Hoping for some advice from you parrot folks.

[Christabelle]

I am unexpectedly the "owner" of an umbrella cockatoo as of noon today, and I was hoping for some honest opinions on my dilemma.

Firstly, I have always loved cockatoos, but after my younger years (I had a parakeet and a cockatiel) I had decided I really did not want to keep captive birds. My parakeet did not like me much, but my cockatiel loved me. This is my ONLY parrot experience, and it was 20 years ago.

I did not seek "Morty" out. He was going to get his owners in a section 8 duplex evicted and they wanted him gone. I found out he had only been with them for eight months, and has had many homes before them (he is 10-15 years old they said) In a knee jerk reaction I said I would take him. The least I figured I could do was find him a proper home instead of a last minute pawn off. It did not seem fair that they had this bird in the first place. It was probably not the right thing for an inexperienced bird person to do, but I don't regret it ... Yet.

Since I brought him (maybe a her, for all I know) I have been scouring the internet. I have learned that cockatoos are not birds for beginners, that the diet he has been eating is bad for him (all seeds, and that he is doing something called self mutilating. He has bare spots all over his body.

Anyway, since you kinda know my story here are my questions.

Is there any chance I can learn to care for him? My initial plan was to find a rescue for him... But after reading about the rate of surrender on these guys I am wavering and wondering if I should try. I let him out of his cage first thing (probably a big mistake too) since they said they had not been able to let him out in a couple months. He immediately jumped on me and buried his virtue face in my lap. He stayed out the rest of the day until bedtime but was difficult to persuade back into his cage. I know that things won't always be as easy as today was. I'm sure he would not have been bounced around so much if that were the case. It just made me really sad.

I made an appt with an avian vet on wendsday, so hopefully then I can get a good feel on his condition. I am just going back and forth on surrendering him. I want to do right by him and I don't want to hurt him even more in my ignorance. They smoked pretty heavy in the tiny home he was in. He smells like a cigarette butt. Sorry my thoughts are fragmented, I have been out of sorts most of the day.

If it matters, I work from home and own a large house with acerage. I am financially able to care for him- I just worry about my inexperience... All opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance

[Polarn]

I say that the real question is weather or not you want to care for him longterm... thats pretty much the only question to figure out in the first case.

If the answer is an honest yes, then absolutely you can learn how to properly care for him and make his life as good as possible, especially since it sounds that you would have plenty of time for him to be close by (time sozializing with a bird isn't nessesarily hands on beeing busy with the bird, I occationally bring mines to work and they switch around beeing on my shoulder, or the back of the chair, their travelcage or the ladder back in the storage, and their happy just being around me without me really having to offer my worktime to tend to their amusement.

If the answer is no, you do not want to care for him long term.. then there are two options, one is trying to find the best possible home for him as soon as possible, the other one is having him go through a rehab meaning you train him to do recalls, stepping up, targeting, putting on a harness, going in and out of a travelcage etcetera to increase the odds to his favor of finding a suitible home where the new owners would only need to maintain the good behaviors. for the second option your inexperience may make it unsuitible tho, since the lack of experience would prolong the training period and giving him up becomes harder on both of you.

Any choice you may make I would try to make these descition first and then go from there weather it be option 1, 2 or 3. because going in to it with the mindset for any option will make it easier for both of you and it will affect the way you really want to handle the bird, or well rather you get away with other stuffs if in it for the long run than treating him as a rehab thats up for adoption, one difference in my oppinion is somewhat limiting affectionate behaviors.

But any route you may want to take, I know there are plenty of people around here that will support you in it, and has the knowledge to help guide you through it and set your new friends life up for success.

just a final note, 2s arn't the easiest birds to care for and thy do have some quirks that may make then unsuitible for inexperienced owners, but, I do think some people can start with these birds right off the back. And a lot of that ahs to do with what mindset you have to start with, meaning if you start out with the right mindset of using positive reinforcements, and trying your hardest things will be a lot easier than falling short with a few smaller ones before adapting ones mindset and be ready for a larger/harder to care for bird. Even if the mistakes are the same the outcome of doing it all wrong is going to be more painful with a larger bird (i.e. eardrums and fingers).

