Goffin!

[notscaredtodance]

I think for my second bird, which wont be for a few years btw, I want a goffin cockatoo. I've always loved cockatoos, and I'd still want a bird on the smaller end of the scale. I'm not about to jump into this decision, since just a cage is looking to be around 500 dollars, and goffins in my area are around 900. Toys will have to be bigger and more durable and more expensive... but they are so darling. Anyone have experience with them? What do you think of them noise wise? They say they're the quietest, but it's also said that senegals are really quiet and mine is like a budgie, just chattering away from morning to evening. I know not to trust stereotypes all the time.

[TheNzJessie]

if i had to pick a cockatoo i would go with a major Mitchell cockatoo there stunning to look at they are known to live up to 75 years! so make sure there in a will! they are about 15 inches from beak to tip of the tail and go between 300 to 450 grams. im unsure on there noise level

[Kim S]

I dont have any personal experience, but a friend of mine has one. He drives me absolutely nuts. And I'm not even at their house very often. Suny (thats his name) is ver spoilt and when he doenst get attention he screams MAAMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (she has 4 kids as well, so guess where he picked that up?). Its funny the first time...
Nowadays he gets a bang on the cage to shut him up.
That aside, he has turned two and his hormones are raging, He is starting to bite anyone he can get away with. He tried biting me and my bf when we were over there last week and he was not a very pleasant bird. Divebombing your head, crawling up onto your shoulder biting your ears. Biting your fingers when you try to get him off.
I dont know how much of this is just basic training. But she also has a Galah, and he is much frendlier.

[Natacha]

I think for my second bird, which wont be for a few years btw, I want a goffin cockatoo. I've always loved cockatoos, and I'd still want a bird on the smaller end of the scale. I'm not about to jump into this decision, since just a cage is looking to be around 500 dollars, and goffins in my area are around 900. Toys will have to be bigger and more durable and more expensive... but they are so darling. Anyone have experience with them? What do you think of them noise wise? They say they're the quietest, but it's also said that senegals are really quiet and mine is like a budgie, just chattering away from morning to evening. I know not to trust stereotypes all the time.

I met one as a baby and he made my heart melt. But that's what a baby cockatoo will do to you.

I've then met two as adults....and they definitively wouldn't be a bird I would want.
They were both rather sneaky and really pushed to get their way. I would say they were also more noisy than my mom's 4 cockatoos (2 sulfur crested, 1 umbrella and 1 moluccan).

Trust me, when a cockatoo, specifically males, go through phases where hormones are flying high...they are QUITE the handful.

[Natacha]

if i had to pick a cockatoo i would go with a major Mitchell cockatoo there stunning to look at they are known to live up to 75 years! so make sure there in a will! they are about 15 inches from beak to tip of the tail and go between 300 to 450 grams. im unsure on there noise level

Major Mitchell are ridiculously expensive here. I saw one in a pet store for around $15,000.00 and haven't heard much about breeders here.

[skeetersunconure]

ive always loved galahs i think they are so cute and funny!

[Rue]

Well...as appealing as they are...there is a school of thought that of all the parrots kept as pets...cockatoos should NEVER be kept as pets. They tend to over-bond and owners initially reinforce this (new bird honey-moon) phase but can't maintain the level of attention the bird needs. Not to mention many people can't deal with the dust or develop allergies (another reason for so many rehomes).

So the bird becomes a problem bird: screaming, biting, plucking...

Cockatoos are given up more than any other bird - and have the highest rehome rate (I'm told that many birds are given up after the first year of ownership - so after 10 years, birds can easily have had 7 or so homes).

Now...given the ones that are on the market and looking for new homes...if you take on a rehomed bird...and are willing to set reasonable expectations right from the first, you might be able to curb any previous behavioural issues in the bud.

Or you could get a baby - but then we get into that same issue of providing a market for them - and set those expectations with your baby. Those expectations should include minimal cuddling time - which most owners find hard to do because they are such cuddly birds! But babies that aren't handled as much tend to grow up to be healthier adults...

Just stuff to think about...

[Yorkochanie]

My favourite cockatoo is the Galah , but I really love Goffin cockatoos. They're so beautiful, lovely, sweet. I think you can have the bird you want if you're sure you can handle him. Actually, I was going to buy a Goffin after my Timneh died. I found a Goffin at a pet store, it was a rehome, adult Goffin. He was really good with employees, but not with me. No, he didn't try to attack me or bite me, but I just didn't see the sparkle in his eyes. Two days later I bought my Congo African Grey . If I had found a Goffin that I felt that he had to be my bird, I would have bought him immediately. I love cockatoos, I never had a cockatoo, but I know if I had, it would be the best cockatoo for me. (all my birds are) Screaming isn't that important for me, and cockatoos are a little "weird" but, if you know that you can take good care of a cockatoo, buy it. I think not buying a bird because it would be a screamer, biter, plucker is like not buying a bird because it's gonna die someday. These could happen, yes, but I could take that risk. If you're sure about that, just buy him, tame & train him, and he will be the best bird ever.

[pchela]

I raised several baby Goffins and they are adorable as babies. I've met some adults who were terrors and some who were awesome so who knows? I do agree that of all of the parrots kept as pets, Cockatoos would probably be the ones that shouldn't be.

[myakando]

Well, you're on the right track so far knowing that even though a Goffin's is on the small side for a parrot, it will need to be in a very large cage I have a two 'toos (g2 and U2). Yes, we all hear it everywhere at how much they scream and all (which they do) but I don't think their screaming is unbearable. Heck, there are times where days go by and my U2 hasn't said/screamed a peep! My G2 on the other hand.... she is a little more of a screamer BUT nothing that would drive people nuts....at least not anyone that visits my home regularly. For the most part, she likes to scream (and dance) when someone is dancing with her and the music is being played at a high volume, in the evening time and if she's protesting the fact that it's time for bed (we're working on that). Throughout the day, she's pretty quiet. She's VERY good at playing with her toys on her own. She knows that she'll get her out of cage and one on one time after I get home from work and settled in.

Keep doing the research you're doing but IMO, G2's are not difficult birds to have as companions.You get the best of many worlds... they like quiet/cuddle time, rowdy play time, they like to just hang out next to you and check out what ever it is that you're doing, shower with you, watch TV...etc. Overall, they're just a good *all of the above* type of bird to have in a not too overwhelming size.

Toys, toys and more toys..... the nosier the toy, the happier your G2 will be