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I think a cockatoo has adopted me.

Sorry for the delay, it's been a BUSY 24 hours! I left the bird (male, btw) at the shop last night. He was making the most distressing noises I'd ever heard this am! As soon as I opened the cage, he was lovey dovey and stopped trembling. I took him home tonight, and thought I'd keep him up with me while I watched movies and cleaned. Perhaps I should put his cage in the guest room and shut the blinds...

No screams or bites, still! I clipped his wings today, and he was good for it, though his attempts at flight outnumbered yesterdays. He waves his hand to be picked up every time he sees me, so I'm trying not to give in often. Basically, if I'm in the same room, he's fine though. If I leave for long, he makes the distress noise.

Here's a pic, taken about ten minutes ago. I guess he looks like every other umbrella cockatoo, but still thought I should show him off.
29xgeav.jpg
 
Why don't you want to pick him up if he wants you to? His whole world has been turned upside down, and he's turning to you for comfort...
 
Definitely give 24 hours of no contact, but after that go ahead and pick him up. He is beautiful! Big birds are so amazing. <3 I think things will go well between you two.

Also, Irish Eyes, I know full well how loud they are. XD It's something I'm willing to put up with, but my boyfriend isn't. I talked to him about it last night actually, and he said maaaaaaybe. If the bird was totally in love with him he'd probably let us get it.
 
Nanci said:
Why don't you want to pick him up if he wants you to? His whole world has been turned upside down, and he's turning to you for comfort...
Click to expand...

Believe me, he's held and loved a LOT! I'm trying not to make it too much! I'm just trying not to get him in a "needy" routine, as I understand it. He's too affectionate. He'll cradle like a baby in bliss if you caress his neck. I've never seen a bird that would lay on its back for ten minutes!
 
New question! Can I leave him on his perch atop the cage or does he need to be locked inside? It's a whole new cage to him, his big one isn't portable. I have no idea what his night routine was with his original owner, and I never thought to ask.
 
elrojo said:
Believe me, he's held and loved a LOT! I'm trying not to make it too much! I'm just trying not to get him in a "needy" routine, as I understand it. He's too affectionate. He'll cradle like a baby in bliss if you caress his neck. I've never seen a bird that would lay on its back for ten minutes!
Click to expand...

I've heard people advise that about human babies, too. But sometimes if they are crying, they need you. You can tell. You can't "ruin" a baby by holding it too much.
 
Yeah, he's an 8 year old bird, I suppose being thrown into this much change has to be tough. I caged him and put him in the guest bath a little over a half hour ago. Not a peep, so far and (par for the course) I BANGED the door against the cage closing it. I was afraid that might get him upset, but I guess he's asleep.
I thought he was getting sleepy while I watched a video tonight. One foot went up and his eyes would half shut. It's too funny watching this little guy! Hard to know what I'm seeing and really hard not projecting human traits sometimes. Another factor that is going to take some work is the bulldogs. They have been eager to see what the chicken was doing in my office through a new baby gate barrier!
 
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Let him out as long as your around, but never leave him out of the cage when you're not in the room, it's extremely dangerous.
 
Cockatoos are famous for being "floor chickens". Letting them do their own thing unattended can lead to disastrous consequences. For the bird, for your home, for your wiring, and for your toes!

Again, I strongly suggest you put your bird to bed early each night. Trust me, he'll be happier that way. But hey, he's not my bird, and I don't have to live with him :).

Congratulations! He's a beauty!
 
elrojo said:
Sorry for the delay, it's been a BUSY 24 hours! I left the bird (male, btw) at the shop last night. He was making the most distressing noises I'd ever heard this am! As soon as I opened the cage, he was lovey dovey and stopped trembling. I took him home tonight, and thought I'd keep him up with me while I watched movies and cleaned. Perhaps I should put his cage in the guest room and shut the blinds...

