Cockatoos

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Hi everyone,

I feel like I want to go around telling everyone I know that we've just added Coconut the G2 to our flock. Rescued from an individual, she's got a lot of problems. She plucks and mutilates, doesn't step up, doesn't take no for an answer, doesn't realize she doesn't have to worry about being the boss of the whole place anymore.

I know a lot of you watch

parrot_lovers where I've posted some info and such about her but this community is a bit dead so I thought maybe I'd liven it up with a photo of Coconut's "before" picture. "After" picture to come in a few months when she's (hopefully) improved.

She's done a lot fussing with her wound today. Her owner warned me not to be upset if for the first few days she backslides but it is pretty heart breaking. I have all these things I want to do for her that I think will help her but I know I've also gotta be patient and earn her trust. I'm calling the local avian vet tomorrow to set up her appointment which will be a load off of our minds.

Here's what we have in our arsenal, aside from vet care. Let me know if there's anything else you might suggest:

-Better diet. Her diet was already pretty good to begin with, the majority being fresh fruit and veggies. I am hoping to get her off her seed mix (it's the fancy kind of seed mix at least) and on to pellets.
-Better cage. Her original cage was absolutely horrid. I don't know what it's made from but I would not be surprised if it contained Zinc. Her new cage is perfect and she took to it right away.
-Antibiotics. I've got her on some OTC antibiotics right now, I'm thinking the vet will prescribe something more potent.
-Washed her cage cover. It smelled extremely strongly of laundry detergent and the SEVERAL automatic air fresheners kept in the same room she lived in at her old home.
-Regular Showers every few days. We discovered last night that she LOVES them. It was a neat bonding experience for us. Her old owner did bathe her but I'm not sure how often.
-Less sexual stimulation. She was constantly being touched over her entire body and often convulsed when this happened. We haven't completely stopped, I read that it's better to slowly reduce this kind of stimulation and she has convulsed less often when her body is touched since we brought her home with us.
-Flower essences. Her original owner had the tincture and the cream and sent them along with us. I haven't put them in her water because of the antibiotics but my husband, whom she adores, spritzed her with some very diluted essence. Some people have had success with this so who knows.
-At the suggestion of someone over at

parrot_lovers I am looking into red light therapy. There is a big alternative healing community in my city so I thought it worth a shot.
-Pure aloe. Apparently Coconuts old vet suggested putting hemmrhoid cream on her wound. She is terrified of anything being applied to that area, though she will freely let me touch it if I don't have anything on my hands. Needless to say, the intial aloe application was not successful. Several people have also suggested silvedine which I suspect will also go over equally poorly until she's more comfortable with us.

We are hoping the vet can give us a collar though I honestly know nothing about how cockatoos do with these. Her previous owner made a vest out of a sock, I was thinking making one out of a baby diaper and tying it on instead of putting it over her head but this is something else that's going to take more trust and patience.

Funny Cockatoo Video

I have a bit of a problem I hope can be fixed before it turns into a huge problem. I have a 10 year old female U2, named Chloe. She's very sweet and loving, and seems have to attached to me more than any one else in my family. Lately, however, she's taking to nipping at my mother and grandmother, especially when I'm not around. She gets plenty of attention, both from me and from my mother, and has gotten hours of daily interaction from mostly my mother the past years while I was away at school, so it's not like she just doesn't know or like Mom. When I'm with them, she behaves perfectly.

What can I do to stop this behavior? Is there anything I can do to prevent it in future circumstances, such as if I get a roommate or get married? Thanks for any advice!

New, and a few questions

Hi! I am Nicole, and I am owned by a TAG, Belle, and a Quaker, Verdita.

I have the chance to give a home to a Bare Eyed 'Too and am looking for some advice. I know that he is 8 years old, that at this point he is not mutilating or plucking, and that he is not screaming in his current home.

Apparently he was shut in an attic for a few years- unclear on how long- but was fed a seed only diet, heavy on sunflower seeds during that time. So I am worried about liver issues, but I hope that frequent vet checks can help with that.

So any advice? Is this a bad idea? I am a SAHM, my kids are going to be homeschooled next year, so we will be around. I also have the two other birds- will that be a problem? Verdita thinks she is a big bird, and Belle is just calm, so I hope that there will be no real issues.

Thanks in advance!

