Now that we have 3 birds flying around the house a number of times a day, there's poop everywhere! How do you deal with bird poop? I know there really isn't any way to potty train them, so i'm looking for creative ideas to combat stepping in fresh poop, poop on the walls, on the couch, on our things, etc. I know it would be easiest if we could confine them to a single room, but our setup doesn't allow for that. The bedrooms and office aren't bird friendly (and we're not in there often enough) and the rest of the house is pretty open.

 

I've heard that birds will find their favorite perches and you can just put a paper towel or somehting under them while they're there. Ours haven't done that yet and its inevitable that as they're flying, they poop, and in turn, we step in it. *L* Maybe as out of the cage time gets to be more familiar for Cupid adn Psyche, they'll build habits that will enable us to control the poop better.

 

How do you deal with your bird poop?

Well i find that it doesn't bother me in the slightest...especially now i have tiels. I assure you that stepping in a tiel poop is much worse than a teeny tiny budgie poop. When i notice one though i just clean it up with a tissue. Sometimes there's a build up somewhere so i just go around with a damp cloth every now and then cleaning up any i've missed. :hap:

Yeah, I don't think they're TOO bad, compared to some of the other animal waste I've had to deal with, but I think that having the poop in our regular living space is what bothers my husband. I do try to pick up what I see when I see it, but I always miss it, and we always step in it when its cold and wet. *L*

:hap: Guess we just have to be happy that they aren't seagulls! :(Laughing out loud): Some of my birds have their wings clipped (yes I know it is a controversial issue) and they have plastic mats under their cages so they either poop on them when out of cage or on ME! My Mother remarked the other day how good my OLD furniture looked, it looks good as I always have had washable covers on them because of my late dog and birds and they get washed at least once a month or more if required. Otherwise, I just clean as per Bea, I think there are certain things we have to let go as pet owners and just carry on, misunderstood but happy with our pets.

I really don't notice it. My birds seem to have favorite perching places, one of which thankfully is the top of the cage, LOL, so cleanup is not too much of an issue. I have a layer of newspaper under and around the cage, so much of that cleanup involves moving the cage to get the paper, and putting clean newspaper down. One thing to remember, is that your birds will "go" right before or right as they take off. You should find that once they let you in on their favorite sitting spots, cleanup will be more 'predictable'. If you are stepping in it, that means it is not on your furniture. Be thankful for small favors! :hap:

There are actually ways to potty train birds and it involves having them sit on a single perch (t stand) and waiting for when they poop and watching for the sign of pooping about to happen then just as the bird squats to go you either say a certain word or give a hand signal. And reward! The bird will soon get the hang of this and you can then get your bird to poop on command. I know a person who trained their bird to go on the word "sit" because it happens to sound like a certain other word concerning poop. :ausb: I can’t give full details because it is under copy write but that is the basic idea so give it a try it works for me. p.s budgies will poop every 10-15mins so you won’t have to wait long.

hope this helps,

Sco-tie Goodluck

I don't mind either, it's small, easy to clean and not at all smelly. Plus it dries fast so you don't get mushy wet yuckiness if you get it on you :ausb:

 

Sco-tie, I've read that before in a book. How does it work? Birds don't have a mechanism of "keeping it in" as far as I know. Wouldn't it be mostly watery urine if they force their bodies to do it?

Edited December 23, 200618 yr by Chrysocome

Here is an article on it http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...&articleid=2997

 

My husband is the same way and with our cats roaming the house things got a bit difficult. So I have them in my office with me :ausb: which is a good space for flying. They have their play gym on their cage and I am in with them most of the day and it is off the living room so when they are in the cage they still are with the family.

 

I also believe it is safer because they fly so fast I was really afraid of flying accidents since my halls circle around and Merlin kept going up the stairs vs from living room through the kitchen and back into the living room.

The most important question for me though regarding housetraining birds is would it at all be detrimental to the health of the bird?

 

Obviously it helps reduce the time it takes you to clean up after it and is another way of 'showing the bird who's boss' if you're into that sort of control. I just worry (from a fairly inexperienced point of view) whether forcing a budgie to defecate on command or forcing it to hold it in could be bad for its health. Can anyone allay my worry? :ausb:

Edited December 23, 200618 yr by Flake

I can't remember where I read it, but I've heard that budgies can't be potty trained (or maybe it was that they shouldn't?). I've lived with a couple of conures and a cockatoo who were trained like above and that was fine. They spent a lot of time on the top of their cage and on a t-perch too, which helped a lot.