I know this may not have seemed as much of information on how or where to start out in terms of actually working with the bird, but the information is plenty on here and in the training blog. And if there is anything you wonder I'm sure youll get the answers you seek as well.

[pennyandrocky]

rescues not only take birds some like the one I adopted my cockatoo from will help with rehabbing your bird so he/she can stay with you if that's what you choose. brown eyes for girl cockatoo black eyes for male. plucking is a pretty hard habit to break but try keeping the as busy as possible lots of foraging/shredding toys now trick training later when you've bonded. mist regularly. get him/her to like going back in the cage at bedtime with a favorite healthy snack my cockatoo used to hate her cage so much that she would violently rip her feathers out but once we got a regular routine she knows what time she goes in and that she'll be out the same time every morning. good luck and keep us posted.

[Christabelle]

Thank you all for the advice, I think I will at least give it a shot. I read a lot of things on too behavior, but I'm having a hard time reading what to do about it. After today I think it is his hormones getting him rehomed, he went after my husband pretty viciously when he got near me. What should I do when he acts this way? I would like to target train him but he seems not interested in treats. He just wants to sit on me all day. I am careful to not touch anything but his head.

Thanks again!

[GreenWing]

Agree with Polarn: You have to ask yourself if your heart is in it. Are you willing to love this bird, be a companion to this bird? It's normal to feel uncertain at first but this is a big decision. In my experience, 'Toos are wonderful, cuddly birds and some of THE SWEETEST parrots I've met are 'Toos.
Nonetheless, it is a decision only you can really make.

Once you give your heart to a bird you'll do everything to make sure you're doing right by him. I've had a lot of dogs in my life, I've always been a dog person but the most loving, and rewarding companion animals I have had -- without a doubt -- are parrots. Michael does consultations, too, if you ever needed help, and we're here at the forum for support and whatever help we can give, as well.

It sounds like the Cockatoo was happy to be in your arms... that really is so sweet. He WANTS to bond with you and is probably desperate for some affection and attention, the poor guy. But it's up to you whether you can invest in keeping him and giving him your heart.

[Christabelle]

I have pretty much fallen in love with him.

He had his appt with the avian vet today, and she is running some blood work and fecal samples. She was really nice and Morty liked her until she drew his blood. I learned through trial and error how to get a parrot in a pet carrier. So far it has not been too bad, but I hear that it is after the first two weeks that things get hairy.

When his crest pops up and he gets agitated with my hubby near, I've just been talking soft to him and smoothing my hand over his crest. I also lightly restrain him by his breast. He seems to calm down after a minute, and then my husband pets him. Do you think this might work to desensitize him to my husband? I'd like them to get along.

[Polarn]

the treat motivation will go up once on a proper diet to be honest, if fed seeds in a bowl there isn't really much motivation in getting an extra from the hand.. however beeing a too, Morty may be more motivated by a headscratch than anything else at this point, or a big fuss about him touching the stick. meaning an all up n jumpy verbally rewarding, an a full out people will think your crazy style...
But toos generally are motivated by acknowledgement and attention enough to perform simpler tasks (such as target, stepping up, wave, etc) for nothing but a good scritch or some drama. for decenticising you could have your husband enter the room, when Morty shows that he is agitated or worried (and I mean as soon as he changes his posture/bodylanguage, your husband just stops and stay still until Morty is back to normal posture all calm, then your husband backs off.. Him backing off is a reinforcer in itself teaching Morty that as soon as he calms down your husband will leave, no point in getting agitated. And since Morty is all good with you it seems this can be reinforced with you rewarding him with a scritch or whatever when he has calmed down and simultainiosly to your husband taking a few steps back... then it is a rinse and repeat.. And I bet Morty will catch on to the fact that your husband will stay stationary until he calms down, as soon as he does he wont even get upset at the 2-4-6-8- whatever distance he first got upset at because he knows your hubby will walk up to that point and stand still until he is once again calm, this enables you to take one step further every now and then and you will see Morty will allow him closer and closer before becoming upset, and most likely in quite a rapid phase. Just remember the stepping away (your hubby stepping away that is) since that is part of the reward for calming down, and when working with a frighten bird that you can not approach properly that would be the only reward you could possibly give it, so it is possible for your husband to do this without you present, wich may infact be more effective as well since it removes the aspect of him (your hubby that is) stealing your attention as well.