No screams or bites, still! I clipped his wings today, and he was good for it, though his attempts at flight outnumbered yesterdays. He waves his hand to be picked up every time he sees me, so I'm trying not to give in often. Basically, if I'm in the same room, he's fine though. If I leave for long, he makes the distress noise.

Here's a pic, taken about ten minutes ago. I guess he looks like every other umbrella cockatoo, but still thought I should show him off.
29xgeav.jpg
Click to expand...
He's beautiful!
 
Well, I've learned the bird knows how to say "Good morning." It is an interesting sensation hearing a voice say "Good morning," at the crack of dawn in a usually silent house. Neither myself nor my bulldogs were quite used to this, the latter exploded out of their kennels in attack mode and the former learned that the pistol needs to be in a different drawer of the nightstand. He didn't make a peep through the night, though.
Irish Eyes (Mrs.Z) said:
Again, I strongly suggest you put your bird to bed early each night.
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Are they not capable of getting on our sleep schedule? I've got a room with no windows he can sleep in if need be. Saturday is the only night I'll have to take him home. Other than that, he can stay at the shop, be "in bed" shortly after 6:30 or so, and see his people by 8 AM. Sunday we are closed, and I don't really want to have to come to work as soon as I get up. It seems to make sense to bring the bird home a night a week, but if he'll be okay locked in a cage without interaction for 18ish hours, that would be easier for the bird, and the dogs, and me!
 
I'm thinking it probably depends on the bird :). I wouldn't suggest leaving him alone for 18 hours, though. Cockatoos are just such VERY sensitive animals. Dog knows what he'd do with no interaction over that period of time.

I'm sure that you'll find what works for both of you. If he starts with the OC behaviors, though, it might be time to try to figure out exactly what's bothering him. Hopefully, you won't have to worry about that, and he'll adjust well and nicely to your schedule w/out problem.
 
elrojo said:
Well, I've learned the bird knows how to say "Good morning." It is an interesting sensation hearing a voice say "Good morning," at the crack of dawn in a usually silent house. Neither myself nor my bulldogs were quite used to this, the latter exploded out of their kennels in attack mode and the former learned that the pistol needs to be in a different drawer of the nightstand. He didn't make a peep through the night, though.
Click to expand...

I once had a somewhat similar experience with an adult crow I had adopted!!
 
Chip, can't offer much insight into cockatoos specifically, but with regards to the food, our conure Rico was eating ONLY seed-based conure diet at PetCo and through hardwork, perserverance and a lot of vaccuuming of wasted pellets off the rug (that is, when the dogs didn't eat them first) he eventually switched over to them. What I did is I would fill both the seed and pellet dishes together and let him eat the seed down to nothing, then leave him for a day with only pellets. He'd eventually try some of them, and then I'd put some seed in. I was wary of letting it go longer than a day because birds, from what I've read and experienced, have a high metabolism and can very quickly starve to death. But a day seemed to work for him-- made him hungry enough that he'd try the pellets, but not starve him. Now, his pellets are his favorite food and he gets quite angry if I run out!!
 
Thanks, Lauren! I left him at the shop overnight last night, it was hard not to come back and check on him. He was fine this AM, but WOW this bird is needy! He doesn't want to get off my hand. Ever. I try to give him some affection, then get on with my work, but he will plop to the floor and walk to me if I get more than 25 feet or so away. If I'm near, he's okay. I've put a baby gate behind the counter so if he jumps off his perch, he can't go anywhere. Seems to be helping, I also put him back on his perch w/o petting to avoid rewarding the behavior. It's what I would do with a dog, hope it makes sense to him...
 
He can't climb the baby gate? I had one pigeon that I switched from seed to pellets. They love it once they switch. My other pigeon ate pellets from when he was weaned- he doesn't even recognize seeds as food. I really like Harrisons. It tastes good.
 
Nanci said:
He can't climb the baby gate?
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Well, he hadn't until I read that post and I looked over and saw him on top of it. I have some swinging shutter doors I'll hang there. In theory, that should keep him in.
 
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