How to Potty Train Your Parrot? (4 Steps Guide)

Potty training a pet parrot could appear like something impossible to do. In fact, it could be hard but not impossible, and every pet parrot can be potty trained if the owner knew what he should do and how he should lead the bird to understand what is required.

So, Can Parrots Be Potty Trained?

Yes, parrots can be trained to poop in certain places. However, the most important part which is the training is for the owners to perform correctly. Other than that, it’s just about how long for the parrot to get it, and with most breeds, it’s just a matter of days.

If you are still skeptical, let me tell you that parrots are extremely smart animals, and in wild especially during the time nest and raise their babies, old parrots do not defecate in their nests or tree holes, instead, they go out or to the edge of the whole and do their business.

So, if parrots are actually practicing something similar in the wild, let me tell you it’s totally possible for them to do it as pets.

And in this article, we will dive into everything you need to know about how to potty train your parrot, and why you should consider it. Besides that, we are going to dive into what could be a real danger to your parrot’s health and how to avoid it.

How to Potty Train Your Parrot (Steps You Need to Follow)

Why You Should Potty Train Your Parrot

Training your parrot to defecate in one place is a really nice thing to do, it will limit the cleaning efforts you have to do later, and it will reduce the costs you will have to pay to raise a parrot.

Besides that, this is really important for you, especially when you are intending to raise your pet parrot without a cage. This will help the parrot know and understand that the place it lives in is not the place to defecate.

Another consideration is for you as an owner to gain experience with parrots. This experience will help you understand the way parrots should be raised in captivity.

This training will empower the bond between you and your bird, which is always a good thing to do. But before getting to the steps, we have to know which parrots are more likely to get, and under which circumstances.

Are All Parrots Able To Potty Training

No, but it doesn’t have to be no all the time. I mean, there are a few things that have to be available in a parrot to make it able to be potty trained.

And these are concepts every owner has to follow when raising a parrot, and without them, it’s probably not going to work unless the owner starts from the beginning, and sometimes with new parrots. Here are the things that should be available with every parrot to be potty trained.

Parrot Should Be Tamed And Well-Socialized

The number 1 rule to potty train any pet parrot is to tame him. Just like any other type of training, untamed parrots won’t be able to feel safe and relaxed and this will make them unable to understand what is the point of whatever the owner is doing.

Taming is only enough if the owner and the pet parrot are living together with no other family member. This makes the taming is the only thing the owners need to start potty training.

However, in the household where pet parrots live with multiple family members, the owners must add an extra layer of taming which socializing.

In these circumstances, socializing the parrot with other family members is crucial to succeeding with this training or any other trick or training you want your bird to learn.

This also includes making the environment of the parrot safe and relaxing, and since parrots are highly alert pets, provide them with these.

Related:
Taming Parrots Guide

You Have Observe

Observing the bird is very important to succeed in your attempt to potty train the parrot. Without observation, it’s going to be hard for the parrot to get the idea of this training.

And at the beginning, you have to know what is the regular time for the bird to defecate, observe daily, and you have to know what is the normal time and when actually your parrot is going to defecate.

This is the initial and crucial step that you have to perform before even you start the training. Keep in mind that you may need to stand with your bird for 20-30 mins until he defecates in front of you.

Which is what you want at first. And with time, it’s going to be easier and the parrot will wait for you to command to defecate, which is another consideration to take in mind, and I will talk about it later in the article.

Some parrots feel safer defecating when their owner shows up in front of them in the early morning or any other time, and this is a good start.

Understand Your Parrot’s Body Language

After you start the training, observe your parrot’s body language. This is very important to understand what moves your parrot makes when he feels the urge to defecate.

Some parrots will move sideways, and some of them will make sounds. However, these moves could not be obvious if your parrot is still not potty trained, so while the training is in progress, the moves will develop and be more clear on to notice.

Noticing these moves will help you know when is the time your parrot is about to defecate, and this is very important to succeed in this training.

Older Parrots Are Better

Potty training is not impossible for young parrots, but it’s preferable for parrots that are 1 year and older. If your bird is younger than one year, I recommend spending this time bonding and socializing with your pet.

After his first birthday, you can start thinking about potty training. And if you followed these steps I am about to show here in this article, trust me, it’s going to take one-week maximum to succeed.

Remember that the first year of your parrot’s life is crucial to learn how to fly, so focus on that if you didn’t get a flying parrot. And for other unlucky parrots, they might spend their whole lives like chickens unable to fly, which is a colossal waste.

