New U2

[BirdEE]

Hello all. It’s been awhile since I posted. Almost a year at this point. I posted a thread about going to look at an M2 but decided against getting her due to the noise and my wife being slightly nervous around big birds. Well, luck would have it the pet store was hiring in town about a year ago (small local one, not a chain) and my wife being the pet lover she is decided to get a job there. They had a now 12 year old Umbrella Cockatoo there for a few years that had been dropped off by a family who relocated to the area and couldn’t have him in their new home. I had known about him for probably two years there and had always been in there to see him, even before my wife started working there. I was told he hated guys, and he did not like me at first. But I continued working with him by going in there to see him and talk to him and eventually he trusted me enough to hold. Well, my wife working there got used to him as well and fell in love with him. The owners (her bosses) saw how we interacted with him and wanted him to be in a good home instead of the store, so after talking it over with them we ended up with him a few weeks ago. At the store he HATED the other birds in the room and he was (and still is) a screamer. He screams when we leave the room, but not horribly. And he goes to bed without much of a fuss. He seems to be adjusting well here and has been talking a lot more than he did at the store as well. He’s still nervous, but I feel he will come around some more. We have a full finished basement so that entire area is our second living room and where his gym and cage are at. So he gets to see us everyday. So far it’s going great and we are thrilled to have him in the house. I definitely see what is talked about when saying they’re like bi-polar toddlers in the house with pliers on their face. He definitely fits that description haha. But he’s got a personality that’s larger than life. And to be honest, the screams aren’t nearly as loud as they seemed at the pet store. I suppose that’s probably because they’re bouncing off drywall and a much bigger area than a small glass room. I did clock him in at 105 dB though haha. So I guess he’s not that quiet either...!


I feel it helped that he was familiar with both of us long before we took him home. I still worry everyday that I might do something wrong where he will start hating me though. I suppose I’ve read too much about that though maybe.

One thing I am working with him on is slowly getting him used to come upstairs. Then I’ll work on getting him in the shower. He’s fully feathered and needs a bath but currently thinks water is the devil. Any tips on that? Lol. My Plum headed parakeet loves water....

He also doesn’t play a ton yet either but I’m slowly trying to get him interested in toys every night and he’s coming around there as well. We are starting to hear his cockatoo language now too. Slowly but surely.

 

[BirdEE]

Here’s a picture of our boy

 

[Love My Zons]

Cockatoo's are birds that want to be around People period. They will scream but it's mostly for attention. Mine will lose her mind if I leave the room and once I get her, she's quiet sitting on my shoulder and content.

Beautiful bird, here's TOO a happy life they are great birds!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Congratulations! I hope everything continues to go well even after the honeymoon period is over. He sure is a cutie!

 

[Macawnutz]

Congratulations!!!

 

[BirdEE]

Cockatoo's are birds that want to be around People period. They will scream but it's mostly for attention. Mine will lose her mind if I leave the room and once I get her, she's quiet sitting on my shoulder and content.

Beautiful bird, here's TOO a happy life they are great birds!

Oh yes. That’s one thing I love about him is how much he likes to be around people. When lived at the pet store he wasn’t a fan of many people. He would try to sneak over and nip people. He liked people who took the time to get to know him. He was like that when we first brought him home too. Yesterday though I was really proud of him. He usually only likes when my wife and myself hold him, but we had a couple people over yesterday before trick or treating and he wanted to go see everyone and he was being really good. Towards the end of the evening he started to get a bit nippy which I contributed to being over stimulated. So I placed him back on his cage and let him calm down then I took him back off and let him sit on my arm watching tv and talked to him softly while scratching his head. He buried his head into my arm and closed his eyes. So he calmed down quickly.

We are thoroughly enjoying his company. He’s definitely more needy than any of our other animals or birds but that’s okay. That’s what makes him who he is.

And thank you everyone. I’ve known him for awhile so I’m hoping the honeymoon stage isn’t too misleading to his true nature due to him not being too much different at our house than when we knew him at the store. Other than he is of course not surrounded by a bunch of animals he hates or a bunch of strange people poking at him which he also hates.

 

[expressmailtome]

Congratulations!

 

[Love My Zons]

We are thoroughly enjoying his company. He’s definitely more needy than any of our other animals or birds but that’s okay. That’s what makes him who he is.