Picture of our rescue goffin

goffin cockatoo in MD.

we have a goffin cockatoo available in maryland.
for specific details please e-mail me :
jeepgirl01tj87xj at yahoo dot com

Hi Guys. I hope this doesn't seem like I'm spamming the community with my personal stuff. I hope my next post will be more interesting stuff like pictures of my new buddy! I just wanted to send out a big huge THANK YOU to everyone who provided reassurance in my quest to find a birdy friend. I was just informed that as of Saturday I will be the proud foster parent of a Goffin's. I'm really really nervous and terribly excited! I hope everything goes well. He's a plucker, no word yet on his other bad habits. My goal is to develop a relationship with him that will allow us to learn from each other. If it becomes apparent that we can't live without each other then I fully intend to adopt him permanently. Otherwise, I'd like to find him the right forever home for him.

Any suggestions on last minute preparations? Tomorrow I am going to purchase supplies for a home-made play stand, he will arrive with cage and presumably a supply of his current food. We've cleared the "bird room" of most extraneous stuff and we have done some bird-proofing. Everyone has been primed on the "illegal" use of toxic stuff like teflon and I am going to purchase some more stainless steel cookware next paycheck. Seriously, am I forgetting anything?! I feel like there are tons of other things I should be doing!

A few months ago I asked for your suggestions on how to get some hands-on experience before adopting my first bird. It was recommended that I try fostering rescued parrots and I loved the idea. I found a local parrot rescue, contacted them on several occasions and planned on attending their bird care class which was the first step to becoming a foster home for a parrot in need.

I had a pretty terrible experience with the bird care class which was hosted by the founder of this parrot rescue operation and was hosted at an animal shelter that involved traveling a fairly long way. The animal shelter staff were so rude I was in tears before we even arrived. The class was not informative enough to prevent first timer mistakes, and in fact the founder seemed to possess a fair amount of misinformation herself. Everyone left with adoption forms...everyone except us. The founder said she'd be in touch with us and pretty much brushed us off...I haven't heard from them.

According to them, they turn away between 30 and 100 birds a month. They do not seem to have a large network of foster homes. I appreciate that their first priority is permanent homes for their animals but the whole process was disheartening and extremely disappointing. You'd think they'd jump at the chance to foster with anyone who expressed a willingness to learn and a love for the animals.

I e-mailed another semi-local parrot rescue, explained to them that I had been working with a local rescue and was not having any luck communicating with them. I asked several questions but have not heard back from them.

I would rather not purchase a bird just because it's in need, or adopt from someone who just wants to be rid of theirs. Especially with no real-life experience under my belt. I want to know that this is the right decision and the American population of companion parrots (try saying that three times fast) seems to be under a lot of stress. As with most "domestic" animals, they need all the help they can get and I really want to help make a difference.

Anyone out there have any suggestions or recommendations? I feel like I'm at the end of the line here. It might sound silly, but since the idea got into my head, adopting a bird has felt like the most important thing I've done in a long time, I don't want to give up on it.

I have a very sweet, affectionate 10 year old female umbrella cockatoo named Chloe. We've never really had any problems with her, except that she likes to chase our cat and bite her tail. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how to get her to scream less. Now I KNOW that's what they do, and I was fully aware of it when we adopted her. We've been trying to do the "don't respond to them when they scream for attention, only when they've been quiet" thing for the past four years. I'm not sure it's been working that well.

We spend most of the day with her, so it's not like she's starved for attention. We usually put her down for a "nap" for a few hours in the afternoon, just so we can get a break and do things that it's hard to do with a cockatoo on your shoulder.

Also, I sleep in the same (large) room with her, and she starts trying to get my attention around 7:30am by tearing paper, making this horrible whining noise, or just talking to me. I'd much rather sleep. We cover the windows and usually put a blanket over her cage.

Do you have any suggestions for getting her to be a little quieter?

Oh, and have any of you ever lived with a cockatoo in an apartment? In a year or so I'm graduating college and have to take Chloe with me. I don't know if I would be able to find a house to live in, but I wasn't sure I could live with her in an apartment, just because of how loud she can be. Any opinions, suggestions, advice?

Thanks so much!

I recently asked the community about what toxic substances to be concerned about. This website has a lot of information and a lot of sad stories on bird deaths relating to toxic or harmful toys and substances. Sorry if this has been posted before.

BLEEDING BIRD

Our Goffin has somehow lost her entire nail and she is dripping blood - we've tried packing the area with flour and cornstarch - it's not working too well... what else can we do?????

