Sweet Cockatoo - Vicious nightmare

[wdlodge]

I brought home a 20 year old Cockatoo last week. The Bird Farm I got her from knew nothing about her, or perhaps I should say, nothing they were willing to tell me about her. In the first three days of having her I learned she LOVES to be pet and is willing to circumvent any obstacle to gain a lap. Any lap will do, she's not picky. Once in a lap, she demands to have her head scratched and stroked softly until she is falling asleep. Sounds awesome, right? Nope.

She has become my nightmare. While in my lap (or anyone else's) she expects total stillness. If I move, I get attacked. Lord forbid I need to actually get up to go to bed or answer the phone. The first attack was mild compared to the two that followed. I got a bruised knee. Not enough to prevent me from loving her and trying again. The next day, she was on the couch, marching back and forth. I made the mistake of not reading the signs and foolishly sat down. My back now has a bruise the size of a half dollar. She seems to "claim" everything in her path.

The last attack was the worst. She crawled into my lap, had all the scratching and loving she could hope for, and 30 minutes later I had the nerve to decide it was time for me to go to bed. While getting up I was so horribly attacked, that I now have punctures in my forearm where her beak penetrated so deeply that her upper and lower mandibles touched inside of my flesh. She was trying to rip my skin off. She wouldn't let go and I was standing there with her hanging off my arm by her beak. By the time she un-wedged her beak from my skin I was a bloody mess.

Through it all, I'd like to think I maintained all the composure I could humanly muster under the circumstances. Without screaming, fighting back, or freaking out, I somehow managed to get her back into her cage. Then I promptly threw up while applying pressure, then fainted. Yup, it was that bad. That happened three days ago and I have not allowed her to get too close to me, while off her cage, or anyone else since then. I am happy to pet her while she is perched on her cage door, but that's it. No more lap!

My question is, what happened? She was so happy one second, and a vicious animal the next. Her eyes were soft and almond shaped, and she seemed to be a happy and docile little sweetie. The next second, POW!

I have no intention of re-homing her, but I'm afraid she will not be a very happy girl if I can't trust her to be in my lap. It's clear someone has worked with her in the past, but stepping up is an issue and biting is an even bigger issue. What do I do about this? Start from scratch with touch training? HELP!

Wow what a horrible experience. I am so sorry you are going through this. My daughter gravitates towards these birds, she handles them so eloquently. She is only 15. I had no idea they could inflict so much damage on a person. I think its admirable of you to want to work with this bird. And it horrible that the person you obtained it from did not disclose the potential problems, danger, and harm this bird could inflict on a person.

[Cockatielsongs]

If you actually wanted to learn, you'd get over yourself and reread what I wrote and really think about what it means. It's the key to understanding your problem. If you'd rather argue, then I'm not wasting any more time trying to help you.

You are so rude... I think you need to get over yourself and help people, rather than criticize.

Not going to start an argument here but, people need to understand, when you ask a question here, the answer isn't always going to be what you wanted to see...

[KimberlyAnn]

True, but I think also it's hard to tell by text what tone things are said. I was confused and put off by the comments a little bit too. I am glad the original poster did get some very good advice. I know if it were me, it might not be obvious to me why the bird was biting or what I was doing wrong. Sometimes people are so close to a situation that they need to ask for advice from another to see an outside perspective. Getting bit so bad that you pass out for someone new to that experience...that's enough to rattle anyone. I would be very rattled at first! Plus, you don't know what you should not with anything in this world unless you are taught or seek out information. I can't fix cars. I'm learning a little bit from my husband about my own car, but I was not born with that knowledge. I ask for help and then I know what to do, you know? I plan to ask a ton of questions about how to give Emmi the best possible life. I know I will make mistakes along the way. As long as I keep asking questions and learning, the better off we are.

The original poster does not want to give up on their bird. That speaks volumes about what type of person they are. They came here to understand the situation. There are a lot of people in this world who would just rehome the bird which is worse. I wish I could help too. I'm just not that advanced in bird behavior yet. I'm glad the original poster had the courage to ask for help. I can't give advice, but I give my support. I hope that things get better. It would be so sad for the bird to give up cuddling in a lap for good. It sounds like it's needed very much!

