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First Umbrella Cockatoo

melissasparrots

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Congrats on the new bird. Be careful about letting him roam around on the floor at will. That should be an infrequent privilege with you being there and structuring his activities. Many people regret letting their cockatoo roam the floor at will. Sometimes you pay in blood when the bird decides it likes chasing feet(extremely common cockatoo behavior). Sometimes the bird just starts pulling up your carpet, eating wood work. Sometimes the bird pays with its life from being stepped on or deciding to chase the family dog. Its a very hard habit to break once it is established.
 

aooratrix

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I'd be very cautious about the shoulder, too. I will allow Annie and Harry up there for brief periods, depending on their body language. I'd never allow an umbrella up there, but that's just my opinion. Congrats.
 

BirdEE

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Oh boy, you have neighbors that have already complained about the noise........The screaming is inherent to pretty much every U2 and M2. Better get used to that, and hope your neighbors do too. Screaming when you leave the room? EXTREMELY common. Mine does this everyday, and has for a long time. I’ve seen people say they have had the for 25 years and they still do it. It’s instinct. They’re flock animals and not used to be alone in the wild, so it’s unnatural to them for us to ask them to sit in a room alone quietly.

That said there’s ways to make it less frequent. That works for some birds but not all. Whenever you leave the room you tell them where you’re going. I say something like “I’m going into the bedroom. I’ll be right back.” And when I’m in there I’ll still talk to him and say “I’m right here. I didn’t leave”, or something to that affect. Once they realize you truly will be right back and you’re not leaving them forever, they start slowing down the frequency of how often they do it. It takes a long time of keeping consistent though, this isn’t something that will solve itself in a week or two. Which is a good point to bring up, cockatoo ownership is all about consistency consistency consistency. Routine routine routine. They’re very routine oriented birds. They’re very OCD, anxious, routine oriented, intelligent, particular, and in charge. All of these traits make them VERY needy. Much more so than just about any parrot. They’re also MASTER manipulators. You have to be very strong willed and not easily taken advantage of. They will try something, even something very small, and if you give them the reaction they want. Then they’ve won and they’ll continue to exploit that weakness.

Cockatoos are LOUD. They’re nothing like conures, and you’re in for a real treat. You’re either going to love it or hate it. Your neighbors sound like they’ll just hate it. I personally never recommend a large cockatoo to anyone with close neighbors. Because screaming is what cockatoo owners deal with. You might be able to make it less frequent, but it’s still a daily thing. Mine screams when he’s happy, hungry, just wants to be heard, etc. He screams when he’s upstairs and hears one of us pull in the driveway, although he’s starting to more frequently say “Hello” instead of scream in those situations.

And sometimes they just gotta let it out. We scream together sometimes, big ol scream fest in the house. A lot of noise, a lot of LOUD noise at that, is part of owning a large cockatoo.

Just an example of screaming fits, the other night, mine screamed at the top of his lungs for 10 minutes or so because I was rolling a pizza dough on the counter. He did that to cinnamon roll dough one time too. He just hates dough I guess. If you can’t laugh in situations like that, owning a cockatoo is gonna be hard haha. I was laughing my butt off. I know I’ve overreacted before, but I can safely say I’ve never lost it over the presence of pizza dough haha



As far as going on shoulders, that’s all bird specific. I allow mine on my shoulder but only if he’s in a good mood. If he’s in a bad mood or in a situation where I think he might get nippy then he isn’t. I certainly would never let an unfamiliar large bird on my shoulder that I didn’t know well.
 
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AmyJas

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You said he's spending a lot of time on the floor? You could try putting a plate or dish of food on the floor of his cage. Birds tend to revert to their instinctive ground-foraging behavior during times of stress. It's also good to place food and treats in a variety of locations around the cage when bringing home a new bird. They are still figuring out where everything is and are scared of their new surroundings. Birds don't adjust well to change. The cockatiels that I've brought home took a while to figure out their hanging food dishes, but they took right away to millet and food on the floor of their cage.

Also, you should normally quarantine a new bird from your current birds for about a month in a separate room in case of disease, but also to avoid stress and introduce them to each other slowly. At this point, you can try covering a side of his cage to block his view of your cockatiel for the time being if possible.

I don't have any other advice to add on cockatoo behavior, since I've never owned one, but good luck!
 

Nancy B

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Awww he's really cute! When he sits in your lap see if you can hand feed him. Sometimes my Fred prefers that, it might help him feel secure. He's pretty!
 
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