Teflon

Okay. I have my volunteer application ready to be sent off to the local parrot rescue, in the hopes that I will be able to foster a parrot or parrots. The room I will be using for the bird is off of our kitchen and it's only divided on one side by a bar.

I have a great set of Teflon pots that I'm prepared to put into storage during this fostering period. I'd be willing to let them go all together if I can eventually replenish my cookware supply. I do most of the cooking in the house and I've come to understand a few things:
1) Teflon kills birdies.
2) It appears that there is only a risk with new Teflon-coated pots or pots that are overheated or burnt. This has never happened before but I'm not prepared to say that it will never happen.
3) Other non-stick coatings can be just as toxic to birds and their deaths can be nearly instantaneous.
4) The same reaction can occur from candles and air fresheners, including Fabreeze. I am somewhat allergic to Fabreeze but I have yet to get rid of our bottle.

As I said, I am prepared to give up Teflon. After reading about the negative effects it also has on EVERYONE, human or birdy. I'm so ready to see it go. I just need to get the rest of the family on board. So I need a few things from you folk. I need to know of a good, cost-equivalent alternative to Teflon. I'd LOVE to replace everything we have with cast-iron but I'm not holding my breath on that one. I've heard about SS (?) but I have no idea what it is. It's on the list to research tomorrow but any other info, especially pertaining to quality and price would be helpful. My mom burns candles nightly in her bedroom which is upstairs and several rooms away from the prospective bird area. Is this a problem? If so, are there candles that are reliably non-toxic?

As for the Fabreeze - my family has been briefed on the dangers of chemicals that are toxic to birds and I have been gradually changing all of our cleaning supplies over to organic, non-toxic stuff. If the use of Fabreeze continues in this house, it will have to happen outside mostly due to my intolerance for it but when the parrot comes it will be expressly verboten. I've yet to find a reliable alternative. Any suggestions? We have a lot of other animals so some sort of deodorizer is really a necessity. We are not afraid to use herbs and herbal oils in this house if they are safer.

I know that there are zillions of other chemicals out there that are not suitable for use in a bird-owner's home but are there any others I should really be concerned about? We do not use weed-killers or pesticides of any kind. I can't vouch for what our neighbors use but the bird will never be allowed in an "unvouchable area". Windex is bad for people, I assume the same goes for animals along with wood polish etc. How about orange oil cleansers? Baking soda? (we use baking soda to clean our carpets). Anything that we shouldn't boil on the stove like herbs or veggies?

ANY other info you have on toxic substances or circumstances to birds is appreciated.

A fantastic and heart-felt story!

http://www.juliusbergh.com/cocky/

Be sure to click the "Next Page" link at the bottom for the rest of this wonderful story!

Bouncing behavior

Does anyone know why cockatoos love to bounce up and down? Surely 'too owners can identify with a bird joyfully bouncing up and down while their feet and claws dig tightly into your arm. Is there an behavioral explanation for this?

Hi all.

I've been fascinated by cockatoos since childhood when several parrots were brought to our school for an educational seminar. I recently met my first bare-eyed cockatoo the other day and fell absolutely head over heels in love. I have some questions I'm hoping you can answer:

First off, I've given myself one year to seriously consider the logistics of bringing a feathered friend into my home. We have 2 dogs, 3 cats, a metric ton of fish and a rat. I short, a full house. I work from home so I have ample time to spend with our animal family. To sate my cockatoo curiosity I headed to the library and picked up a book on parrot training, and have been gleaning what I can from the internet. I have space in a quiet room that is not occupied by any other animals but is within clear view of other rooms in the house. I live in a townhouse that is attached to an apartment complex on one wall. For the most part I think I have a decent situation for a cockatoo to become a part of. It's not without it's draw-backs but I'm giving myself time to make sure this is the right decision before I decide to invest the time and money into a cockatoo as a pet.

Seeing as how I'm keen on studying up on these birds, I figure I'll know a lot about them in a years time. The problem is that I really won't have the opportunity to gain any hands on experience. There don't appear to be many aviaries in my area, and there seem to be none at all that currently breed or sell cockatoos. The few cockatoos I met recently are kept at a reptile and bird store, are not for sale, and frankly aren't being kept in the greatest of conditions. None of the pet store chains around here sell cockatoos either (a good thing to be sure, but somewhat of a drawback for someone looking to become more familiar with them). Can you think of any way I can get my feet wet with a parrot? If I knew someone who had birds I'd offer to bird-sit for them, but I don't.

