I’ve decided to try papertraining my Senegal parrot, Shamus.
Following the advice I read in a bird magazine, I either watch for certain behavioral cues that let me know he has to go, or, if I can’t observe him directly, I watch the clock and about 15 minutes after the last time I knew him to poo (that seems to be the usual amount of time he takes between), I place him on a piece of newspaper I keep near me and say “Poo to you, too”. I’ve always said this to him when he poos, so I figure this would be a good phrase to use for training purposes. When he performs as required I pick him up and praise him.
Anyhoo, my question is, how long will it take for Shamus to get the message that the newspaper is the place to go? I don’t expect him to ask to be put on the paper since he hasn’t learned to talk yet. Also, there will be some inconsistency in the training since I’m working and my mom, who is home with him, will probably not be helping with the training. Will that become a handicap, or will he figure he has to use the newspaper when he’s hanging out with me, but go wherever he happens to be when it’s Mom’s watch?
So far, as long as I’m reasonably observant, I’ve managed to substantially reduce the amount of bird poo that I get on my clothing, and hope that soon I won’t have to make sure I’m wearing my grubbies before I let him sit on my shoulder.
You can paper train a bird? Huh. I always thought that toilet training a bird was impossible due to the adaptations required for flight that I learned about in my general biology classes.
Anyway, I imagine that not having your mothers help will be an impediment. It’s certainly true in dogs and cats that if only one person insists, the animal tends to either ignore that person or only do the “right” thing when that person is around.
Also, what does the guide say about using a whole phrase? In the dog world, it’s generally easier to use a single word. Maybe just “poo” will work?
Yes, parrots can be paper-trained, the larger ones, anyway. Basically, the greater the distance between where the food goes in and where the by-products of digestion come out, the better your chances of training the bird. Budgies and cockatiels are considered impossible to paper-train because they have to go so frequently.
And, parrots are smarter than dogs. Your average parrot is about as smart as a toddler-age human child- African greys are about as smart as a 5-year-old. So, I think that Shamus can handle the phrase, especially since he hears it several times a day associated with making his little messes.
We had an African Grey parrot that we trained to go on command.
The trick was that if the bird was out of the cage we’d take it over the sink every few minutes and say ‘wet’ (that was the command). If the bird went, it got a treat, and then we were good for a while. Once we thought it might be close being time to go again, we’d repeat. Eventually the bird learned to ‘hold it’ until we said ‘wet’. It was great.
Look into clicker training which will provide you with the basics to train your bird to do almost anything.
But I discourage you from trying to paper train your parrot. Some birds will be so dedicated to obeying as to injure themselves if you forget to let him/her go.
It’s not so much I train 'em to go on paper as I try to train 'em to NOT go on me!
I’ve had great success with hand-taming my birds. Or more specifically, shoulder-training them - can’t get rid of 'em some days! Anyhow - they poop on a shoulder (I usually wear an old shirt when I let 'em perch) and I take them off the shoulder and clean up while making noises of disgust. Thing is, the little darlings want to be on my shoulder all the time.
After awhile, they get the idea that if they poop on a shoulder they’ll have to endure temporary exile. I’ve had birds that would sit on my shoulder for awhile, run back to their cage and poop, or run to the garbage can and poop, or just hang their butts way out and poop on the floor to avoid pooping on me and the mandatory exile.
But when put back in their cage or play area they resume pooping freely, as little birds will, which sort of avoids the “so obedient they hurt themselves” complication.
I had a conure that, when he wanted to be taken out of his cage, would very obviously poop in front of you as if to say “See! I’ve even pooped - I’m such a good bird please pick me up!”
But even after you train 'em, if they get mad at you they may still leave a nasty slimey pile on you to express their displeasure. Especially if they’re mad an dknow you won’t approve.
That’s really cool Asbestos Mango. I didn’t know any of that.
I still imagine the lack of help from your mother might hinder your efforts. If your parrot is as smart as a 5 year-old human, then I suspect it will be a matter of the bird only being trained when you’re around. However, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m not a bird person so someone with much more experience may say otherwise.