He's eating!!!

[kiwi in NC]

Thanks to all who posted advice regarding my new blue crown not eating his pellets...I ended up taking his pellets, some orange, grapes, kiwi, bananna, apple, and a little bit of organic apple juice and blending it all together into a "pellet/fruit mash". He really likes it and is eating it! I am very excited He's also getting a lot friendlier as well...Every now and then he will chomp down, but if i tell him no, he will stop...I also found out yesterday, he already knows how to talk...It's the first time he's said anything. I guess he's feeling more at home...He will step up for my husband if I"m holding him, and my mom was down visiting over the weekend, and he would step up for her too. He's really turning out to be a great bird...now if I can only get him potty trained! Thanks again for the suggestions! Kim

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Fantastic news! Congratulations!

It is possible to potty train a conure. It took me about a week to train Sunny to go in his cage before we take him out in the morning.

[kiwi in NC]

What did you do to train him to only potty in his cage? Thanks!

[jessica313]

shadow is also potty trained. he knows he has to poop before we will pick him up from the cage or playstand. one thing i did to get him to learn was when he come out of the cage standing there waiting to be picked up id say
"SHADOW GO POOP!" while pointing to the floor of his cage where the poop was. it took him a while to understand but he learned it.
also, as you get to know your fid, you will learn body language of when they are about to go .. (maybe--not all fids do this)
when shadow is about to poop, he moves his butt down.. its sort of hard to explain.. but maybe i could take a video or picture or something...

[Michelle & Fids]

Congratulations!!!!!! I know your excitement,after 5 yrs of trying to get Phoenix one of my RF Macaws to eat veggies,she did last week,I was giddy all day long:)

[CrazyforCockatiels]

My method is similar to Jessica's. I've used it only in the mornings when he awakens as his morning poop is the largest. At other times, he'll hang his tush off the side of my shoulder or wherever he's hanging out and try to go on the floor rather than on us or on a piece of furniture. This latter behavior was not learned but he does it rather instinctually.

I think the morning training is the easiest as most birds, I believe, relieve themselves in the morning after awakening from a night's sleep. It's easy to tell with the larger birds, of course.

For morning business, when Sunny awakens, he calls to us and we go in the sleeping quarters and greet the birds. We turn on the light, open the blinds and remove the towels from the cages as well as unplug the night light. I then sit on a chair at cage level in front of Sunny's cage and he'll walk to the door, waiting for me to open it and let him out. I say, "Go poop. Sunny go poopy." When I first started, it would sometimes take five minutes or a bit longer of waiting and continually saying, "Go poop." You can't give up or quit and if you start this training, you must do it every morning to reinforce the behavior.

If Sunny steps up onto a branch or higher perch, I stick my finger through the cage bars lower down to lure him back down to the cage floor and continue repeating my request. When he does his business, I immediately open the door, praise him, get him to step up onto my fingers, and praise him over and over, giving him scritches and saying, "Good job. You went poopy" so that he connects being let out of his cage in the morning with doing his business.

One must remember that a bird's individual nature will come into play when doing any type of behavior modification or training.
Since Sunny is very gregarious and outgoing and always seeking human companionship, he is quick to do what he thinks is going to get him these things.

Also, it is important to look for visual cues with respect to Kiwi's physical movements before he eliminates. Jessica's mentioned that her Shadow "moves his butt down." Sunny will back up with a quick waddle as he's facing forward, looking at us, spread his legs, and almost squat before doing his business. It's rather comical but he does it every time and he knows that immediately afterward, we will let him out of the cage and give him scritches and love.

Good luck and please let me know how the training goes. Enjoy Kiwi!

[jessica313]

Originally Posted by CrazyforCockatiels

Also, it is important to look for visual cues with respect to Kiwi's physical movements before he eliminates. Jessica's mentioned that her Shadow "moves his butt down." Sunny will back up with a quick waddle as he's facing forward, looking at us, spread his legs, and almost squat before doing his business. It's rather comical but he does it every time and he knows that immediately afterward, we will let him out of the cage and give him scritches and love.

what shadow does is very similar to this.. i just couldnt figure out a very good way to describle it haha good job!!

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Originally Posted by jessica313

what shadow does is very similar to this.. i just couldnt figure out a very good way to describle it haha good job!!

Heh. Well, I am able to be pretty vivid with my description since I watch the dance every morning! These conures are pretty cute, aren't they?

[jessica313]

lol..
yea conures are too cute, i cant get enough of my little shadow--and his name fits him ALL too well