cockatoo - free to good home *sigh*

[dungeonmistress]

that's the interesting thing about birds. They may physically sexually mature, but they may not be mentally mature. My cockatiel didn't start laying eggs until she was nearly 16. Our B&G macaw is 16 and she's never laid an egg. Nellie, didn't turn on me, until she laid her first egg.

Now, I'm not infering that Ana is getting ready to lay an egg, but changes happen in a body and as such, emotions can change. I concur about the Hair Change. Combine that with the recent big change in your life and there are ways that birds see each other that we can't. Which could contribute to your birds new behavior.

Pile in some new toys and slowly wean back the amount of time you spend with her. The good thing that I have in my house, is most of our birds have a "buddy" that is near them, or in their cage to hang with.

As for Scars, I have a nice one on my wrist from my wife's Scarlet Macaw, another one on my chin (hence the goatee) from our Goffins and a nice one on my ear from Nellie the 'Too. The ones on my hands and arms have all healed.

One of the treats that our guys all like are unsalted Pistachis, and also Pasta. My Big macaw gets a Lobster leg on his birthday every year. They'll eat just about anything. It really spikes conversations, when you're at a BBQ sharing a chicken leg with a Big Green Bird.

she has never laid an egg (yet). i had a cockatiel years ago who laid like it was going out of style lol. the too loves meat - especially raw. i call her vulture. the macaws will eat anything. they love pasta, cous cous, french bread, fries, veggies, you name it. the too loves sour things like pickles and salad WITH dressing. she won't touch it plain.

i hope she goes back to normal soon. thanks btw for all your advice and bird stories - much appreciated (and entertaining too)!

[Deborah_Lyn]

One of the treats that our guys all like are unsalted Pistachis, and also Pasta. My Big macaw gets a Lobster leg on his birthday every year. They'll eat just about anything. It really spikes conversations, when you're at a BBQ sharing a chicken leg with a Big Green Bird.

hahaa!!! cannibal bird! My bird made a huge fuss when I had chicken a long time ago. So, I gave him some. He rolled it on his beak and spit it out! lol! he gets the occassional french fry when I eat them ( he loves them!!) , nuts, apple, cherries, grapes... list goes on. Whatever I'm eatting, he thinks he should too.

I bought one of those wooden nut things - bars all around it, bird is supposed to chew the wood to get the nut out... he barely chewed it and got all the nuts out! Just cannot win!

DM - if it is a breeding thing, hopefully she'll settle down in a few weeks when it passes.

[Minotaur]

Rio laid three eggs back in March or so. Until then I assumed she was a he. I panicked because not having a mate, if they continually lay, they can become egg-bound, which is life threatening.

So off to the vet we go. Vet (not the one who saw Chester, but another avian vet) tells me it's a bonding issue... I'm Rio's mate. Doc gave her a shot of lupron to stop the egg laying. There were only three, two days apart, which she simply dropped and paid no attention to. Doc told me to break the bond.

As it turns out I came to believe she is full of ****. Birds, even solitary females can lay a small clutch once or twice a year. You simply watch that they don't lay more than three or four eggs. If they do, then a shot of lupron may be in order.

The problem I have with Rio now is extreme skittishness, as I mentioned earlier. She flies off her stand, or off my arm at the slightest sudden sound. She's landed on the floor when Chester has been out. Chasing and catching a 5 oz. bird is not as easy as it sounds. I have the savaged hands to show for it.

Chester is not the problem; he shows no interest in Rio when she is on her stand. It is she who freaks out at the drop of a hat. The only thing different in the house is that Chester is now out and about more frequently and freely than when my niece was there. OK, so they have separate out of cage times, which is wearing on me. But that doesn't solve her skittishness and panic. I am going to contact the doctor I saw for Chester. He is an avian and exotic specialist and the director of that group at the animal hospital.

As far as eating, Rio will eat anything except tomatoes. She will eat arroz con pollo (chicken and rice... I told her the chicken was no one she knew); Doritos; pasta; beef; bananas; blueberries; just about anything. If you are eating something, she has to try it. She may spit it out, but she has to try it.

[dungeonmistress]

Rio laid three eggs back in March or so. Until then I assumed she was a he. I panicked because not having a mate, if they continually lay, they can become egg-bound, which is life threatening.

So off to the vet we go. Vet (not the one who saw Chester, but another avian vet) tells me it's a bonding issue... I'm Rio's mate. Doc gave her a shot of lupron to stop the egg laying. There were only three, two days apart, which she simply dropped and paid no attention to. Doc told me to break the bond.

