Ive become a birdaholic

[missmybuttons]

Ok im done Buying birds now lol .I must be crazy I bought a pair of Umbrella Cockatoos.Im so excited I love umbrellas. Im buying them from the same guy I got my Greys from , now I have to refuse to buy anymore birds.anyway I will be picking them up the following week . The greys are doing awsome , we gave up on them getting Jiggy with it and turned them into comic releif , lol are they funny , they are even getting where we can get close to the cage and they dont growl at us or scream, but they have been enjoying their morning routine of coming alive at 6 am when my alarm goes off.maybe by this time next year we will be able to let them out of their cage to explore a bit we shall see ,but in the meantime , they are so full of life right now that is the main goal mental health and they seem to be adjusting to life outside the box just fine.

[Madhuri]

hey ., yes i know what you mean by getting addicted... i am too .. if i had the space i would have lots of birdies .,but now i just got Sille i will have to do with that.,lool and she will probably be a handfull on her own ., so they both keep me busy ..,for now.

[Luvparrots]

I only want one more fid. There is a Sunny Conure at the place where I got my sweet Sully (Eclectus). I am hoping that once Sully is fully feathered that the owner will let me buy this Sunny Conure who has totally plucked his chest feathers off. If I can get this sweet Sunny Conure I will be done rescuing!!!! My plate will be full!!!!

[Tycos_mom]

My plate is also fulL I have my 5 and thats my limit no more I don't have anymore room for anymore monster cages so thats it for me Con grate on your cockatoos.

[judygram]

Well I only have two but I have all I can handle since I work a full time job and feel adding another will spread myself too thin, now if I didn't have to work for a living then I would definitely have a couple more.

[missmybuttons]

I know what you mean I work full time plus I have a part time job training horses and being a mom/wife but I always find time for my birds Im really glad im getting these cockatoos then I will be DONE lol ive decided to name them Tarzan and Jane ,now I need to get some toys made up for them because they have a really bare cage no toys or extra perches , just one perch and a nest box so their pretty plucked but its ok I hope their feathers will return .

[djzenjen]

It's a fever! I have 4, and that is my limit. But that doesn't stop me from wanting more! So, I go to the bird fairs to get my fix. :woohoo:

[casper]

I have three greys and still would like another but I dont really have the room and I would be worried I couldnt share enough time with them all.

 

Congratulation on your new too's:)

[Dave007]

I'll be the bad guy here even though it may be a downer for you and some other people, but I truly think it needs to be said.

 

I have no idea how much homework and studying you've done concerning the purchase and ownership of a cockatoo and you're intending upon getting two of them.

 

An african grey is well known for having a constant never ending supply of dander that's always present and can never be totally removed or produced,

A cockatoo produces 3 times the amount of dander on a steady basis and it's also much heavier than CAG dander.

An african grey is well known to have plucking problems when things aren't ideal. Some don't have that problem but many do. The board here and other boards will prove that statement. It's a common thing.

A cockatoo will pluck for many more reasons even though things are alright. Some don't but many other many others do.

African greys are a relatively quiet bird that has the ability to mimic things in the same tone and voice that they hear it in.

A cockatoo doesn't have that ability. Any and everything they mimic is in their own voice which is much like screeching or yelling and when a cockatoo decides to sound off it falls into the catagory of screaming. This is their natural personality and it can't be altered no matter what a person does to stop it.

Because it's so very easy for a grey to imitate almost anything it hears, it also has the ability to imitate the loudness and high pitch of a cockatoo and that also can't be stopped.

 

In most shelter/adoption/rescue centers , the most common bird in those places are cockatoos. They're about 35 to 40% of the inhabitants. All of this can be checked out,.

 

Having 2 cockatoos isn't double the trouble, it's quadruple the trouble.

A cockatoo demands constant contact with a person/persons or else problems start, especially plucking and biting. Cockatoos are not good birds that will take to cages very well even though cage time eventually needs to happen. They become very moody in cages. They simply wanna be out and congregate with people. At first, it may seem great but there comes that time when the thrill wears off.

I personally think you should do some hard thinking about what you're gonna do even though the breeder may tell you that he/she doesn't foresee any problems.

 

PS--the one other bird that falls into the catagory of loudness, screeching and sometimes screaming is the macaw. Many people who live in close proximity to others ( that includes houses) have had complaints registered because of the loudness of these birds and when owners are away, there's absolutely no way to stop them from doing what they naturally do just like there's no way to stop an african grey from doing what they naturally do. The big difference is that a grey is normally quiet. It's one of the most popular birds because of it's quietness.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/06/07 21:41

[SchroedersJen]

I admire Dave's willingness to be the wetblanket of reason. I used to volunteer at a bird shelter and quit because seeing all of the toos was waaaaaaay too depressing. I can't tell you how many people said that had they looked at and taken to heart the info at mytoos.com, they would have made a very different decision. If you get the birds, I hope you have a lifetime of joy. They can be excellent pets for the right people/ The problem is that only a small percentage of people that get these birds are the right people. Please do a lot pof homework, and take it all seriously.

[Dave007]

I also must commend SchroedersJen for stepping forward and speaking out about cockatoos and their abundance in shelters. I know it was a heart breaking situation that she viewed. I've been in many shelters and viewed the same thing.I have no idea what shelter she was referring to but it really doesn't matter because it goes on in the huge majority of shelters. Walk into a shelter and see the various birds and when you listen to all the various species of parrot's sounds, the large majority of those sounds are coming from the cockatoos which at times can drown out the sounds of other birds. i can't consider SchroedersJen as any type of wet blanket here. I can only refer to her as a very honeest person who's trying to pass on truthful first hand information. I admire her for that. As she might tell you, so many of the cockatoos have flight suits on, not so much to collect dropping but to stop them from plucking themselves which for them is a habit which can't be broken very easily. I believe that she's also trying to avoid a mistake being made. She's also very right when she says that the TOOs will make a good pet for the right people but right people are very into the whole process of owning them. It takes lots of experience to get to that point. More than likely, she will tell you about the beautiful TOOs that are in the shelters yet they ARE in those shelters be they good looking or mutilated or have bad personalities.

Just remember one thing---there isn't a breeder that exists that can tell people that THEIR chicks will not be loud and many times, yell or screech or scream but there are breeders around that will tell people that THEIR chicks will take to other species very well with little or no loudness. It ain't gonna happen.

[Tycos_mom]

I live in Canada and I support a local bird rescue. This rescue won't even take a Cockatoo because all of their birds are kept in foster homes. They just can't find enough foster parents for the amount of Too's that they would have if they started to except them. They do try to help owners find suitable home for them but won't actually take them. Please be careful what your getting your self into I took one in for a short while to find a sitable home after his mom died and I'm telling you that bird attacked my daughter every chance he got. he would have killed every other bird in the house if given half a chance. please be very carful and think hard about this. The very same bird was the sweetest most loving wonderful baby with me and other woman as well but thats it he would attack men or dogs cats birds children.