Hello from Colorado

[Pajarita]

I also have a LSC2 and he is one of the best eaters I've had even though I've only had him for a couple of years and had never eaten anything but apple before so, yes, please, give him lots of produce (they adore leafy greens! my Freddie goes crazy with the crunchier heart of the romaine lettuce but he eats all kinds).

I WISH my LSC2 was a good eater she is not I have struggled with this forever. She will not touch greens and not big on fruit, sometimes I can get her to eat grapes, mostly she just sticks her tongue on it and that's it. She will eat peas carrot's some broccoli, pototos, beans, other things I just cant think of right now, she likes the Crazy corn cooked foods but is this normal she only eats like a teaspoon or 2 of anything. She has pellets 24/7. I just made a new gloop recipe that I read about here that Liz mentioned. 7 grains and I added peas carrots and white beans too. AM I right is reading that I leave it in her bowl all day? then in the evening she can have a small amount of seed? She is or never has been a big eater, I always worry about it.
On another note we just went to the vets today, we only go ever 5 years or so. He said she looked fine no stress marks on her feathers, for some reason he was sup prized to see her feathers look so good?? I don't know why? Now her belly and legs she chews/picks? something I have been dealing with for years, we make progress and fall back. He looked in her mouth, or the roof of her mouth and all the 'silla" I may be saying that wrong look perfect...If any one can tell me more about this I would be interesting in knowing
He showed me the new collars that they put on birds now it was really interesting its a clear hard plastic ball, I had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Scooter is in no way near having to use something like this, but like I said it was very interesting. He thinks Scooter is just bored....I go out of my way to keep her in toys and she has different cages or stands in every room in our home, she is part of my family so she is NOT ignored. But we will be traveling in our RV soon and she loves that so we may just break the habit after all.
If any one has any hints on encouraging new food for her please let me hear it, I will put all advice into practice

Search for gloop recipes in the diet section, there is an easy (or quick or supermarket) gloop thread in there that explains everything but you need to eliminate the free-feeding of protein or the bird will never try the healthy food. As to leafy greens, start by making the bird bite the crunchy stalk of the romaine lettuce or the very heart of it (bok choy and red Swiss chard are good 'starters', too), they all love crunchy and juicy.

[Anonskier]

I've heavily cut down on the protein part of his diet.

Now that it's been a few days, I have quite a few behavioral questions, none of which I could find much information on. Gigglez makes lots of strange noises and movements, and I do not understand. It seems like his feathers might have some issues as well, the previous owner clipped his wings even though he clearly doesn't know how to fly, and I don't even know if they did it right. What appears to have happened is the "secondary" wing feathers were basically half trimmed or something like that. Two of his tail feathers are either bare or nearly bare (especially near the top) and he has some bare feather like things on his head. Not sure if any of these should be of concern. A few large feathers were damaged when I first got him, like the

1. Sometimes he does this odd "wing nibbling" where he puts his wrist into his open mouth and moves his head (or his wing) rapidly. There aren't any obvious triggers for this and sometimes he does it with a person's hand.
2. This one worries me. Just recently, he has started squawking and attacking various parts of his wing, as if there is an unseen itch or pain. It's quite different from the other movement, often violent and rough, though it does not last long.
3. On occasion, he moves his head and neck in almost a figure eight or something, as if in an attempt to pop his spine. Again, no triggers.
4. Sometimes when I try to tell him to step up, he seems almost in mental argument of some kind with himself, whether to obey or not. He will either put one foot up or lift a foot (showing he wants to be picked up) and then suddenly change his mind (don't know why) and strike.
5. His bites have drawn my blood about seven or eight times (all on the right hand) even though I'm fearless, but most of the time he doesn't bite hard. He does, however, lunge at my family members, for no reason, even when they are a good distance away.
6. Once or twice he has struck at someone's face, more or less gently, perhaps it is a message he wants to get down?
7. Gigs also acts very strangely around water. The first time I gave him a shower, he was quite enthusiastic. He appears to get excited whenever someone is taking a shower, however, lately when I've allowed him to use the water as he chooses, he does not.

I'm really not exactly sure if I'm doing things right, but I've been trying my best and any thoughts are appreciated. When I was talking about the boarding, it's not like I would cut off communications for a year lol. I meant more of 1-2 visits a week or something. Still not great, but it works ok (I hope). Thanks for reading!!

[Wolf]

Anonskier ;

It would really help in assessing Giggles' physical condition if we could see some pictures of him from different angles. While there would still be a lot that we would not be able to see in pictures, they would still be a big help.

If he doesn't know what to do with water on his own but will bathe if you shower with him, then by all means continue to shower with him.

When you ask him to step up and he raises one foot out in front of himself, take it as a warning and back off. Wait a few minutes and come back and ask again.
It can be hard to tell what this gesture means as a previous owner may have trained him to wave or to hold his foot out to signify that he wants to be picked up. But it appears to me that at least part of the time that Giggles is using the raised foot in the manner that it is normally used by birds that have not been trained to do the above mentioned actions, and that is as a defensive posture to let you know that he does not want you to approach closer.

Has the TOPS pellets arrived yet? If so how are you feeding them to him? As a matter of course an update on Giggles diet and feeding times and methods would be helpful.
While it is possible that there is something internal going on to account for the actions that you described wherein it appears to you that he has an itch or pain, it is possible that like most of the other aggressive behaviors, this one may also have its root in hormones. But unless you can feel a lump or bump in this area it is unlikely for us to know short of a visit to the vet with an xray of this area. When was his last visit to an avian vet? What did the vet have to say about him?

