don't give him any more attention now than you can keep up in the coming years for they do get used to it and will start some bad behaviors if you don't keep it up.

[Toni]

Really? You have to potty train a bird? I didnt know that one. I better read the threads too. Yikes

[judygram]

Yes Toni, you can potty train a grey, Josey is partly trained, she will poop in a trash can if I hold her over it. You have to watch for the signals that they are ready to take a dump and then teach them to go where you want them to. Now you have something else to think about doing don't you, Toni. :P

[loviechick]

All my birds are potty trained, and all my birds have been rehomes that were all at east 2 years of age, so I don't think age really matters. What I did with my Senegal is everytime I was near her and I saw her poop I would say go potty! Then I wold give her a peanut or whatever treat your bird would adore. Keep doing that daily, it took my Senegal about 2 weeks to figure it out and now she goes on command. My Sun Conure was already trained when I got her, and I'm currently working on this with my new CAG. Red my older CAG picked up on it without me even training her within 3 days she saw the other birds pooping, me saying go potty and figured it out like the smarty she is! She also gives me a sign that she needs to go and usually gives me enough time to make it to a sink or a garbage. Either way just be consistent, always keep a treat on you and reward them each time!

[Talon]

Hi Gloria! I have a potty basket for Talon that I use. I put a puppy pad in it, and it makes clean up easy. She will perch on the handle, and then go. As long as I watch for the signs, she will go there if I put her there. The earlier you start, the better!

[judygram]

And Josey will watch to see where it lands when she does it in a trash can too.:whistle:

[Gloria]

Thank you for informing me not to give to much attention. I have been feeling guilty about 1:1 time and out of cage time. I am planning on getting a much bigger cage to accomodate more toys, etc. I am nervous about out of cage time unsupervised because I live in a beautiful century house with fabulous woodwork and I can't risk his munching on the woodwork. I've seen what a grey can do to a fine wood antique. That grey got booted out of the house for ruining the antiques. A grey has gotto do what a grey was born to do.

[Gloria]

Thank you everyone for your input. this is wonderful forum for grey owners. Gloria

[Toni]

Ok, I have to potty train my baby to go in a certain area? Wow I didnt know I had to do this. Oh boy. Ok so do I pick out an area and each time before it comes out say,,,, poop. Then I praise it. Now where do I get a potty basket at?

[judygram]

Thank you for your compliment and for becoming a member and we like to think this is the best one on the internet, by far.B)

[judygram]

Toni, you don't HAVE to potty train your grey, but some of us do so we don't have that stuff running down our shirts all the time. Some greys won't poop in their cages, they want to keep them clean, like not pooping where they live, but if you get one of those, you will have to be dilligent about not leaving it in for a very long time or it could hurt him holding it all day. My Josey is happy to poop in her cage and that is all right by me, but when she is out on me I watch for the signals and hold her over a trash can and she will go in it. You don't need a special potty basket, any old trash can will work.

[Guest briansmum]

brian gets praised for pooping in his cage or on his stand, i know when he is going to do it so i always say "go poop" before and then goodboy after. if he does it anywhere somewhere he isn't supposed, which is usually when he is playing on the floor, he is picked up and put on his stand.

[danmcq]

Dayo is going to start potty training Camp this Saturday :-)

 

Thanks for all the good ideas!!

[judygram]

Good for you, Dan, didn't go out and buy those t-shirts did ya, now you gonna train him so he won't poop on you, but you are still going to need the shirts, because he will tear them up with his beak and pierce them with his talons.:laugh: :woohoo: :laugh: B)