[Nir]

If you actually wanted to learn, you'd get over yourself and reread what I wrote and really think about what it means. It's the key to understanding your problem. If you'd rather argue, then I'm not wasting any more time trying to help you.

You are so rude... I think you need to get over yourself and help people, rather than criticize.

Not going to start an argument here but, people need to understand, when you ask a question here, the answer isn't always going to be what you wanted to see...

although i agree with this, i dont think this is 1 example of it. an example of it would be if i gave the op a harsh reality on whats happening and what he needs to do. He might not like my advice and might think i am being a bit too harsh and mean but my advice would still be pretty clear. For the future, if anyone is going to write a snarky comment like that without explaining what they meant, then i think its better to not write anything at all. He could have just pointed them to a specific part in his article database that might help instead..

[cml]

Actually, I think that comment was unnecessary rude and harsh. The original poster is here because she cares about her bird. I hope you stay around grisgris, because you can get through the problems with your too and dont be discouraged because this forum really is a friendly place.

We all need to be nice to new members, and especially so you Michael because you have a good reputation from your blog and people look up to you. When you respond that way you scare people away. If nothing else thats got to be bad for business?

[pennyandrocky]

well said cml i know i have been guilty of rude comments out of frustration with people having fantasies about a talking decoration. this woman likely saved this birds life and is open to advice on how to make it work.

[wdlodge]

well said cml i know i have been guilty of rude comments out of frustration with people having fantasies about a talking decoration. this woman likely saved this birds life and is open to advice on how to make it work.

Yes, we'll put!

[Cockatielsongs]

Okay, maybe that is not an example of what I mentioned previously... but as mentioned above we're here to help, so lets drop this, as I said, I didn't mean to start an argument. Grisgris asked for our help so lets help if we can

[Pajarita]

I had to type this in Word and copy it because I kept on ‘losing’ it but here goes my two cents.

For one thing, night is not the perfectly right time to interact with a bird. Some birds don’t mind living in a human schedule too much but most do and a bird schedule is a solar schedule, up with sunrise and to sleep with sunset. If you observe parrots in the wild, you’ll see that they interact physically right after breakfast (or after a bath if that is what followed breakfast) and before dinner –that means in the middle of the morning and in late afternoon. Also, long days means sexual hormones and that is particularly tricky with toos because they are highly hormonal birds and they breed twice a year. Now, having a little bird a bit frustrated because he is producing too many sexual hormones when he is not supposed to might work out but you don’t want a bird with a beak the size of a too’s getting frustrated…

For another thing, I think it’s too early for the bird to trust you and that this is the reason why he reacts so violently when you move. Parrots are not aggressive for aggression’s sake, their reactions are usually defensive in a ‘I better do it first and ask questions later’ kind of thing. Now, a bird that was ‘abandoned’ by its humans and put in a rescue is going to feel might vulnerable in its new home so, if I were you (and I take in birds that the rescues consider too aggressive so I have a bit of experience with this), I would take my sweet time interacting physically until I know that bird’s body language like the back of my hand and I had more than enough time to prove to him that I present no threat whatsoever to him.

Lastly, I don’t believe in the theory of ‘not showing he hurt you’. I make a big to-do when I get bit. I don’t retaliate physically but I do my ‘call’ (it’s like a CAW CAW CAW) while I kind of loom over them with my arms over my head. I have wild-caught male zons that were used as breeders and they are not only mated, they are also not caged so I have to establish the fact that I am the more powerful bird here from the minute they arrive. Not the leader and not the alpha, parrots don’t understand that type of hierarchy, but a bigger, stronger bird who is not going to take it kindly when it gets bit.

So my advice is:

Keep the bird to a solar schedule.
Interact mid morning or late afternoon.
Don’t allow him to perch on you, keep the interaction to just presence, voice, treats, etc.
And, if he still bites you, make a big to-do.


PS I have an 18 year old male cockatoo that was given up because he tore a chunk of the bottom lip of the owner's daughter but he has never bit me - not once.

[KimberlyAnn]

That's really great advice. I would have never thought of parrots having a scheduled time for touch, but it makes sense because they do thrive on a routine.

I'm also thankful to hear someone else saying to not ignore bites. In the wild, I don't think other birds would ignore a bite! I tried the ignoring thing and it did not seem to do a bit of good. Saying "Soft" and putting the bird down has worked wonders. But we didn't have a big biting issue.