Toilet training ....

[kinsei]

i thought it might be fun to toilet train my bird to eventually learn to go in his cage. we've had pedro almost a month now and every time he's done a poop in his cage i'd say 'pooey!' .... then 'good boy!'
now today he wanted to come out and i said to him 'pooey' and he did. after about 20 mins i returned him to his cage and said the same thing - he went again. the first time i thought this was coincidence, after the second time i was thinking he's picked up on this! so i tried it a 3rd time after his dinner and he went on command. i can't believe how quickly he's learnt this i'm a little in shock at the moment in fact i thought it would never happen but worth a go.
anyway, i need to do some more observing him tomorrow to see if he's only doing poo now on command, or if he is doing his business regardless because tonight i haven't heard him drop anything and believe you me, it's loud enough to hear!
someone told me the way to train them is to say a word you want associated with the action in a spot you would like them to go and the idea is that they will go to that spot for their business and i might be worrying a little early about pedro 'holding it' and only going on command but it's just cause i haven't heard any ploppers tonight!
what i think i'll do is put fresh paper down and that way i'll be able to see anything in the morning.....

[twr]

I don't know if she is right or not, but I met a animal behavioralist, with a special interest in birds, on another forum. This subject came up and she was against it. She said that it could cause a bird to hold it in if they other weren't in the right spot or if they didn't hear the command. If not in their owner's presence this didn't seem to be a problem, the bird would poop at will. But when the owner was there and if the bird was highly motivated to please the owner, it might wait for the command. She thought this unhealthy for the bird.

I have no idea if she's right or wrong, but she has the qualifications that should mean she knows her stuff.

[kinsei]

i had forgotten about this thread ..... i can't seem to remember where i put things and what topics i keep updated on!
anyway! i decided to go on my gut feeling and stopped the whole pooey command, it's just not worth creating a serious problem for something that i'm not that fussed over, or for pedro!
turns out the next day he was fine doing his thang whenever he needed, ;D although it's rare for him to do his business while he's on any of us, if 20 mins goes by and nothing i'll put him on the floor and he will just go by himself without me saying anything to him.