adopted a moluccan. he acts completely different around my dad

[moluccan326]

Yes, I agree with you 100% ....walk away, dont cover him. Especially when walking away works..
Ya know, sometimes even with people...we try too hard....let Scooter become comfy with his surroundings,
& dont force yourself upon him. With this in mind, comes once again....body language. Belive me he will
let you know if he wants to be touched or left alone. Let him come to you. You and you family have
to gain HIS respect and trust first. He sounds like he really is social though, which is to your advantage.
Sometimes it can be confusing. For example, my U2 will flare up wings up, crest up, beak open, and
beaking down. ...when this happens I dont immediately try to touch him, but talk him down from it
with soft words and baby talk...for me, this works. Then he will deflate.. and becomes submissive.
It's funny cuz he does this when I tell him "NO". It's his way to retaliate... Also, the too you
have now, might not be the same too within say....a couple of months...he is testing to see who
is who in the rank of his flock.

That's what I've been trying to do especially since he bit me. I just let him come to me when he's ready. He let's us know when he wants to be picked him. He lifts up his foot and as soon as whoever he's lifting his foot to puts their hand out he climbs up. Then he bounces because he loves when you move you arm up and down. He moves with you. I guess he feels like he's flying.
I've been trying to watch him as much as possible to learn what his mood is. I can definitely tell when he first climbs down out of his cage he's being cautious of us. He walks up really slow and looks at us then walks to someone else real slow and looks at them. So we just talk to him softly and whistle and then eventually he starts talking back and whistling and that's when we know he's comfortable and we can play music for him or pet him.

 

[lupe]

Awww!~~ he does sound like a real sweetie pie.....girl, you have no idea (but ya will)
how you are going to love Scooter...and get so much love back from him...at the start of
E. coming home he wasnt flying due to an outrageous clip..so he would walk. He would
do that also, walk over the couch and check out who was sitting down and observe my daughter
and her boyfriend.. dont ya love the way they walk..with those big ole feet Has Scooter
done the rooster walk yet? Oh, you are going to crack up with that one..

 

[moluccan326]

Don't think I've noticed a rooster walk yet lol. I can imagine how much I'm gona love him. Hoping he will eventually get out of the stage of being crazy when my dad is around. He's such a cool bird. Wish I didn't have to upload videos to YouTube to get them on here because I would upload a video of us getting his to head bob to a papa roach song for the first time. And another of him trying to whistle a spongebob tune. And then the video of his awful noises lol. His "your not paying attention to me or talking back to me" noises lol

 

[moluccan326]

So does anyone know what I should be doing when my dad is home? To keep him from going crazy on everyone else lol.

Also when and how should I introduce my dogs to scooter? He was around small dogs and cats at his previous home but I have 3 large dogs. They stay outside mostly but they know not to hurt any of our pets when inside. Haven't brought them in since I got scooter. I want to introduce scooter to them so they see him as our pet and not one of the birds they chase outside but don't want to stress scooter out.

 

[macawpower58]

I have the idea that he's only days in your home? IMO you've moved way to fast. No matter how 'nice' or 'mean' he's been, it's all reaction right now to extreme nervousness and anxiety. 4 homes in 6 years? That poor guy isn't going to trust or give his trust for quite some time. Why should he? Also if he's acting out now (and I'm not surprised) your reactions can set in gear behavior for the future. Molucccan's are THE MOST COMPLICATED BIRD TO OWN. Period.

I really hope some of the long time large Too owners get on here fast.

As for when he goes after you, my suggestion is have a large pillow close by. It's a safety measure that I use when my Macaw gets feisty. I'm hoping though that you get some advice that will help to cease these attacks. And ceasing them means not having them happen in the first place.

How large is his cage? How many toys/activities are in it? Is it his original cage?

Please do not form an opinion yet. You are not seeing the wonders that a cockatoo can bring to a family. But you really need advice from those who've dealt with birds like this.

I'd not allow him to roam free much right now, especially if he's attacking. If he is out and Dad is coming home, have Dad call, and put the bird away before he gets home.

Just sit tight, those other Too owners will be on soon.

I'm not a large Too owner, but I know enough about them to know you need some guidance.

 

[moluccan326]

So were we not supposed to touch him yet? When was it supposed to be an appropriate time to handle him? He doesn't do much in his cage how can we judge his moods if he's in his cage? How can he get to know him? Nobody's forcing anything on him we let him come to us when he's ready. He just picked my dad as his favorite. Which is why he acts like that around him.

As I said earlier, cage is 60" tall and 46" wide. It seems old. It's rusty and paint chipping everywhere. Going to get one soon that's not painted. He didn't have anything but 2 perches and a food bowl when I got him. She said he didn't like things in his cage and didn't like toys. I put a cuttlebone and a rope perch and a rope and wood ladder in there.