Also, it's been asked before but I'd like some detail on apartment living with cockatoos. I'm considering a bare-eyed or perhaps a Goffin's. Something small and relatively quieter than other species. Because I only share one wall with neighbors and our house is pretty large, (two story) I'm thinking the noise won't be AS much of a concern. Plus, my neighbors are the loudest bastards in history so I'm not too worried about what they think. Also birds ARE allowed in our apartment complex along with all other manner of animals so it won't be a problem with my landlord.

I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!

Feathers.

I emailed

angry_crab to make sure it was ok for me to ask this before I joined.

I am wanting to make some feather quill pens. Like this one here. I was wanting to use feathers other then the kind you can find in the store, IE goose and turkey. I have always admired the beauty of cockatoos and settled on trying to find some cockatoo feathers. However all auctions for them on eBay have gone WAY out of my price range, plus I have no real way of knowing how the feathers where "harvested".

I am wondering if any of you would be willing to sell or give me some feathers that your birds have naturally shed. I'd really like some from a Moluccan Cockatoo, as I am fond of the color pink, but I am not going to be picky, any kind will do. My only specific is that I need a large flat one with a good shaft, from the tail or wing. Smaller ones could be used to highlight but a large one is needed for the base.

I am NOT asking you to pluck feathers from your birds for me. NEVER!! Ones that the bird has shed on its own are what I am after, as the bird no longer has a use for it. If you are willing we can work something out either in comments or via email. My email is vannesa_Felis@hotmail.com . If you email me please make sure you put feathers in the topic. Otherwise I wont know what its about since it will go into my junk mail folder by default.

Thank you for your time in reading this.

Hi I'm new and I need help!

I joined this group to learn about U2's because I am getting a rescue U2. He is 12 years old and was kept in a small cage with almost no human contact except for basic needs for the last 4 years. He is with a foster mom now that loves him but has too many of her own to give him the time and attention he needs. I have the time and can give him the love he needs. I have 2 parrots already that are *very* loved and and I am looking forward to adding this baby to my family.

This is Houdini, my B & G baby, he is in his travel cage from our trip to Florida.

But Goober is in NC and I am in Buffalo NY and because of the heat I can not fly him here via cargo and I can not afford to fly round trip to bring him home.

This is Goober. (I am *going* to change his name to Shadow)

Are there any suggestions on how to get my baby home?

(x-posted to

cockatoos and

parrot_lovers)
Some more pictures and vids of Figgy. He's doing great, and while the extent of our bonding included honking at eachother, and my petting his face, crest and scratching around his ears while he's towelled, we're doing good. He's fiesty, but gentle, and would rather walk away than bite, and when he has gotten me (when he was towelled, I slipped and my hand showed) he only firm nibbles rather than chomped.

Anyways, enjoy

Videos:
http://marsupalia.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=7
http://marsupalia.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=8
http://marsupalia.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=9

A new home for Anouk.

Hi everyone! I haven't been around much lately - mainly because Anouk (My beloved Male U2) and I have been happy and healthy and busy.
However, some amazing news has turned into a minor tragedy. My fiancee and I are moving to Tokyo in October to head up a new streetwear design team. We will be there approximately 3-6 years.

Photos of Anouk! http://tempestnyc.com/too/u2d2.html

While several thousand dollars and six months of preparation is not too much effort to take my darling bird with me, there is little chance that we could bring him BACK to the States at any point due to the heavy pet importation laws and bird flu regulations. I also would hate to risk his health and mental state on a 22 hour flight and possible quarantine in Japan.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I must begin to look for a new home for him.

ONE OF MY PRIMARY CONCERNS HERE IS DEFENDING HIM AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD SEEK TO BREED HIM!! Any tips or inside information you can supply me with will be appreciated. I adopted him as a terrified yearling from an abusive household. I can't imagine anything worse then seeing my painstaking care and amazing results destroyed - as well as the cycle of abuse and neglect perpetuated through breeding.

I'm happy to give him to the best person free of charge, along with his gigantic cage and health insurance policy. I don’t wish to make a profit off of the loss. What this means is that the person who takes him must be the best that I can find.

I do not wish to ship him, so it would have to be within an easy drive of NYC.

Please speak to your bird-owning friends and get back to me with ideas. I'm going to take my time with this.

