The Good the Bad and the Ugly about Large Cockatoos

[Love My Zons]

I just can't say there is really any ugly with our U2. The bad is the shriek when she wants someone to get her. The shrieking shrill if you might say. Once she's with one of us on us she's a happy and quiet little Girl.

I might be a lucky one because she never bites.

 

[Birdlover42]

I have been thinking about purchasing a Cockatoo for several years and have decided on adoption if I decide to have one. This forum definitely helps and there is so much to consider. I have a lot to think about!

 

[Sylvester]

I understand. If there was a way for people who want to get a parrot to peer into a crystal ball and see the actual future of their decision and see the reality instead of the "vision" of what the future would be like, a great many of them would come to the same conclusion. I might include myself.

Thank you for understanding. I have wrestle between the love and the hate I feel towards this animal, something I have never experience towards any other animal companion.

 

[Madi8416]

I rescued my Charles, a goffins cockatoo, from a family who didn't know anything about him. He was abused before this family. He is missing toes and we just bought some new medication to try for his continuous plucking. He lived with an older lady after this, but she could not keep taking care of him so he went to live with the family. He would sleep in bed with the old lady and had become accustomed to this treatment.

He has a problem when my family members are around, but he is a complete baby when it's only me and him. He rolls around like a dog when I enter the room, and occasionally rolls off the bed. We dance together and play his favorite songs -- he eats off of my plate and he usually sleeps in bed with me too. (He doesn't sleep otherwise and just cries, he mimics exactly what a baby does all night, so we have figured out a way to keep him safe and happy)

Although he is a little baby around me, when I'm not around he turns into a little devil. He will attack other people, chew through doors to get out of our room, and rip the paint off of the walls. He terrorizes the other birds and had caused us to have to rehome our blue and gold macaw. I could not simply deal with rehoming him as its taken a long time for him to trust me.

 

[cassiesdad]

Welcome to you and Charles.

Normally I wouldn't recommend to have your bird sleep with you...but in you and Charles case , it sounds like you have little choice in the matter.

I know you are, but please, please be careful...

 

[Madi8416]

Oh yes!! I am super careful. I have a king size bed and he usually sticks to one side and I'm to the other side. We have been mastering this sleeping arrangement for nearly a year now. Sometimes at night he snuggles up to me and sleeps on my head or something like that, which wakes me up if I feel him.

 

[JLcribber]

Oh yes!! I am super careful. I have a king size bed and he usually sticks to one side and I'm to the other side. We have been mastering this sleeping arrangement for nearly a year now. Sometimes at night he snuggles up to me and sleeps on my head or something like that, which wakes me up if I feel him.

Someday this will come back to haunt you. It’s not if something will happen. It’s when. Very scary.

 

[Madi8416]

Yes I know there is a lot of bad outcomes that could potentially occur. I have talked it over with my local avian vet because at first I was very cautious about this as well. We had talked it over and over again but we decided it would benefit Charles if he were to sleep on the bed with me. Most of the time he is on my head, or chest, or on the pillows. I have tried many many other things such as a small cage on my nightstand, covering his cage, letting him sit on his stand at night -- which did not work because he climbed up onto the bed -- and i tried sleeping in a different room. He was sleeping in bed with someone for a little over two years and had become accustomed to that.. if you leave him alone at night he starts screaming, plucking out all of his feathers and crying like a baby.

 

[cassiesdad]

It is a very sad situation...and an example of a well-meaning person messing up a 'too's mind completely...

 

[Bokkapooh]

You must be a light sleeper. I slept with my birds no problem and even my child from newborn to now. I've always been a very light sleeper. However most people are not and shouldn't sleep with babies or even pets. If you feel it benefits him then you do what feels best.

 

[ChirpyMacaw]

does anyone here have black cockatoos(ie red taileds, palms, yellow taileds, etc) and are willing on sharing the good, bad and ugly about them in their experience?

 

[expressmailtome]

does anyone here have black cockatoos(ie red taileds, palms, yellow taileds, etc) and are willing on sharing the good, bad and ugly about them in their experience?

There was a member here who had a beautiful red tailed black cockatoo, named Harvey, but she has not posted in quite a while. You could search for some of her threads and read what she had posted.

 

[Budgiebuds]

I have a female umbrella cockatoo named winter and she is such a cutie! She loves to cuddle and play and sing and dance! But if I don't cuddle her when she wants me to or I don't give her enough cuddles she'll push me with her head or she'll nip me and she'll scream if I put her down. She has "tantrums" if I put her to bed too early or when she dosent want to go to bed/back in her cage. She also leaves dust all around the house buy I've gotten used to it haha.

 

[Sylvester]

I have a female umbrella cockatoo named winter and she is such a cutie! She loves to cuddle and play and sing and dance! But if I don't cuddle her when she wants me to or I don't give her enough cuddles she'll push me with her head or she'll nip me and she'll scream if I put her down. She has "tantrums" if I put her to bed too early or when she dosent want to go to bed/back in her cage. She also leaves dust all around the house buy I've gotten used to it haha.

She sounds adorable.

 

[PufF]

I am owned by Umbrella the female U2.She is turning 7 this year.
The good:
Sensitive to your feelings and would love a cuddle sometimes.Brightens up your days and will do anything for a lil' headrub.Sticks to you like velcro and bonds tight and quick ( a bad too but a good to me).Rather honest when it comes to questions like 'Did you chew the sofa again?'.Trustworthy in the sense that you can tell her to not do something and she won't but if you don't...hehe.Also if you consider this a good then here it is-->They are GREAT TALKERS!!!!! You can communicate to them easily as they pick up words and THEIR MEANINGS rather quickly.

The bad:
Chews any and everything.From your beloved sofa to beds to those expensive wooden toys and sometimes,you and your clothes.Give you a free experience of dust raining everywhere and anyday.Seriously,they are the dustiest among ALL parrots due to their colour( how do you expect them to be so white?) and if you or whoever you are living with have dust allergies,DON'T GET ONE.

The UGLY:
Will bite hard and nips.One bite has the power of opening coconuts and thus,your skin and bones and getting you a trip to the E.R. Terrible 2 is not something that you would like to go through ( I baby-sitted a lesser-sulphur crested Too once ) .On the ground they feel like they can do anything and attacks like a desperate soldier.If you are unlucky your other birds WILL be HARMED.Also they are good fliers and can fly away from your sight easily and quickly.

 

[PufF]

And did I forget the screams? Get a rock and roll song and put it to full volume then TIMES 2,that is how loud their scream is.

 

[Xoetix]

I know this thread is super old, but I’d like to add this - This is what I wake up to every morning. If you’re thinking of a large cockatoo, be prepared. They are L O U D.