He's a social bird and is used to being out and around people and I feel like leaving him in the cage to let him get used to things for however long isn't going to help anything. I feel like he will think we don't want him around us and will just not come out or socialize with us while he's in there. He really doesn't do much of anything when he's in there but he does when he's out.

 

[macawpower58]

I so wish I had the answers for you. But having one little Too, and one big Macaw just doesn't give me the knowledge to advise you.

Leaving in his cage for a few days or so isn't going to hurt your chances of a good relationship. Allowing him free rein may.

I'm really hoping some of our other Too owners can say what is the best thing to do when you bring home a M2 like yours. I know if he's biting now, it's nothing to joke about, they can do serious damage when riled up.

Even if you don't get some good advice today or tomorrow, the waiting a few days won't hurt him or you any.

I do wish you the best of luck with him. I've known a few and they can be wonderful birds. I've known a few that were pure terrors too.

 

[moluccan326]

Well I hope everything works out. I don't wanna give up on him. If I do the next person may too. We don't have him out all the time. He only came out for a couple hours today and we went to work. And when he is out we limit him to the living room. So he doesn't have complete free roam of the house if that makes a difference. And sometimes he just stays on the top of his cage with us in the room.

 

[lexalayne]

I brought my umbrella cockatoo home when over a decade ago cooing and cuddling to me the whole time (previous visits also). However, as soon as we got home she hated my 5 children. Her favorite game was escape (any cage) hop to the floor and begin trying to amputate any of the 50 toes she could make scurry across the floor. Her diet consisted of cheetos, potato chips, toast, whatever she shouldn't have she dove for. It soon became apparent she could swear like a sailor and if any middled aged man was within 5 feet of her she would immediately slash a 3 inch slice in his cheek. ALWAYS!

This was her 3rd or 4th home, her first and longest at the time was with her original owner who had to go into a nursing home and then various family members tried to take care of her. After my older children entered their mid to later teen she loved them no question, however my youngest was 3 when she wanted to hold her. I had her watch Barbara Heidenrich's video and any other positive behavior reinforcement dvd's we had. She was the only one who could feed her her favorite treats, and I taught her how to read her body language. If our U2 was going for a bite she didn't get the treat but got a time out.. (turn around no contact for awhile) then try again. To make a long story short by the time she was 5 1/2 my daughter could bring her out, by 8 she had her cuddling on the couch, dancing to Lady Gaga, and was able to put her back in the cage. She's now 11 and handles all of our macaws very well, giving them showers, beak kisses, and is able to read their body language very well. Some of our birds are 3/4 of her height and they all love her. She was instrumental in getting our rescue macaw to trust us...as a kid she seemed less threatening to him and he would let her sit in his cage with him, sing songs, and sneak him his favorite pizza crust treats (I say sneak cause it was more than I would have liked him to have) but she knew he'd loved pizza crusts.

So, sorry to ramble but the only points I'm trying to make is lots of patience, positive reinforcement, lots of learning from experts, Bird channel .com has tons of info as does Barbara Heidenriechs (sp??) website. And through all this I was always her favorite person but over time she learned to love all the members of our family in a friendly, cuddly, trusting way. I learned to back off to let her attach to others, especially when we were so bonded she began laying eggs, our vet told me to "BACK OFF" And she also hates most toys but try until you find something. Ours loves a bucket filled with the wood parts our other birds chew up. And the only other toy she loves is a block of wood with assorted colored ropes thru it, tied and unraveled. It's been rebuilt many times. And try toos.com it may scare you a bit but you have the backbone, determination and love to learn everything you need to know to keep your bird happy, socialized, and well adjusted. And whatever you put in to him believe me you will be rewarded a zillion times over by the love he returns to you. But it does take time. My 11 year old still has to cover her toes!

 

[moluccan326]

Thank you for the information. I am determined. I refuse to give up on him. When I have time I spend it reading. So far his aggression doesn't seem too bad. Like it isn't something that can't be fixed. He hasn't just attacked anyone. When he did hit my foot it was just a peck. Didn't even bite down it just scared me. So he could of been playing rather than attacking but I took it the wrong way and made it worse by trying to run away. I don't know though. Which is why I came here.

 

[lexalayne]

And I'm still learning... always will... each new situation brings new reactions... I've learned not to flinch (early on) when my ear, arm, or finger became the stabilizer she needed if she were falling. They love any excitement (positive or negative) and both are positive to them. And they have been proven to have the IQ of a 6 year old child. They will not only remember the situations that get everyone excited and screaming they will want to relive them. From what I can understand that's why it's important to head off anything that may seem exiting to them but harmful to us.

 

[moluccan326]

I just realized. Besides the 2 perches as far as anything else all he had in his cage were shoe laces hanging. And he seems to like those. He chewed the tip of my shoe lace. The only time he's chased me was when I had shoes on. He likes to bite on shoes when they are on the floor. Maybe he just wants to bite my shoes. But he seems to go after ankles though when he chases not really shoes. So not sure..

