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Love your large parrot, but hate the mess? It is possible, with training and reinforcement, to actually train your parrot to “tell you” when he needs to go.
Large parrots have a fairly advanced ability to reason, as anyone who has ever left a parrot alone while travelling can tell you. A parrot with a grudge can sulk, snap at you and refuse to behave, just like a petulant toddler. This same toddler mentality applies to potty training a parrot. Let’s look at what is involved in successfully training your parrot to go to the bathroom in – and only in – his cage.
If you have a very young parrot, you should delay trying to train them until they are physically and emotionally a little more mature. Typically, by about 1 year of age, parrots are sufficiently matured to begin learning skills such as potty training.
1. Establish where you want your parrot to “go”. In most cases, this will be in his cage. For our purposes here, let’s assume that you are training your parrot to go only in his cage.
2. Establish several modes of positive reinforcement. While it’s important to have at least one method of positive reinforcement, it’s better to have 2 or 3 more. Methods you might consider are verbal praise, petting, a specific treat, letting him play with a favorite toy, etc.
3. Wait until he defecates in his cage.
4. Immediately remove him from his cage, with some positive praise. “Good bird, you went potty in the cage!”
5. Hold him or let him play outside of his cage for a period of time.
6. As soon as he defecates outside of the cage, pick him up and put him back in the cage. Don’t scold him, but reinforce firmly that “We go potty IN the cage”!
7. Again wait until he defecates in the cage, and remove him, using praise and petting.
8. Repeat the above, varying the form of reinforcement.
9. Eventually, you will find that your parrot will start to lean or dance toward the cage nervously. He may even give you verbal signals, including moaning as he dances from foot to foot. If he gives you any of these signals, set him inside the cage. Tell him to “Go Potty”.
10. When he goes potty in the cage, lather him with praise and remove him from the cage again.
11. Repeat this as often as necessary until the parrot “warns you” before defecating outside of his cage.
Like a toddler, even a potty-trained bird may have accidents. If this happens, repeat steps 6 & 7 above.
A well-trained parrot will tell you with his actions very clearly when he needs to return to his cage. Typically this warning will come in the form of a little nervous dancing, and/or physically leaning toward his cage. If you don’t pay attention to these signals, the parrot may defecate outside of the cage, and look at you with a clear “I told you so!” look. Don’t punish the parrot for this (if he had clearly warned you); like a child, say, “Uh oh, we had an accident…” Remember, though, that if you repeatedly ignore his signals he may lose his incentive to “go” in the cage, and stop trying.
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