I wrote a Guide to show owners how to train their parrots not to fly away, and you will find out how to teach young parrots to fly for the first time.

Steps to Potty Train Your Parrot

These are basically the whole potty training steps, and they will work with any breed of parrots if you successfully perform them.

Location

The first thing to do is to locate the place where you want your bird to poop. And sometimes owners may think about the toilet, which is what’s usually pops in mind in relation to potty training.

And for me, I didn’t train my parrots to poop in the toilet, because of the accessibility of it that could not be available sometimes, like what if the toilet door was closed, where would the bird poop.

My parrots are used to pooping on their stand, I prepared the stand with something to catch whatever they drop, food, feathers, feces, etc.

So, after you decide the location, prepare with whatever you think it’s useful, like paper towels, or a bowl of water.

Observation

The most important step is observation. Observe your parrot’s defecating behavior and you should know how many times your parrots normally poop every day.

This is important because to progress in this training, you will have to be around to react immediately when your bird poops, which is crucial to success.

And if you can write these in papers, that would be great as well. You start by the approximate time for your parrot’s defecation, how many times it defecates per day, and start observing.

This step can take you days and sometimes weeks if you are not around all the time.

So, I recommend installing a camera in the cage or the stand to record the defecation behavior of your parrot. This will make it way easier.

After 3-4 days of recording, you will get an idea of what is the approximate timing for your bird defecation. And this is what you want.

After you get the records, you will have to be there around your parrot’s defecating times, and make sure the bird didn’t do without.

So, be around early, 15-20 minutes earlier, and take the bird to the place where you want to get used to poop. You may have to wait about 30 minutes before he does it, so be patient. This step is all about catching the bird at the exact time it defecated. And React to it, which is the next step.

Reacting

So, when it’s time for your parrot’s defecation, go to the cage and see if it did it or not. If it was done, wait for the next time. However, parrots poop a lot during the day, so don’t worry if you miss it. So, clean the cage again and wait.

If the bird still didn’t defecate, take him to the place where you want him to poop, wait, and observe.

And when the parrot starts pooping, immediately say the word you want to link it to the potty training. For me, I used the word toilet, toilet. You can use something like poop, poopoo, or anything you want.

So, keep repeating the word for until it finishes defecation, and when it does, immediately treat and praise the bird.

So this is it. The whole potty training is about catching the bird defecating, and repeating a word until it finishes, and then treating and praising. Of course, these should be in the place you want your bird to get to.

Once you do this, the next is just repeating the process. As the training progress, the training will become easier. And instead of waiting for your parrot to defecate on its own, try saying the word you used earlier. This may make the bird try to defecate.

You can use your hand along with the world to point to the feces when they get out.

Repeating

After you perform the previous steps, all you can do is repeat the process, and for faster results, you can perform the training all day. Of course, after you make your calculation and records of defecation behavior of your bird.

Anyway, the more constant you repeat the process, the faster the results. And it can happen in a matter of 3 days.

Be aware

The most important thing to know with this training is sometimes parrots will hold it until they hear the word coming from you. It’s like permission for them to defecate, or at least how they see it. So, be careful not to hurt the birds.

Here is a video explaining how to avoid it. Although it may take a long time, it’s still worthy.

FAQ

Is It Hard to Potty Train a Parrot?

Yes, it could be hard. But once you understand what is your part in the potty training, this process can finish in less than one week and with a higher success rate. Parrots are smart animals, and they will get the idea of the training if you showed and lead them into it.

How Long to Potty Train a Parrot?

When the owner understands and performs the steps of the training correctly, the training can take no longer than 1 week, and sometimes 3 days can be enough. The most important part of potty training parrots is to catch the moment they defecate and start building from that point.

Can You Potty Train All Breed of Parrots?

Yes, all breeds of parrots can be potty trained. There is nothing called this breed is better than that one on this topic. They are all smart and capable of learning potty training. However, the important part of this training is for the owner to perform.

Conclusion

In conclusion, yes parrots can be potty trained if the owner followed the steps probably, and understood what is the point of every step he is doing with the bird is. However, this training will put the responsibility of your parrot’s defecation on you, especially when your bird is really bonded to you. So, be Aware Of that.

This is only one way that I am familiar with and successful when it is performed well. There are many ways to potty train a parrot, and most are probably going to work.

Remember that potty training a parrot is not a bulletproof way to teach your bird to poop in a toilet or wherever you want. There must be an occasional accident that may happen from time to time.

And yes, that’s about it, I hope you found this article informative and easy to follow. Thank you for reading…