 

[lexalayne]

Running away is a natural reaction. Their beaks are strong and very powerful. My macaws have wrapped their beaks around my finger and applied slight pressure. I've since learned this was my fault because I should have been able to read their body language long before that point. Now I do know when they want me to stay away but not after much reading and learning. Our rescue macaw swiped, screamed, and made his displeasure well known. I finally just sat on the floor and he came to me. And this was after he too hand fed treats but never moved beyond that.

You'll read about the honey moon phase when they first get to your home. Then when they get comfortable some birds will change their behaviors. I haven't seen much of this with mine but read enough about it to know it's true. And please read about them going through their adolescents. They have their ups and downs like we do.

I also learned that pulling my finger away from the beak wrapped around it caused the beak to apply more pressure. I learned to carry distractors, foot toys, shredders, treats, and then had to make sure I wasn't rewarding behavior I didn't want them to keep. Many people keep a step up perch handy if trouble arises. Many of mine are re-homes, rescues, pet stores and came with issues such as afraid of brooms and sticks etc..

 

[moluccan326]

He won't step up onto anything but a person's arm. Unless we're putting him in the cage he will get onto his perch in there. But I've tried things out of the cage and he just looks at them like um what is that?

 

[JLcribber]

Dana hit the nail right on the head on the second post. He's chosen your dad as his favourite (mate) and that makes all the rest of you competition/intruders for his affections. That is not likely to change sorry to say although things will settle down and should get better in "time" as long as you guys come to accept this and work with what you've got.

You already noticed how he is a different bird when your dad is not around. That is when you and the rest of the family will make the biggest gains in trying to establish trust and form a relationship with him. You will never have the same level as relationship as your dad has already because he was the one chosen. You will need to establish a "unique" relationship with him. But never forget, when your dad enters the room or if he knows your dad is around even though he can't see him, you guys get instantly demoted back to dirt level and have to play the game accordingly. Which is you step back and don't get in between him and dad. As a side note, do not show affection towards your dad (or vise versa) in Scooter's presence as that will just fuel the problems.

With a large cockatoo rescue/rehome there is typically a "honeymoon" period of anywhere from 1 to 3 months where the bird is actually on pretty good behaviour but in any case you will not really start to see the true character of the bird until that honeymoon period is over.

I would suggest you and the other family members condition Scooter to accepting and using a T stick to handle and move him. You may not always have to use that stick but until you truly know this bird, his body language and moods (which will take months of concentrated observation and awareness) it is the only way you guys will be able to handle him with confidence, without fear and have "control" over the situation. They can smell fear and lack of confidence like stink on poo and this will cause him to mirror those emotions. The only way a bird can bite you is if you allow it by putting your flesh in harms way and providing that opportunity. Don't give him that opportunity.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most difficult) you have chosen to take on the challenge of caring for and living with a 10. Your in for a heck of a ride. I'm not trying to scare you but merely to point out the reality of what you've committed to doing. I would urge you to stick around and become an active member in our community because in all seriousness your going to need the support and you've got a pretty steep learning curve to master and fairly quickly. We are always here to help.

Give this a read. It will give you a lot of insight.

Sex and the Psittacine (Parrot)

 

[lexalayne]

Mine do too, if they're not afraid of them. Some took awhile to be able to tolerate a broom around their cage. 1 we have we still have to put him on a playstand in another room while we clean his cage.

 

[moluccan326]

Oh great this is a honey moon stage and he could get worse? Lol that makes me feel great

 

[moluccan326]

So now that I'm home and talked to my dad he said scooter was actually going after the cargo pocket on my pants when I was knelt down and that's when he hit my ankle. But of course I freaked out and jumped up and was trying to get away from him which made him chase me. I was wondering why it felt like he just hit my ankle with his beak. Lol and he said when he bit my boyfriend it looked like more of a reaction to something not like bit him for no reason...I didn't think it was a serious bite..his looks nothing like mine his is a tiny little nick. If either of those things make anything better lol

 

[Theresa]

Oh great this is a honey moon stage and he could get worse? Lol that makes me feel great

Not every bird goes thru the so called "honeymoon" all of mine (not toos) have gotten better not worse with time.
Tanya (she runs a rescue) and I have had this discussion many times, and the conclusion is that some do and some don't
So don't freak yourself out by expecting him to get worse.
Treat him as a study of one, back off a bit and learn him and what makes him tick. With love and patience you'll do fine

 

[moluccan326]

Ok. I'm just going to take it day by day and try my hardest not to give up. Definitely going to keep reading and asking questions. He was pretty unhappy when we all got home about 930 tonight and put him to bed without letting him come out. My dad bowls in a tournament Tuesday nights so he got home the same time as me and my boyfriend did. Even being covered as long as he could hear us talking he was screaming but once we left the room and he couldn't hear us anymore he got quiet. He's doing so good already with going to bed when we want him to. The first night was the only bad night. Most likely because it was his first night in a new place.