Cockatoo

[HolliDaze]

Casper hasn’t had any water since bringing her home, she did eat a piece of carrot from me but that’s it so I decided to hand feed her some formula (Exact hand feeding formula) she took it well. Should I be feed her the formula? Just worried about her, staying in one spot and not drinking at least

I’m not sure what her age is or if there are hormonal issues surrounding feeding an adult bird formula. However, I don’t (think) it’s a problem to hand feed an adult bird on occasion. Many people continue to train their birds to eat from a syringe to make medicating them easier in the future. I might be wrong about this though, maybe it should be less frequent than I think. (I hand feed dex as a very rare treat, usually after a stressful event) However, it definitely isn’t ideal to be handfeeding her constantly. . A lot of birds refuse to drink water their first day home, it’s up to you to let Casper decompress from the tremendous stress she is under. She’s just lost her person. She will be frightened in the strange new world she’s been put in.

 

[Gypsyqueen]

Casper is 12 1/2 from my understanding, I know not to hand feed her to much, just wasn’t for sure it it would be okay since she hasn’t taken any water or really eat anything. She did eat from the spoon and ate enough to get full. She does to the vet tomorrow.

 

[sunnysmom]

Casper is 12 1/2 from my understanding, I know not to hand feed her to much, just wasn’t for sure it it would be okay since she hasn’t taken any water or really eat anything. She did eat from the spoon and ate enough to get full. She does to the vet tomorrow.

I think that if she finds you hand feeding her comforting, that's fine for now. They only way my cockatoo will eat vegetables is if I hand feed them to him. But that's him being spoiled. LOL. I hope things go well with the vet. Are you feeding her the same food she had before? Sometimes it takes birds awhile to eat new food.

 

[Gypsyqueen]

update on Casper, she has fatty liver damage the vet has her on Milk Thistle, and Gabapentin for plucking. Anyone here of that? I do trust my vet that is in Sugar Land Texas, but just curious if anyone has had to treat their feather baby (Umbrella Cockatoo) that way. Also I am seeing feather pins coming back in some areas are Permanent damage from plucking. Hopeful she will get better. I am having a hard time getting her to eat fresh vegetables and fruits. She eats her pellets now, which is a plus. I make bird bread, steam vegetables. She has bit me twice bad and my boyfriend really bad once. However, he does not handle her anymore due to he is scared of her. When she bites me I put her back in her cage for time out, And tell her no bite, then she goes into a screaming fit. I could use any suggestions on the biting and what to feed her. She doesn’t play with toys, I have bought her so many different types. She will chew on some wood but just sits there most of the time. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fuzzy]

Sorry Casper has a fatty liver. I have had two birds take Milk Thistle tincture, but I have no experience of Gabapentin. Keep trying with the fresh fruits and veggies.

... She will chew on some wood...

Great!! That's a clue to what sort of toys to start her off with. You could make her foot toys by threading a bit of soft wood (or groovy block) onto a small piece of knotted leather or sisal. If you start off with easily destroyed soft wood like untreated pine (groovy blocks are soft wood) then it will get her going. These are groovy blocks: Groovy Wood Blocks For Bird And Parrots Or thread a few pieces of untreated pinewood with beads on a leather strap and tie it to the side of the cage so that it doesn't swing about so much.

Sounds like the time out for biting isn't working, plus you might even be encouraging a screaming problem. The best way to avoid a bite, is to avoid the bite... which means read her body language (if you can) and heed it. Think back to what you did to make her bite. If you were asking her to step up, for example, make sure she is a willing participant by first reading her body language, and then by reinforcing/rewarding the step up (could be a treat, or praise or a head scratch - whatever is reinforcing to her personally). That way she'll be more likely to make the decision to step up in the future. If her body language is saying "NO!", then go away and try again a few minutes later when she may be more receptive.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

welcome