He is the best cockatoo anyone could ever dream of- smart, loving, obedient, responsive, non-biting and even gets along with dogs, cats and children. ALL of these qualities are going to be jeopardized by this change, so I'm looking for someone with the experience and patience to help get him through it. He is 5 now, with no self-destructive habits and in perfect health. He's accustomed to Harrisons, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and at least 3 hours of time out of the cage. He is surprisingly docile and self-entertaining during cage time, provided he has toys. He responds to admonitions well, and is accustomed to being scolded for screaming unnecessarily. You can expect the usual joyful yells of "HELLO! I LOVE YOU!" in the morning. He also says “What’s up, HI” and sings along to the stereo beautifully.

He prefers women, but loves soft spoken boys as well. He loves to rough house, play 'soccer' and has a bizarre stocking/lace/lingerie fetish (I often buy him cheap bras and panties to chew and destroy, after the wires hooks and slides have been removed).

In any case, please feel free to contact me at storm@tempestnyc.com to arrange a meeting.

Thanks and God bless you and your feathered children.

E

Questions.

I'm still researching cockatoos because I would like to have one someday (I currently have cockatiels and a mini-macaw). Here's my latest set of questions.

Are cockatoos just completely out of the question for apartment dwellers due to the screaming?

What are bare-eyed cockatoos like to live with?

What are rose-breasted/Galah cockatoos like to live with?

(x-posted to my journal,

parrot_lovers and

cockatoos)

I thought I'd share some video's of Figgy. Two are without sound, and MOV format. The other two are AVI format and have sound.

Hosted on my site:
Mouseover for file sizes, link goes to a gallery:
http://marsupalia.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=13

Or on YouTube, if you prefer a flashplayer for videos, and the ability to leave comments:

The rest can be found here. The quality is better on my site, but I believe the final file size is smaller on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInDW9_YKn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prSQ5XMKUoM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rpEwmy-Duw

Edit, added in hindsight:
He still doesn't want to let me touch him. Unfortunately we took a step backwards yesterday, because I tried to get him out of his cage and he panicked and got his wing stuck on a toy I've now removed (for his sake, he was scared of it after). He's fine, physically, minus a jammed feather which he removed, but now he panics a bit when I go to touch him. I'm going to give him a few days to a week without bothering him more than leaving the cage open, talking and hanging out next to him.

On the other hand, he's started coming out of his cage once or twice a day on his own and sitting on the top of the cage while honking. he tries to fly off, crashes, and then runs back to the cage and hides inside. But! this means that he's not doing so bad and he wont end up cage bound (yay!).

great veterinarians, Figgy, and pet portraits

Sorry to post again about Figgy, but I have to say that the vet that I went to yesterday was FANTASTIC with Figgy. She let me help out as well, with the wing trim and all that, and weighing him so that I could start being more comfortable handling a larger bird like Fig. She was very nice as well, treated me like I was an intelligent person (I hate when vets treat customer and patients like either morons, or pain in the arses). She also personally called me back today after hours to follow up, and let me know that Figgy's blood tests came back clean! Yay Fig! The full check-up did end up costing me $400 AUD, but for all I got done and the level of care I received, I'd pay it again in a heartbeat.

His cholesterol was a little high, but that should be helped with slowly moving over to pellets, and more fresh veggies than he was getting at the RSPCA. He looks at veggies right now like they're a nusiance; something fun to throw at mum when she walks by. We'll get there though. =)

Details for the vet (if you live in and around Brisbane, Australia) are as follows. They're on the north side of the city:
Brighton Veterinary Surgery
470 Beaconsfield Surgery Brighton 4017
Phone: 07 3269 2223
Email: bvs@gil.com.au

Also, a last minute random sort of thing. I drew the icon of Figgy that I'm using now. Is there anyone in the community that is interested in icons or pet portraits (half a page of paper size, or A5 in other words) of their birds? The portraits are done in coloured pencil and marker, and the icons are done digitally in Adobe Photoshop. I'm trying to get more into freelance work outside of cartooning, and I need some samples so I'm running sales on stuff. If you're interested, they're fairly cheap right now, with free shipping for the portraits.

(x-posted to

parrot_lovers and

cockatoos:

I'm so incredibly in love with this bird. He's cranky and doesn't wanna be touched and all dirty feathered, and the most beautiful thing ever. <3<3 Luff.

Cockatoos

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