Hi! I followed your advice and took advantage of verde’s new sweet side and worked on stepping up without chewing or biting and I’ve been letting her come out of the cage and it was Wonderful! She loves spending time with me but I have two questions. My first question is how can I make being out of the cage a learning experience everyday, and also I want to know if there’s anyway to make out of the cage time interesting all the time, and my third question is she poops a lot I mean a lot everywhere on me and on my bed just everywhere do u have any tips on potty training?
Answer:
Hi Morgan,
I’m glad to hear that things are going better with Verde!
Potty training is fairly easy – but you need to remember that you will have to keep track of time and not rely on her. It isn’t quite the same as with a dog or cat. With a bird, you first need to take note of her behavior when she is about to go. Generally this is a bit of fluffing up, backing up a bit and then raising her tail. Once you recognize the signs, it is up to you to hold her over a trash can or wherever you want her to go and giving her a command – Go Potty works well. Much like working with a puppy, you need to begin by offering her a Go Potty chance about every 10-15 minutes. You will be surprised at how quickly she can learn. If she doesn’t wait and goes on you, don’t react at all. Just wait 10-15 minutes and hold her over the trash, paper or wherever, and give her the command. Once she catches on, she will start to hold it longer and anticipate you asking her to go. Be consistent, only praise her when she goes on command, do not react or try to discipline her if she doesn’t wait. It isn’t fool proof, but it can minimize how much she goes on your or on furniture. There is a full explanation on our training page, so I’ll post that link again.
Foraging is another fun activity. We just hosted a webinar on that and also have some videos showing different foraging ideas. You can also try some trick training. Look for some toys that would work as props. She can learn how to pick something up and place it in a basket, box, etc. Or pick up plastic rings and place them on a small pole. You can probably find videos of smaller birds learning tricks. Keep it simple and fun and don’t ush her to do something if she isn’t enjoying it.