And thank you everyone. I’ve known him for awhile so I’m hoping the honeymoon stage isn’t too misleading to his true nature due to him not being too much different at our house than when we knew him at the store. Other than he is of course not surrounded by a bunch of animals he hates or a bunch of strange people poking at him which he also hates.

Yes, they are needy to a degree, but not overly needy in the sense as long as you are in view (that's what I have gathered with ours) If they can have things to do in your common area like a playstand and things to chew or play with, that's even better!

I am sure the honeymoon will continue on as you have seen. Many times they are just so bothered by all around them. A pet store isn't a favorite place I think I would want to be day in and day out. Cockatoo's do like People to a degree, but all birds want their space, time to preen, nap, not be constantly in the mix, not even us!

Sounds like a complete winner for you guys, the jackpot! Love him and I love all the Too's!

 

[Fia Baby]

He's beautiful - and that in itself is a great start for a guy who's lived in a pet store for a couple years! I love cockatoos -- can't wait to hear more about your new boy!

 

[Fia Baby]

Take him into the shower with you on a regular basis and let him sit on the rod. He might decide on his own that he wants in, or you may need to slowly woo him into it. Give him drinks off your fingers, get his feet wet, let the spray bounce off of you and onto him... eventually he'll want to get in. Try it with both you and your wife - he might prefer showering with one of you over the other. My cockatoo usually only wants to shower with me, not my husband, even though she really likes him. Whatever he does, it's not to her liking...

 

[BirdEE]

Take him into the shower with you on a regular basis and let him sit on the rod. He might decide on his own that he wants in, or you may need to slowly woo him into it. Give him drinks off your fingers, get his feet wet, let the spray bounce off of you and onto him... eventually he'll want to get in. Try it with both you and your wife - he might prefer showering with one of you over the other. My cockatoo usually only wants to shower with me, not my husband, even though she really likes him. Whatever he does, it's not to her liking...

Great advice. I will give this all a shot when he’s brave enough to let me bring him upstairs. Currently he’s nervous, but doesn’t get too worked up when I carry him up the stairs. But as soon as he gets to the top of the balcony that is the beginning of the upstairs, he notices there’s a whole other world up there and he gets really really nervous and tries to jump on my shoulder. So I take him back down. I’m slowly introducing him to it. Once I can get him upstairs I will then start taking your advice on getting him in the shower. He’s a big chicken haha

 

[sunnysmom]

He's adorable! Congrats!

 

[BirdEE]

We made it upstairs into the kitchen before he got scared today and wanted to go back down to his spot. Progress is being made though haha.

We were also upstairs eating dinner and he stopped screaming for a minute. Then we hear “Hiiiiii.........what are you doin?”

 

[BirdEE]

Some more family came over today and he wanted to go right to them for head scratches and loving. This is the first time he ever met them. And of course these are new people so he doesn’t love on me when new people are around now haha. This is a complete change from how he was when he was in the pet store. I’m proud of him, but at the same time I like when he loves me more and looks to me for protection! Haha. I guess it’s kind of like when your kids grow up and they don’t need you as much anymore...haha.

He did do that clicking fast noise and whistles that cockatoos like to do tonight too. This was the first time we have heard that . He’s been relatively quiet aside from talking and of course screaming. He’s starting to open up more!

 

[BirdEE]

He finally got brave enough to come upstairs so I brought his play gym up here. He’s been preening himself for about an hour on it.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Congrats!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Yay! I love how you are so patient and willing to move at his pace. It really does pay off!

 

[Nancy B]

He's wonderful! That first picture looks like he's smiling!! Love the play gym! Did you make that?! It's awesome!

 

[BirdEE]

Thank you! And yes I made the gym. It’s made from Maple branches that fell in my woods and the blocks are just cut chunks of white wood from Lowe’s. The cargo net is sisal rope that I tied in a cargo net. I plan to add a boing and some more fun ropes that go from this play gym to the other one. But he’s currently only using that spot of the play gym he’s standing on. He refuses to move very far on it and hasn’t even touched the blocks yet unless I play with them too haha. So once he is more adventurous I’ll be adding more to it.

 

[Sylvester]

He a very good looking U2.

Don't worry about him being a little hesitant about coming up the stairs, pretty soon he will be all over the house and into everything.

The water? Fred, my U2, had a water bottle used on him by his previous owners to keep his screaming from getting out of hand. As a result, he hates water. That might have been what happened with your new feathered friend.