My Cockatoos relation Problem

[mohamad65]

Hi All

i own a male alba cockatoo (Umbrella) since he was 4 month, He's very spooney, Now he is at age of 4.5 years old.
he is still young but for him to not to get too attached to me, I bought a docile female (which is older, but dont know how much).
the first time i put them together, the girl started to Caress him. but its seems that my bird didn't know how to react and each time i put them together after a few second he came back to me and feel afraid of her and he didn't trust her(which maybe because of never being around any other bird).
after a while the girl tried to bite him which scared the hell out of him and he flew away any time she tried to get close, after that things changed and she try to attack him, even when he is in his cage, she tries to get in to his cage or bite him from outside. so i am afraid of bringing them out at the same time. is it because of envy, or my reaction toward them, or she is just mad at him for not react or they don't like each other or ...?!
Now i don't know how should i make this right, you know its very hard to find a female cockatoo and i found this one after a very long search. but are they going to get along or i should sell the girl, i cannot decide, for the record the girl has been with us for 2 days

[liz]

You can put them both out at the same time but don't cage together. Put their cages side by side so that they are almost together.

[Chantilly]

I agree with what liz has said, also I think give the female a good months or two, mabye they will change their minds about eachother... Right now I have a conure and lorikeet, and they want to kill eachother ... But I do hope that oneday they can come to not mind eachother,.
I think it can happen for my two, to become ok around eachother, and I think it is definately possible for your femal and male to become friends
Also like liz said if you just have the cages close, they can become interact through the cage which they will both probably enjoy.

[mohamad65]

thanks guys
i was vary worried about them, two other questions:
1.for now when i take them out together, she attacks my boy, should i take them out in different time and different rooms? I'm afraid that taking them out in different times can affects on their jealousy to each other
2.when they become friends can i put them in one cage or i should keep them in different cages for long time?

[liz]

Be the refory. Be ready to block her.

I have never hit my birds with a fly swat but they know what it can do to bugs. All I have to do is pick it up and everything halts.

When they come to the end of out time and one invites the other for a sleep over and both go to the same cage is when I would alow them in the same cage. This will only happen when they interact while out.

[Wolf]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Your biggest problem is that you are doing things way to fast. First of all you should quarantine your new bird for a period of 30 days and if possible set up an appointment with your vet for a wellness exam and blood panel to make sure that she is not sick or carrying some disease that could be transmitted to your other bird. If you have not had your other bird DNA sex tested, it would be a good idea to do so and the same with the new bird unless you know for a fact what their sexes are. There is also a possibility that your first bird has not quite reached sexual maturity and so is not responding as a fully adult male cockatoo would act in the presence of a female, resulting in her current rejection of him.
You should bear in mind that in addition to not knowing each other that this is a very stressful period for your new bird as she is now in a completely new environment and since you have only had her for a couple of days she is still very much afraid of you and her new home and requires time to adjust as they do not handle change very well. This period of adjustment to the environment and to you could take up to a month or more, but no one knows for sure how long it will take as it could be shorter or longer, it is primarily up to the bird. During this period you should spend considerable time getting to know your new bird and allowing her to get to know you and work on improving her diet as well as winning her trust.

Once the quarantine period is over then you can move their cages into the same room as each other and allow them to begin to talk to each other and get to know each other. I would start with their cages on the opposite side of the room and gradually move them closer together until they are next to each other and during all of this time keep an eye on how they respond to the other. Introductions need to occur slowly over a period of time so that they begin to accept each other as flock members at the very least. This will probably change once the breeding season begins as they will probably choose to mate bond at this time.

While they are quarantined they will need to be let out separate from each other and I would continue with separate times out after the quarantine period ends for a while so you can observe how they react in the same room, but do not allow them to climb on the others cage. Then you can begin to let them both out at the same time as long as you are there to supervise them and keep them from fighting. Also be aware that if they do not accept each other as mates or as flock mates that they will have a tendency to be jealous of the other one being on you or of the attention that you give to the other one.
At this time you need to slow down and go at the birds pace and not at yours. Pajarita and some of the other members know more about this species of parrot than I do and can probably give you more accurate information than what I can.

[Pajarita]

Wolf is correct. First thing you need to do is DNA both to make sure you do have a male and a female. Then, after the quarantine, you need to get them used to each other very gradually and always at their pace (meaning, don't think YOU know when they are ready for the next step, let them decided). One thing you need to do is to keep them at a solar schedule because, if you don't, you will end up with overly hormonal birds and that means aggression not only toward you but also toward each other (I suspect the 'female' was overly hormonal when you brought her and, as he was too young to react as he should to her advances, she retaliated with aggression). You will have to wait for the next breeding season to see if there is any success and I also suggest you provide each of them with boxes about one month prior the beginning of the season because 'preparing' the nest does not only make him go into breeding condition but also finishes her conditioning - male cockatoos that get ready-made nests get aggressive toward the females which, not seeing the male 'make' the nest are not receptive to their advances.

Mind you! I am NOT in any way suggesting you breed them! Cockatoos that are not bred properly get so aggressive that they would, sometimes, even kill their mates! But breeding hormones is what makes them bond so its use as a tool for getting them to like one another is invaluable.