Many of the aggressive behaviors that you have described could easily be hormonal behaviors in which case your only effective recourse is to place him on a strict solar light schedule and on a low protein diet. There is also the possibility that they are jealous behaviors. Cockatoos seem to bond to humans more intensely than other species of parrots and are know for aggressive behaviors when they are not the central attraction or if they feel that they are not getting enough attention from their human. More information of before behaviors and even perhaps of behaviors right afterwards are needed to decipher these behaviors.

We understand that you are new to parrots and to their behaviors. It can be a lot of work to just maintain and even more to learn to understand your birds behaviors and to actually try to improve their life conditions. And so you do need to understand that there are no judgements of you being made. However if you are doing something wrong, then we have no choice but to let you know where you are making your mistake and hopefully how to fix it.
You really need to consider this " boarding" idea that you have. First of all for a college student it is extremely expensive and none of that takes into account the effects of this on your bird. Boarding is very stressful for a bird and it can cause some pretty nasty behaviors in them including feather plucking and self mutilation, which is not only unsightly but can take years to reverse the effects of it and still never completely eradicate the behavior. And when you speak of long term boarding, I shudder and then you say that you could probably arrange for a visit or two each week and my heat begins to break at the prospects. You don't understand this and wonder why?!? Well the reason for my reaction has to do with the nature of the bond with these birds and once established the effects on them mentally and emotionally when we go away.
I have a trip coming up in about a week that will cause me to be gone all day. Although I have been slowly increasing the time that I am gone from my home a little bit each day in preparation for this excursion, I fully expect to return to some unhappy birds with at least two of my birds with some new bald patches due to plucking. It has taken me three years to get their plumage to the condition that it is in.
When you are gone for longer than normal your bird gets concerned that you are not going to return and to them the only possible reason for this to be is that you are dead and so they begin to grieve your loss. Unfortunately, this is so stressful for the bird that some of them never fully recover from this. So while to you, coming back for a visit once or twice a week is a good thing, for your bird it may be quite the opposite. Try to imagine living with thinking that your life partner is not coming home because he is dead, and the sudden shock to you as you begin to grieve over this terrible loss. Then in three days the sudden relief at seeing your beloved return to you and in a few hours he leaves and doesn't return and you are again thrown into the clutches of an all consuming grief. Now try to imagine the effect of this on you for a year and then multiply this by a factor of ten so that you can get an idea of its effects on your bird. With this information you are now prepared to consider the pros and cons of boarding your bird for a year.

[Pajarita]

OK, let's see... It's not a matter of 'heavily cut down on protein', it's a matter of his getting a balanced diet and to switch them gradually so there is no stress for the bird. For example, if you fed him gloop and produce for breakfast and pellets for dinner (not that I recommend pellets, mind you, I am just giving you an example), you would be cutting down on protein intake but, then, if you fed him less pellets and little else you would also be cutting down on protein - only the former would be great and the latter very bad.

If his secondaries were clipped, somebody did a terrible job on the poor baby!

You talk of 'wing nibbling' but then you mention wrist - would this be his actual wrist (meaning, the joint in his wing) or would that be his ankle? But, in any case and although it's hard to actually figure out what you mean, the picture I get in my head (which could be completely wrong) seems to resemble a baby feeding so is it possible that he was not weaned correctly? Does he show any other feeding anomalies?

Now, the 'sudden attacks' on his wings - does he looks as if he suddenly developed a terrible itch and he just went for it with a vengeance? Because if that is what he does, I've observed this same behavior on several birds when they first came to me and were still suffering from high anxiety.

The figure 8 contortions of his head are displays. Large birds do this but I've never seen a little one do it. Cockatoos use it for normal display and when they are upset but amazons only do it when they are upset and meant as a warning. Now, the two macaws I had did not do it and I cannot tell you for certain what this means in his case so I would suggest you carefully observe the antecedent - you say there is no trigger but, in reality, there is always one only we don't see it.

Foot raising: Wolf already gave you the right answer.

Lunging at family members - well, he hasn't been there long enough to get to know anybody so he is still quite distrustful of them so they need to make a concerted effort to make him feel safe and loved because he is NOT going to do anything, it has to come from them.

Biting and drawing blood - it's not a matter of you been fearless, it's a matter of not putting yourself in a situation/position where you are going to get bit. This is a very large, very strong, very powerful bird and he is only now coming into his own so getting him used to biting you is the wrong thing to do, my dear. Parrots are not naturally aggressive, they bite only in defense or protection of themselves or their loved ones BUT they can learn to bite on a regular basis if one doesn't 'listen' to them and leaves them no recourse but to bite us. So beware and do not make him bite you because, if he gets used to doing this all the time, you will have a big problem in your hands for a long time. You need to respect him and, if he doesn't want to be touched or approached, don't do it. With parrots, it's never what we want, it's always what they allow. And they only allow when they trust us so your work is to gain his trust and love so forget about asking him to step up, just let him out of his cage and provide him with lots of perches, stands and ladders so he can come and go at his pleasure. Spend hours and hours with him, talk, sing, dance, whistle, play and offer him treats.

He is at a perfect age to bond because he has just become 100% sexually mature so he is more than willing to find a companion/buddy BUT he is also at an age where he is becoming more self-assured so you need to be very careful in your dealings with him so you don't 'turn' him the wrong way.

Forget about long-term boarding him. It' will NEVER work for him and visits will not help at all. You are a young person and I have grandchildren almost your age (my oldest grand-daughter is going on 17) so I am going to tell you this the same way I would tell her: it would be unusually cruel - and if this is your plan for him for when you go to college, you should take pity on him and rehome him to somebody who is willing and able to give him a permanent home. I've told this to all my children and now I tell my grand-kids: 'In life, we don't do what we WANT to do, we do what we HAVE to do'.