 

Maybe focusing on the not so bad aspects of budgie poop will help, as well as weighing the ickiness to the joy we get from them being out of their cage. We love the sound of their wings flapping as they fly around the room!

 

I wish we could cover our furniture, but its brand new leather, and frankly, we'd like to see, smell and touch it! We have taken to putting a blanket over the back of the couch where Baby has taken to sitting, which helps a bunch. Hopefully the other two will find a favorite place or two soon rather than just fly aroudn the room. We're planning on getting them a playground soon too, so that might help.

 

I'll have to read more on the potty training thing though..... if nothing else but to get them to go before we let them out.

 

That was a good article! They made some good points, and probably, the most important thing to remember with training budgies is their need to go often. And it sounds like its not so much a 'dont go unless I tell you' thing, but showing them where to go and encouraging them to go in the right place.

Maybe focusing on the not so bad aspects of budgie poop will help, as well as weighing the ickiness to the joy we get from them being out of their cage. We love the sound of their wings flapping as they fly around the room!

 

Wahoo! Poop! :ausb: For starters it gives you an insight into the health of your budgie. If something is wrong (from what I know) you most likely will see it in a change in their poop before they show any symptoms themselves. Which is why I'm kinda sceptical about house training them, because I would imagine you'd want their poop to be as in sync with the natural running of their body as possible. That way it can give an adequate reflection of their internal health. To me altering when they poop seems to risk the ability to use this portent to better manage your birds health.

 

I agree, teaching them where you would prefer them to go is probably the best thing to take away from that article, although I'd like it if the article went into a little more detail about the effects of house training, rather then just one sentence at the end.

I can't see how it would bad for their health, unless you hurt them because they didn't do what you wanted them do (not that anyone here would). Hens will usually hold their poos when in the nesting box and go in larger amounts out of the box to keep it clean for the chicks. So they are capable of holding it :ausb: but the question is do you want to try and take the time to teach them. The only thing that I have read about potty training a bird is that some may not go unless put in a certain spot and that would be bad for their system if they couldn't relieve themselves in a timely matter. Just as it would be dogs, cats or any housetrained pet .

But your not really potty training them, your teaching them to take a poo when you ask it of them. the bird, unless conditioned to go in one spot won't hold it. they go when they usually would but you as the useful human pet, remind them prior to going on the furniture, carpet or you that hey i should go now, then you hold the bird in an appropriate spot and use your command. i know some parrots do take this to the extreme and caution should always be taken, but its not a bad idea to teach them to go on command, its more like teaching your dog to sit that housebreaking

Poop and let poop, I say!

I have two budgies but only one, Casper, likes to come out of his cage everyday. Freebird will come out occasionally but she'd prefer to hang out in the Budgie Palace.

 

Anyway, when Casper is out he normally likes to perch on my shoulder. I spend most afternoons on the computer so he sits and watches me type and here lately, chats away in my ear. I end up returning to work with bird poo on the back of my shirt. I somehow manage to miss some every time!

 

One thing I have noticed is that budgie poo is drier than finch poo. Is this normal?

The great thing about budgie poo is it's small, easy to clean, and doesn't smell. :(Laughing out loud): It doesn't bother me. Scooter is confined to my bedroom since I have many other animals living in my house. If he's not in his cage, then he usually sits on his play gym or on his spiral rope. He used to sit on top of my tv and I would routinely have to clean up his poop from up there, but since I got the rope, he stays there most of the time. I have it hanging from the ceiling, and whenever he is out I just put a brown paper grocery bag underneath him. He must have good aim, cause he rarely misses the bag. :(Laughing out loud):

Sometimes, birds will only go when you command them, if you teach them to go on command. One time a lady went on holiday for two weeks and her parrot's carer rang her up saying her parrot hadn't pooped. She had to tell it to poop over the phone. That is when toilet training can be dangerous.

Would you believe it if I told you that you can actually get Bird Diapers ??? I am an ebay addict (now going through cold turkey) and I found Bird Diapers on there ... I bought one for my mums Cockatiel and when it was sent to me it was small enough for a budgie ... they are really cute and they sent "liners" as well which were just make up remover pads , but anyway, I found a picture of one, and as u can see it looks like a 1920's style swim suit !! .... it is cute but I havent put chico in it, for the mere reason that getting him IN there would be traumatic for both him and myself .... and his poops arent that bothersome anyways .... but yes, there you have it folks , Diapers for birds

Edited January 4, 200718 yr by MissHarley