being fearful of getting a Goffin Cockatoo

[JLcribber]

How noisy and rambunctious a cockatoo is going to be has a great deal to do with what kind of energy is going on around it. If it's busy, high energy, kids running, playing, screaming you can count on the bird acting in the same manner. You and your household have to "be" how you would like the bird to be.

What a re-homed bird that has lost a long time owner needs is stability, calming energy and time to come to terms with their new life. Anti stress.

They do best when kept to a natural sleep cycle. Up at dawn, to bed at dusk to a max of about 12 hours. That means they would be getting up at 6am ish and going to bed around 6pm ish. Once in bed they're quiet so there's no noise in the evenings. A happy healthy cockatoo will let er rip for 5 or 10 minutes just before dusk and a few random times during the day. Mine never make noise in the mornings. They just chill.

Your definitely going to have to do something about the cats.

 

[friendlyreesy]

We just adopted a Goffin named Sherby and have had him about a monthish or so. He is going to require some training because he is not "step up" trained although he is getting better with a wash clothe about it. He is still very skittish.

He can get mouthy when he doesn't want someone to touch him but to be honest it doesn't hurt. He can also give what I call love bites which is just him mouthing my hand as he chatters his beak and snuggles into me. I will say that he does bite my partner much harder because he doesn't have the relationship with her that he does me. Now she has tried by giving treats and scritches but he still just tolerates her.

He dances and jumps which is funny and loves music. I have seen lots of them on youtube that seem to love music. When we first brought him home he was in the honeymoon period and was on his best behavior. Now that he has been here awhile he is starting to push back on some of the things we are asking him to do. I mean it is hard to say how a bird will react in someone else's house I think because the environment is different as is the routine.

I think I would trust Sherby more than I would our Citron though. Now she has bit my partner 4 times now and one of them was tonight and they have a good relationship.

The thing I would recommend is visiting several times and spending at least an hour if not more time if you can. See how the bird reacts with your kids. I know we visited several times and spent at least an hour each time interacting. Course as I said they were on their best "I want to be adopted and go home with you" behavior.

 

[PersephonesMama]

Thank you for all the quick responses! Sorry for not replying quicker! My computer decided to take a giant poop on me But all is good now. I heard back from the owner and decided that he was not the bird for us, atleast not at this time. He needed alot of work that I am not experienced enough to do, he also is extremely aggressive to cats.

Long story short we just decided that we werent the best home for him. And went back to our original plan of getting a smaller bird like a cockatiel that I have experience with.

I wound up deciding on a canary for now to enjoy their beautiful trills..... on our hunt for shorter perches and a swing we walked by this lonely shaking cockatiel...we had plans on getting a cockatiel from a local breeder that handfeds and shows her babies lots of love, she had some that would be ready in April/May....but I went back to this bird in the store like 5 times because it just seemed so sad.... bleeding heart syndrome took over and I wound up leaving with an incredibly over priced cockatiel that is completely untame and doesnt even have a bitrthday :'( so I'm hoping over to the cockatiel section for some more advice.

Thank you again everyone for the very helpful advice!

 

[yvette]

Good luck with your cockatiel!!
Post pics when you can! We love pics!

 

[PersephonesMama]

Good luck with your cockatiel!!
Post pics when you can! We love pics!

I will!!