New Cockatoo

[Shelby]

Just be careful with the amounts of attention you are giving her, make sure you only give her as much attention as you can realistically keep giving her for the rest of her life.

Cockatoos can be wonderful birds, you just have to be prepared for the mess, the dust, the screaming, and you really have to respect them...watch their body language, their bites can be terrible. Make sure you supervise any kids when they play with her.

Yes, this a thousand times over. Also, read Michael's blog and when she settles in, start training her! It gives them something to think about and gives you a mutually-understood way to communicate. Also remember that every single interaction with a bird (any species) is a training session. It's both scary and rewarding to think that your daily life is shaping the behavior of the animal in your home.

My aunt had one of the sulfur-crested 'toos and one thing hers taught me is that cockatoos are sometimes hard to calm down and they can go from being super excited to aggressive quickly. (Thankfully, we were careful so she never got to the point of actually biting anyone.) I think it's because they are just so excited that they don't know what to do with themselves, so they start biting. So pay close attention to body language and try not to let her get too excited during play time.

With lots of training and a conscientious owner, they can be good companions.

[naomi]

mine loves cooked food and mash stuff.the good thing is if u make them mash,they cant pick what they like what they dont. if u consistent of feeding him,eventually he will get the point. you need to teach him to be independent too.of course they can be very nice companion but biting/screaming/plucking always possible to be happen.good luck!

ah i dont know if yours is like mine,but my goffin loves electrical stuff and sofa.just watch out he dsnt chew wire etc!

[Utoomom]

I cook for my U2 (if you can call it that) x3 week. Mostly he eats Roudybush pellets. I use
to be obsessed with giving him veggies, fruites and beens (once a week). Now, I have been
told by my avian vet that his diet must consist of mostly pellets due to thats were most
of the necessary nutrients required are. He wont eat ANYTHING cold. All vegies and fruits
must be on the warm side.

[Utoomom]

Just be careful with the amounts of attention you are giving her, make sure you only give her as much attention as you can realistically keep giving her for the rest of her life.

Cockatoos can be wonderful birds, you just have to be prepared for the mess, the dust, the screaming, and you really have to respect them...watch their body language, their bites can be terrible. Make sure you supervise any kids when they play with her.

Yes, this a thousand times over. Also, read Michael's blog and when she settles in, start training her! It gives them something to think about and gives you a mutually-understood way to communicate. Also remember that every single interaction with a bird (any species) is a training session. It's both scary and rewarding to think that your daily life is shaping the behavior of the animal in your home.

My aunt had one of the sulfur-crested 'toos and one thing hers taught me is that cockatoos are sometimes hard to calm down and they can go from being super excited to aggressive quickly. (Thankfully, we were careful so she never got to the point of actually biting anyone.) I think it's because they are just so excited that they don't know what to do with themselves, so they start biting. So pay close attention to body language and try not to let her get too excited during play time.

With lots of training and a conscientious owner, they can be good companions.

Yup, If you dont watch and learn there body language they can be loving one second which will turn into a bite

[Utoomom]

Seems like alot of what I say on here gets taken the wrong way, I never said your shouldn't cook for your birds, simply that it not a requirement, birds simply do not 'need' cooked foods but we may choose to add them. Of course it adds variety and cooked is definitely better than none at all.

Marie, I agree with you. This has been confirmed by my very experienced avia vet.

[Pricey_boy]

There will probably be no chance in stopping you too from screaming they don't usually do it for attention but do it to play and if there's a lot of excitement around.my bandit doesn't bite or feather pluck and the best way I got him to eat fruits and veggies was to cut them in half so the seeds were showing and hell eat them out and eat through the food while looking for more i do this with grapes,apple,pear and if there's something without seed ill stick 1 sunflower seed into it and it works the same way.

[Utoomom]

I actually have scream fests with my boy. I can be watching tv and he will be on his
cage with no fuss what so ever. Even if I leave the room for a minute or two. He's not
a screamer per say so I let him "let it all out" in the evening when I come home from work.

We compete on who gets louder....

[CarlosQuaker]

I've never owner a cockatoo, but I've seen them play and interact in the wild. They love to destroy things like sticks and leaves, so maybe some natural toys in his cage would be a good idea.

[Jasper]

About Mytoos.com


I spent pleanty of time reading on this page, They do not promote Too' ownership which is sad. The perosn that wrote it says 95% negative things about the birds , ok they need attention, doesnt everyone......? make noise? so does my dog, Make a mess? so do my kids. After reading I too felt unsure, but I have owned birds in the past and figured as much as I love animals, what the heck?!?! my Goffin is a happy comical affectionate clown. Go for it, enjoy the affection and love given back from a loving

[Rebellious]

Yay another SCC buddy here!
Birds are flock animals and they associate dominance/superiority with height. Allowing a bird onto your shoulder makes them feel powerful and it's often difficult to get them down. Just don't allow your cockatoo onto your shoulder for now is my tip. That's what I did with my 'too.