As it turns out I came to believe she is full of ****. Birds, even solitary females can lay a small clutch once or twice a year. You simply watch that they don't lay more than three or four eggs. If they do, then a shot of lupron may be in order.

The problem I have with Rio now is extreme skittishness, as I mentioned earlier. She flies off her stand, or off my arm at the slightest sudden sound. She's landed on the floor when Chester has been out. Chasing and catching a 5 oz. bird is not as easy as it sounds. I have the savaged hands to show for it.

Chester is not the problem; he shows no interest in Rio when she is on her stand. It is she who freaks out at the drop of a hat. The only thing different in the house is that Chester is now out and about more frequently and freely than when my niece was there. OK, so they have separate out of cage times, which is wearing on me. But that doesn't solve her skittishness and panic. I am going to contact the doctor I saw for Chester. He is an avian and exotic specialist and the director of that group at the animal hospital.

As far as eating, Rio will eat anything except tomatoes. She will eat arroz con pollo (chicken and rice... I told her the chicken was no one she knew); Doritos; pasta; beef; bananas; blueberries; just about anything. If you are eating something, she has to try it. She may spit it out, but she has to try it.

i totally know that the smaller birds are often the most difficult to deal with. my senegal sparky still flies around the house, so he will follow me from room to room. occasionally he would fly on my boyfriend, bite him hard in the neck or wherever there was flesh hanging out, draw blood and then leave. for that, he earned the name "count sparkula." sparky enjoys stealing meat off of plates (usually the biggest piece) and the proceeds to chew it up and spit it out - like chaw lol.

since birds are flock animals the humans become their flock. 3 of my parrots are housed in the diningroom since that is the room that gets the most activity. the other is let out of her cage and brought in with the rest when i get home from work. eating is a social activity for birds so if we sit down to dinner they insist upon our sharing. bobby the greenwing decided to join us for xmas dinner. the bird must have a german streak in him because he very much enjoyed potato dumplings with gravy (eyes flashing, he says "mmmm!!" "like that?"). i will ask him, "is it beak-smacking?" and he'll make smacking noises if he likes what he eating. ben the blue and gold learned beak smacking too, but follows his up with "woo hoo!!"

they are so awesome!

[Minotaur]

Little birds with big attitudes.

Well, I just wrote to the vet. I'll see what he has to say. I'll bet I get a phone call instead of an e-mail response. He's very good.

I can understand if she were acting jealous and biting me. She only does that when there are too many people around and she gets agitated. You know, "If you can't bite the one you want, bite the one you're with". But it's not that. She's always trying to bolt.

I know that my friend and former co-worker realized he bit off more than he could chew in getting a Jenday (Suns are similar, and they can interbreed and produce a... Sunday conure!). I'm pretty sure this is one of the reasons he re-homed her. I can handle her, but this skittishness is making me crazy(ier).

[Deborah_Lyn]

The problem I have with Rio now is extreme skittishness, as I mentioned earlier. She flies off her stand, or off my arm at the slightest sudden sound. She's landed on the floor when Chester has been out. Chasing and catching a 5 oz. bird is not as easy as it sounds. I have the savaged hands to show for it.

Yep, this is why I no longer clip my bird's wings. With 2 rotts, the bird has to have a way to escape in case of any accident.

As for trapping the panicing bird, I use a hand towel - a thick one- hard to bite threw and get it around both wings if I'm lucky. I clip the toe nails the same way to get him on his back. Sidney hates it, but it's a neccessary evil having been biten before until I've bled, I feel your pain, lol.

Birds are very resiliant. Sidney flew 2x into a patio sliding door when he as young. His head feathers poofed! and fell out. I thought he was dead the 1x because he did not move and was stunned for a few minutes. Poor thing. I wanted to get him a little football helmet they sell in bubble gum machines, lol.

When you are not home, is the TV or radio left on? I find that really helps to keep them company.

[dungeonmistress]

Yep, this is why I no longer clip my bird's wings. With 2 rotts, the bird has to have a way to escape in case of any accident.

As for trapping the panicing bird, I use a hand towel - a thick one- hard to bite threw and get it around both wings if I'm lucky. I clip the toe nails the same way to get him on his back. Sidney hates it, but it's a neccessary evil having been biten before until I've bled, I feel your pain, lol.

Birds are very resiliant. Sidney flew 2x into a patio sliding door when he as young. His head feathers poofed! and fell out. I thought he was dead the 1x because he did not move and was stunned for a few minutes. Poor thing. I wanted to get him a little football helmet they sell in bubble gum machines, lol.