[cml]

Welcome, I hope you will enjoy our forums !
Thank you for taking care of that poor bird, from reading above I can see that you are very caring and that you will become a great parront!

I also lightly restrain him by his breast. He seems to calm down after a minute, and then my husband pets him. Do you think this might work to desensitize him to my husband? I'd like them to get along.

Definetely not, and likely it will cause the opposite reaction in your bird because you are now forcing him to be touched by your husband, which he doesnt want.

The best thing here would be for your husband to start hanging out near the parrot, reading aloud to it, offering treats etc, then progressing with training to make him a desireble person for your too to be around. You cant force a parrot to like or trust people.

I would like to target train him but he seems not interested in treats. He just wants to sit on me all day. I am careful to not touch anything but his head.

It's great that you arent touching anything but his head, seems you've read up .
What I would like to suggest though is that you dont allow him to sit on you all the time, and especially not on your shoulders. Birds get aggressive, and from your descriptions above, he is already displaying jealously issues towards your husband.
Instead, YOU should be the one to decide when he's allowed to sit in your lap, on your arm or fingers etc.
You will need to practice this, and target training is an awesome tool here !
Start with that and you can progress with other stuff later.

[Pajarita]

Yes, you can do it. Anybody with the right frame of mind, time, love, patience and ample resources can. The thing to take into consideration is that, if you do, your life will have to revolve around his needs and not yours or your husband's. And that means weekends, holidays, when you are sick, when you are tired, ALL THE TIME! I haven't taken a vacation together with my husband in more than ten years because of the parrots and my entire family knows that I need to be home at dawn and dusk, period. Right now, I have a terrible cold and want nothing more than go to bed but I am sitting in the kitchen so one of my parrots can have her 3 daily hours of interaction with me. That's how bad it is!

The most important thing is to keep them to a solar schedule with full exposure to twilight (dawn and dusk) to keep their endocrine system healthy and in tune with the seasons. This is necessary for all birds but for large, hormonal birds that have HUGE beaks (read: cockatoos) is essential -LOL.

I've had four cockatoos, two umbrella, one LSC and one citron and although three of them came to me as screamers and two as pluckers (one was also a self-mutilator), they all ended up not screaming, not plucking and not biting (I have the LSC -male, 21 years old- and the citron -male, 18 years old- right now). A solar light schedule, a diet with lots of fresh produce (I do not feed pellets), good quality full spectrum and UV light overhead, lots of chewing material (mine like cheap pieces of 3x4s just as much as any expensive toy) and three to four hours of one of one attention do the trick.

Ahhh, one more thing, I don't believe the brown eyes for girls and black for boys is always accurate, my two umbrella girls had black eyes.

[Christabelle]

I thank you all for the help and advice. He seems to be doing better as far as I can tell. The first day I brought him home he would pull out feathers and suck on the bloody end. I have not seen him do that since Tuesday. I also bought him some of those hanging-ment to be chewed up toys. He enjoys them and does not act as neurotic when I put him in his cage for the night. He is doing a little better with my husband. You can tell he is on edge when he is around... But he has not gone after him. I've noticed he is kinda like a kid at night. He seems like he is cranky near bedtime. Is this normal?