handraised cockatoos, never had one before?

I'm not sure if there is anyone here that can help with this on as most people seem to be in America and I'm not sure how many cockatoos are over there. My sister brought herself a handraised sulphur-crested cockatoo that was flown up to Townsville from Brisbane. She has been reading a whole lot of stuff on the net that sounds like a load of crap to me so I thought I'd run it by this forum.

A number of the things shes been telling me is:
- say no when the bird bites you and push it head away with your free hand (seriously didnt work when it grabed my knuckle and wouldnt let go).
- dont let it get to or above eye level (encourages dominante behaviour?)
- dont use gloves when clipping its wings and nails.

I know its still settling in as we only picked it up on thursday but as its well known that they have long memories surely its best to start establishing boundaries straight away.

Any ideas?

Mel.

 

Hi cockatoo's are known to be very agressive and will not do something that annoys them.

Its the same with any bird if it bites say No and put the bird down i don't think pussing its head away will help much apart from annoy the bird.

I have cockatiels budgies and finch's and all my birds sit at eye level i don't think dominance is a real big issue in birds.

I never use gloves when clipping wings but with the larger birds its always safer if you do as a serious bite from a cockatoo can actually cause some serious damage they can also break finger bones if they get a good enough grip on your finger.

Tell your sister to do what she thinks is best allow him a few more days to settle in and then start teaching him things they are very quick learners but one thing to remember they can be very aggressive to anyone that annoys them..

When there crest is up they are happy when it goes flat they are annoyed...

Here is a link i think you might find useful.

http://www.animal-world.com/encyclo/bir ... rofile.htm

Mike

 

Just popping in my 2 cents about gloves.

I agree with Mike. I use gloves with Kiwi (that bird has one heck of a stong bite) because he can't stand being confined to your hand.

 

Hi
I have a male umbrella cockatoo and he is such a sweetheart. :lol:
Basically everything that you have sayed is right,it might sound stuped but they do show dominance when you hold them above eye level,mainly males are agressive but not all of them.
I have noticed that when his crest is up he is egitated,frightend or confused and when his crest is down and the feathers at the side of his beak start covering his beak alittle he is realaxed and calm. :wink:


Janine

 

Thanks for you help I will pass that link onto my sister it makes for some interesting reading. I have noticed that it bites more when its getting late at night but puts on the whole sooky 'dont leave me alone act' so you cant really win. We seem to be making some ground as the bird seems to have settled in but dosent like to be alone. it has my sisters boyfriend completly fooled with the whole sooky act.

Mel.

 

I'm the sister with the bird.

Hi, just found out about this site and thanks for your input. But i would also like to mention that using gloves on any bird scares them and stresses them out unneccessarily (i have cockatiels also), i have found that with the cockatiels a towel is far more comfortable to use and the birds don't mind it at all. With my new baby cockatoo, he is gentle enough that we can clip his wings without using anything - he doesn't bite or get stressed.
Also, on the crest issue, i have noticed that when he's aggressive his crest is up, but when he's happy and relaxed his crest is down.
And yes with the cockatiels dominance is not an issue, however with the size of the cockatoo it is definately an issue.
Sorry if i sound a bit pushy, but just wanted to put my two cents in.

Thanks