It's good to be back guys. Got a new bird!

[Knight05]

I'm an old member who hasn't been on in awhile but now I finally finished college and started my job and I have plenty of time to slack off at work now and chat on the forums!! SO I am glad to be back. A quick update for those who remember me and my bird since last time.

 

Chloe my grey is awesome. We just bought a new bird Harvey an umbrella cockatoo and he is the last and latest addition to our bird family. And since then her (my grey) behavior has gone from unbearably bad to amazingly awesome since adding the 'too!! We think the problem for her was mass boredom since we both worked long hours and now having another bird to talk and sing with etc makes her super excited and keeps her happy and entertained. We keep them caged differently of course and while they are not interactive and best friends to each other up close and personal. They do tolerate each other well on the same perch etc and even give the occasional beak kisses. But my grey is still some what intimated because of his sheer size alone and gets easily scared or skiddish when he flaps or opens up at all. She does like the attention tho of a big hunky bird as do all women I kid, I kid....

 

Any who here's some info on Harvey my new bird and I have some questions as a new 'too owner that hopefully some experienced members can answer for me. And for those who don't remember me.... Gonna copy and past cause im lazy

 

Hi all my name is Spencer I'm a 29 yr old male and a new member from San Diego, CA. I recently purchased a 7 month old umbrella cockatoo named "Harvey". He is in good health and seems to be normal for all intesive purposes for a cockatoo. I got him from a pet shop versus a breeder since they have a 1 year warranty that if it doesn't work out you can bring them back and get a diff bird, which made me feel good cause some birds just aren't meant to be with some people. I also have an african grey female named "Chloe" she's awesome and my #1 love, but I want to love harvey equally in time. That being said......

 

SO here's some quick background info as it may be relevant to my question. FIrst of all he was DNA sexed and is male. Secondly we took him to the vet after purchase and ran a full screen of tests on him to make sure he was tip top shape and everything checks out 100% great no problems. We even did a culture and blood screen etc.

Having said that here is my problem/question.

 

We are having tremendous problems controlling his "cockatoo shriek noise" and also getting him to stay on objects. First the shriek. I know they shriek, I know its just in their blood to do so and you can't prevent them from doing so you can only deter them from doing it at inappropriate times. WHen we first come home from work as soon as we close the door he screams bloody murder when he knows we are home which we DO NOT want. Also any time we set him on some thing a perch, a chair, the top of his cage etc etc he WILL NOT stay on it for more than a minute or too. He is such a loving snuggly bird that he wants to be on us 24-7. While it's super cute and I love it, he has to learn to stay put and not keep jumping off stuff to get to us.

 

Our current method to deter this behavior is if he jumps off anything to come to us we say "no bad bird" and stick him in his cage and close the door hoping he would see that as "man i better stop jumping off or I get no love and attention". He is not learning his lesson though he continues to do it regardless of the punishment. And then when we put him in the room he squaks to show hes mad. We have been practicing this for a month now with no positive results. Any one else have suggestions?

 

Also any suggestions to prevent the squaking or to deter it to more appropriate times? The only thing positive about harvey at the moment is we managed to get him potty trained all ready and hewill poop on command where ever, when ever. Which seems like a HUGE bonus off the start. He also randomly does this thing where he will walk to the floor of his cage and open his wings and head feathers and flap REALLY hard while simotaneously screaming at the top of his lungs. ANy one know what that represents or means?

[KimKim]

He also randomly does this thing where he will walk to the floor of his cage and open his wings and head feathers and flap REALLY hard while simotaneously screaming at the top of his lungs. ANy one know what that represents or means?

The baby umbrella's at the parrot store do this all the time, it hurts my ears.

[judygram]

Spence they don't call cockatoos "the velcro bird" for nothing, they like to attach themselves to their owners all hours of the day and they usually are very cuddly birds so that should not be a surprise to you.

I don't know a lot about toos but I do know they are known for their loud piercing calls but I don't think putting him back into his cage is the answer, you might get some books on toos or search the internet for all the info you can find on them so you will know better how to handle and manage this bird.