Toilet training is not one of my favourite things to teach a parrot. It can be done successfully if it’s done right but it often isn’t. Many parrots learn toilet training very quickly but teach a parrot to learn to hang on to go to the loo can lead to some health problems.
Newspaper is probably the easiest to use for toilet training. You can place newspaper anywhere throughout the home, roll it up & bin it quickly & easily. If you haven’t read todays paper then you may not want to leave it laying around!
Parrots poop approx every 15 to 30 mins, depending on size. Their colour, consistency, & size depends mainly what they're just eaten. Time your birds poops on several occasions. Then when it is time for them to poop again, have them perch on your finger, over a sheet of newspaper & give a command to go to the loo. The most common commands are “go potty”, “do poo” but it can be any command you like, just make it a simple command. Repeat this command until your bird has pooped. Reward your bird afterwards fro his efforts. Continue to do this until your bird is able to do this on his own over newspaper.
Some parrots also pick up the command & can say the command just before they’re about to poop, or use the command to ask to go to the loo if their isn’t a toilet spot available, but it is only a very few parrots that learn these.
Make sure you always have newspaper available for your bird, wherever he is to avoid future health problems from hanging on.
There are birdie diapers available too. They’re now more commonly known as ‘flight suits’, it sounds better than diaper, but it still is a diaper or nappy. To use them is a personal choice but it is something I would never consider putting any of parrots in. To me their is nothing worse than sticking your parrot in a nappy just to convenience yourself & keep your house clean. If you choose to use them don’t have your parrot live in a flight suit, that is not what they’re made for & it is very unhygienic. Keep the suits clean & keep your parrot clean!
Most parrot owners tend to choose one spot to allow the bird to go to the loo & this is where the problem starts. If your parrot is trained to use the toilet in only one particular spot, then your parrot will hang on until he can get to that spot. A toilet trained parrot will not go to the toilet if they’re not able to access their 'potty', they just keep holding on.... They won’t go to the toilet until they see or hear their queue to use the loo. If your bird is toilet trained for only one spot, chances are it won’t be available to the bird all day. If you toilet train your parrot you need to give the bird a few available spots to go to the toilet. They need to be able to access a toilet spot where ever they are in the house at all times.
Toilet Training