When you are not home, is the TV or radio left on? I find that really helps to keep them company.

LMAO re helmet - that would be TOO cute! i've attached a pic of the cockatoo with a curler in her crest - she will let me do anything to her - even dress her up.

[Minotaur]

Yep, this is why I no longer clip my bird's wings. With 2 rotts, the bird has to have a way to escape in case of any accident.

I thought about letting her flight feathers grow back in, but I am afraid that she's such a ditz, she'll fly into the kitchen at the worst time. And the ceiling fans would have to be off when she's out. I know there are pros and cons about wing clipping. I'll see what the vet says. He wrote a piece about it. It is an answer on a cockatoo forum, but it applies to all captive birds:
http://www.mytoos.com/cgi-bin/ultima...;f=26;t=000019

As for trapping the panicing bird, I use a hand towel - a thick one- hard to bite threw and get it around both wings if I'm lucky. I clip the toe nails the same way to get him on his back. Sidney hates it, but it's a neccessary evil having been biten before until I've bled, I feel your pain, lol.

I've toweled her to do wing clipping. It was always high drama. But now when I see a flight feather peek out, I just take her wing as she's sitting there and snip. There's still the drama though.

When you are not home, is the TV or radio left on? I find that really helps to keep them company.

Yes, pretty much because my partner is home during the day. But he doesn't let her out. She nips him. But he talks to her and she sees and hears him and the TV and is happy and quiet in her cage, eating, playing and occasionally vocalizing something.

[Deborah_Lyn]

LMAO re helmet - that would be TOO cute! i've attached a pic of the cockatoo with a curler in her crest - she will let me do anything to her - even dress her up.

omg, omg!!! too cute! what sweetheart!

Minotaur - My bird has flown into the ceiling fan ( granted it was on slow), but he was okay. He's actually learned to not fly 'up' in my computer room and I sweep my arm up a couple times to stop him. Sometimes, it's just too hot here in the South to NOT have it on.

[Minotaur]

From what I read in the response from Dr. Mike (who is actually my veterinarian), a long clip won't let them get much altitude, but just enough power to flee a perceived danger. Now, that's in the house. Maybe that's what I need to do to calm Rio down. Let her think she can fly away if she's "threatened". Outdoors, with a breeze, they can get lift and be gone. I would have to put her into a conure size harness. More drama and savaged hands!

[StressMonkey]

LMAO re helmet - that would be TOO cute! i've attached a pic of the cockatoo with a curler in her crest - she will let me do anything to her - even dress her up.

That is such a cute picture. I absolutely love those birds.

[dungeonmistress]

I thought about letting her flight feathers grow back in, but I am afraid that she's such a ditz, she'll fly into the kitchen at the worst time. And the ceiling fans would have to be off when she's out. I know there are pros and cons about wing clipping. I'll see what the vet says. He wrote a piece about it. It is an answer on a cockatoo forum, but it applies to all captive birds:
http://www.mytoos.com/cgi-bin/ultima...;f=26;t=000019



I've toweled her to do wing clipping. It was always high drama. But now when I see a flight feather peek out, I just take her wing as she's sitting there and snip. There's still the drama though.



Yes, pretty much because my partner is home during the day. But he doesn't let her out. She nips him. But he talks to her and she sees and hears him and the TV and is happy and quiet in her cage, eating, playing and occasionally vocalizing something.

your vet is the vet who is on mytoos?? really - how cool! he is very helpful - i had a question about Ana when i first got her, and he helped me. mytoos is a great site. sometimes i will play the screaming cockatoo sound byte from the page just to get a reaction out of Ana.

[Minotaur]

your vet is the vet who is on mytoos?? really - how cool! he is very helpful - i had a question about Ana when i first got her, and he helped me. mytoos is a great site. sometimes i will play the screaming cockatoo sound byte from the page just to get a reaction out of Ana.

Yes, that's Dr. Mike. He's the director of the avian and exotics dept. of the animal hospital. The man knows his ****.

When he examined Chester and found him to be in excellent health and spirits, after the way my niece neglected him, Dr. Mike kissed Chester and said "You are a lucky little boy!" (i.e. to now have me as his daddy).

Danielle Rawlins was my Toby's personal doctor. I love her. She wasn't the one to euthanize Toby, and I heard she was extremely upset when Toby died. She sent flowers to me when Toby died! I'm going to ask for her when the puppies arrive.

This is the premier animal hospital in the area.