My GCC only seems to poop outside the cage

[Romeo]

Romeo, my GCC poops every time as soon as I let him out of the cage.  The paper in the bottom of the cage has been there a week and upon examining I see one (1) poop.

The cage is huge...30 X 30 X 49 ....He has all the room in the world inside that cage.

Is it normal for a GCC to hold it in and not poop in their cage?

[Ditty]

no not normal but some birds will.  I have heard of that before.  How long is he in his cage holding it?  Does he at least let one go in the morning after he wakes up?

[steptoe91(tozie)]

 I have a macaw that wont poop in his cage if he can help it. It IS normal for them to not poop in their cage over nite, so if this is his sleep cage and he's only in there a short time, that's not as worrisome. If they hold it too long they (like us not going for too long) can get sick, i guess like  poisoning themselves with the waste held too long.

[Jadesmom]

My conure Bella will not poop in her cage if she can help it. Its their instinct not too poop where they sleep as it would attract predators in the wild. I read somewhere that conures do this more than other kinds of parrots.

[Romeo]

I work from home 2-3 days a week and when I'm home all day  (4-5 days a week)   it is almost always out of cage time. I put Romeo to bed at  9pm sharp and wake up time,  depending on the day,  is usually around 7:15am when I work from home and 5:00am on days I go in to work.  I put him on the top of the cage on the playpen and he poops every morning as soon as he gets out of the cage. He will pop on the playpen!

On days I go into work I put him back in the cage and he poops again when I get home and take him out around 6pm.

On days I work from home he'll poop anywhere when he feels like it when out of the cage.  On my computer keyboard, on my floor, on my counter top, etc.

He doesn't like to poop in his cage and also, which I personally respect, he has never pooped on me!  Not even on days when I am home and he has been sitting on my shoulder for hours.

 

[Ditty]

sounds like it is just his thing then.  I would not worry unless he needs to be in his cage for a lengthy period of time.

[wishforabird]

yeah , since he has so much out of cage time (good for you , by the way!) he figures he can hold it til he comes out of his bedroom.  if you want to encourae him to use a newspaper or something instead of ....well, everything else.... when he poops say something like "on the paper" or "bombs away" so he will get that this phrase means pooping.  then you can hold him over a piece of news paper (say every 15 mins) and then when he goes, say your phrase and then cheer and praise like crazy.  he will see "oh, my human LIKES it when I poop on the paper!" and then aim to do it ONLY on the paper (in order to please you)  (make sure you have a playgym or perch nearby he can go to if he feels the need) he sounds very smart!

[Romeo]

"Smart"?

Every day since I have owned Romeo I have been working with him and very gently saying his name "Romeo" over and over. A couple of times he's been like "rggRomeorggh' in a very gurgled almost unintelligible voice, but I knew he was working on it.

Well, just a couple of days ago I was working from home. It was mid afternoon and I put  him in his cage for a little "me" time after he had been sitting on my shoulder for hours. I had to take a conference call for work.

His cage is in the living room and I have my work set up on my dining table about 15 feet away (I live in a townhouse). I  freshened the food  and water dishes when I put him in.  I closed the access door  to the food bowl but forgot to latch it.  He was clearly watching me. 

It took him a matter of just a few minutes to figure out how to swing the food bowl out, climb out the cage to the floor and walk over to me. He climbed up my leg all the way to my shoulder.  I thought it was co cute... I said "Hi Romeo"  and he said his name back "Romeo" this time pretty clear.

Keep in mind I'm on a conference call!  I  never muted my speaker phone.

My Director at work says .. what was that?

I told the story to everyone on the line and got a great laugh.

He said ... "He's Hired...He starts Monday"

[BuffaloParrot]

 

[steptoe91(tozie)]

 
how sweet!!

[Ditty]

Love it!  How smart they are!!

[Romeo]

wishforabird,

That was excellent advice you gave me! 

This morning I took Romeo out of the cage and brought him to my kitchen island (next to his favorite playpen/gym)  and put him on a newspaper. I said "go poop" and he immediately did.  I praised him and put him on my shoulder which is his favorite place to be.  Throughout the day today I repeated this.

He took a total of 8 poops on newspaper today.  Of course, there were a few mishaps as he loves to play on the floor under his cage, but, overall this worked out great!

I will keep this up and practice it on a daily basis.

Thank you so much !

[wishforabird]

YAY!!!! he IS a smart bird!  that was fast!  I am so glad it helped, they are such great companions :)  the conference call story is awesome, you will have a lot more great stories as the years go by.. write them down and save them.

[Romeo]

Got the results today from Avian Biotech International.

It's a girl.  Romeo is a Juliet.

Haven't decided whether to change the name?  It might be more appropriate though?

Any thoughts ....Romeo or Juliet?

[Romeo]

wishforabird,

I think the reason she took so quick to the paper is because:

1. She will not go in the cage, and
2. She will not go on me

So when I take her out in the morning I immediately put her on paper on the counter and  she has no choice but  to go there. I praise and praise like you said.  Throughout the day she sits on my shoulder a lot and I take  her over to the paper every 1/2 hour to an hour and said "go poop".  I'm not sure she gets the whole concept yet  but she won't poop on me and the paper is a neutral place.

I still have issues if she climbs down my arm and poops on the keyboard, yuckk and when she's on the floor. We're working on it though!