It’s inevitable, isn’t it?
All mammals have to do “it” at some point.
The problem is, that most pets somehow manage to find the most inconvenient and inappropriate times to go about their “business”…
I had a suspicion however, that maybe there was a glimmer of hope.
Maybe out feathery friends were more intelligent than we thought, maybe they had the self-control that other birds didn’t.
Or maybe I was wrong, maybe they didn’t and I was completely wasting my time.
Either way, I just wanted to know whether they poop all over the house or not.
The answer is… it depends. Generally speaking, parrots are notorious pets for poor selection of places to do their business. However, that does not mean that all parrots will poop all over the house, as you would expect, there are various factors which come into play, many of which we cannot control, or are not even aware of!
So that was the burning question in my mind, “do parrots poop all over the house?”
I set about answering it, and the following questions which came to mind today.
Do parrots do their business all over the house?
How often do parrots poop?
Does my parrot’s poop tell me anything?
Can parrots control where they do their “Business”?
How can I train my parrot?
What do I do if my parrot does their business somewhere?
So, enough of the nonsense, let’s get straight to business… (the parrot’s business that is, of course.)
Like I’ve already said, it’s natural that any pet may not be fully aware of when they have to do their business.
They just don’t have the same size of brain as us humans, which allows us to be aware of when we have to go to the toilet.
If you keep your birds in a cage, it is most likely they will just poop in that cage (obviously) rather than all over the house.
However, any parrot owner will know that you can’t just leave your pet there 24/7.
That’s why it is important to let it out every now and again… and that’s where the risk comes in.
You may feel like anywhere in your house is vulnerable when your parrot begins to fly…
Down the back of the sofa, kitchen tabletop, mantelpiece… yikes.
However, that is not actually the case (phew!)
As many of you parrot owners will know, generally speaking, parrots do prefer to have their own flighted paths, and once they do become flighted, you can very easily identify their favorite places to go and land.
For example, I have a friend who owns a parrot, she complains that her parrot likes to poop on her doors (which must be extremely annoying).
What she has recently come to realize however, is that it is a great thing that she has discovered this, it means that she can go around her house and “poop-proof” all of her favorite landing spots… including her doors.
(Please don’t as me how she did that because I have no idea,)
How often do parrots do it?
It does vary from species to species, and the size of your parrot really does come into play.
It wouldn’t be a bad estimate to say that roughly every 10 to 15 minutes.
The medium- to bigger guys may be able to hold it in for closer to 20 minutes, but it really does depend.
The best advice I could give, is to observe how often your parrot does it, that is simply the most accurate and convenient methods of checking.
From that estimate, you can take precautionary actions to ensure you can keep your house safe.
What does the poop tell me?
Generally speaking, your parrot’s poop will not change in size and consistency, the diet of your parrot, however, will affect the fecal matter.
This is OK.
Parrots who have a diet that is high in seeds will produce poop that is green.
Whereas that of their pellet-munching counterparts will be browner.
If you like to feed your parrot plenty of carrots, you may begin to spot an orange-style poop.
Once such foods have been digested, the poop’s color should return to its normal brown style.
The consistency of your parrot’s poop can tell you a lot as well.
When a parrot is stressed (when they are at the vet for example), their blood pressure rises, they will produce very liquid style poops.
Also, after they eat fruit perhaps, which has a very high water content, the poops can become more runny.
Often, parrot owners will confuse increased urine, which has resulted from high levels of water in the parrot diet, with diarrhea.
Whereas increased, runny poop will revert back to a regular style when the increased water is removed, diarrhea is only present when the issue is consistent, and is generally a cause for concern.
Can parrots control where they poop, and can I potty-train my parrot?
The first thing that you must do when potty training your bird is: train yourself.
Every day when you interact with your parrot, you must pay close attention to any, “signals” that you perceive or that your parrot may give you before doing his business.
These can be as small as a change in posture for example, a certain “look” in the bird’s eyes, or when your parrot ruffles its tail feathers.
Every bird is different, and will therefore use different body language, but if you know your parrot well, and learn to “read” it, it won’t take too long before you can catch on to these signals and begin to use them to your advantage.
The next thing to do, is to pay attention and monitor the frequency of your parrot poops.
Like I’ve already described in the previous point, this can be very beneficial to knowing where and when your parrot likes to poop.
Once you’ve got a decent grasp of your parrot’s natural bathroom schedule, you can begin to work with your parrot on teaching the right places to go to the toilet.
The first thing to do is to decide where you want your bird to poop.
This can be anywhere really, such as it own cage, a bin, or an old piece of newspaper..
Whatever you decide on, it’s really important that you stick with it as much as you can.
Many parrot owners will decide to teach their parrot to poop on a piece of waste paper, as this is the most portable and is very easy to dispose of.
When your parrot does poop in the taught area, make sure to praise it with nice words and yummy treats.
As time goes by, it will begin to understand that pooping in the right place has its own great rewards.
This can take many months, however, so don’t be surprised if your bird has a few little accidents, and don’t get angry with your parrot if it “misses the spot”.
Remember, it’s always your responsibility to pay attention to your parrot’s body language and poop schedule, and get the parrot the proper place to poop.
How to set up “pooping stations”?
If you are able to provide some kind of sturdy large perched “pooping stations” (some place high up normally works best), at the ends of those flight paths she has chosen… she will normally move towards them.
The parrots will poop just before taking off or just after their landing.
An example of a good pooping station is a 1 to 2 inch thick x 2 or 3 ft long branch that is mounted on a set of brackets 2 feet from the ceiling and out from the wall around about 6 to 12 inches.
A foot or so below that is a shelf on a couple of more brackets to catch all the poop.
Cover the shelf with paper just to make it a bit easier to clean.
So to conclude then.
From the evidence we have seen, yes… parrots do like to poop over the house.
However, that does not mean all is bad.
As I have described, with close observations of body language and scheduling, monitoring and solving your parrots pooping issues is not too difficult.
Also, the parrot poop does give us some insight into other potential health issues with out feathery friend, as I have already described.
I hope you found this information useful, and I’ll see you next time.