spoiled = dangerous

Not long ago I took in a male Moluccan cockatoo. He had lived with the same woman since he was a baby for about 15 years. She never asserted herself, and allowed him to do as he pleased. The end result was this...

He's not a screamer or a plucker. He is beautifully feathered and healthy. He begs for attention, and if you take him out of his cage he acts silly and sweet...

BUT, from the moment I met him something about him bothered me. I could sense that there was more to him than met the eye. He is the most dangerous, unpredictable, vicous, and dedicatedly violent bird I have EVER met.

He has been spoiled to the point of being flat out dangerous. If he is put back in his cage before he wants to be he attacks, and I don't mean just bites, I mean ATTACKS anything or anyone he can get ahold of. He sits sweetly on his perch, and if he has a need for you to notice him and he feels betrayed he ATTACKS!

He gives NO warning signs of the impending attack, he just flips a switch and he becomes the most violent bird I've ever seen.

Now, I've come to expect this from Moluccans (especially males) because they all act this way to some degree... Their moods swing so fast. But, of all the birds I've ever dealt with and rehabbed, this guy puts a whole new set of meanings to unpredictable and aggressive.

I've worked with violent and spoiled birds for my whole life, and I've never been the least bit afraid of a bird, but this guy would scare anyone.

I am only writing this to point out the dangers of "spoiling" a bird. I am working with two goffins with the same problem right now. A spoiled bird becomes a dangerous bird.

I have never seen any animal in person that is this insane, and he reminds me of the spoiled dangerous colt that they had to put down in the movie Buck.

So please remember that it is important for a bird to love and trust you, but make sure they accept that you are the final say, and will not hold a grudge when they don't get their way because it's the first time someone put them away against their wishes.

Now, off to try for the 3rd time today to give him his food bowl.

Good luck! Mi Amigo can be a brat and I think that if he thought he could get away with it, he would be a bully. Will he not let you into his cage to feed him?

Can you describe the differences between a bird being spoiled, and just well taken care of? Do you mean a lack of discipline, and letting the bird get away with whatever they feel like?

My boyfriend tells me that I spoil Puck by buying him so many toys and so much food (much of which I don't eat), but I think I'm just being a good bird owner. He is well behaved for the most part, but he does have an attitude, especially with me.

I think the difference is Remy that your being a good owner by providing for your bird and "spoiling" him with things he needs, lol

Yea, birds don't have a concept of money, so spoiling them with toys and food shouldn't be a concern so much as not having any rules.

That must be completely terrifying with such an aggressive m2. A friend of my moms has one, she went on a short vacation and asked her sister to care for her birds while she was away. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, as I wasn't there, but while she was going in the cage, I think to feed him, the bird dove at her face and bit her repeatedly. I didn't see the damage but from what my mom had told me, part of her lip was hanging off, along with several other bad facial bites, she needed to get quite a few stitches. I can't even imagine how traumatizing of an experience that must be.

There is an aviary here in Maryland run by the monks. They take in only the birds that cannot be in a home with people, no rehab. potential at all. Many as you may expect are M. cockatoos. Will you be able to handle him? When the monks were at my bird club for a talk they said the birds behaved much better after they got them into groups in a large cage where they interact with eachother.

At the moment we are currently designing an enclosure for hm that will make it safer to clean, feed, and water him. He is very well behaved around the other 'toos, and I plan to keep him in an all male environment so he has company and can enjoy his life. I don't see a lot of other good options, so for now I am just gonna make it safer to deal with him.

As far as "spoiling" goes, I mostly see it in 'toos. They have to know to entertain themselves and that they can't be bully's. Other species pluck if they get spoiled and then corrected, most 'toos get violent for some reason.

You can't spoil a bird with large cages, toys, and food.... that is just "good care"

I had to finally resort to a towel, but not to catch him, but to give him something to attack while I put his bowls in. I hate doing that, because it just propogates his hostility toward people. I am working on a permanent solution, and I am thinking about taking some videos of him so people can see how truely bad he really is...

Thanks guys!

After so many stories like this, I am soooo glad I didn't get a cockatoo. D:

Yikes!! I'm with you Remy, although I happen to already live with one. He is challenging at times, he has his moments, I still love him. I love his beauty, I love his bravery, I love his spirit. We cannot forget, these are wild birds at heart.

Honestly, umbrellas are the MOST sane of the "crazy three" (goffins, moluccans, umbrellas).

Really?!! Wow, I guess I got lucky. Seriously, I didn't know this. I've always been told that the umbrella was the most challenging, but only after I adopted him. He's pretty insane but I'll count my lucky stars because it could be worse!

ShreddedOakAviary said:

Honestly, umbrellas are the MOST sane of the "crazy three" (goffins, moluccans, umbrellas).

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Lol, I've been lucky enough, that every umbrella I have met was pretty friendly, except for the one that took a huge chunk out of my finger, but that was through a cage, so I can't say the bird was actually aggressive, probably just didn't like me touching her cage.

My goffin was a nut though! If I wasn't giving her my complete attention she would scream, throw her food as far as she could and just otherwise go insane. She would attack my boyfriend if he even sat near me and she especially went crazy on him if any body contact was made, holding hands for example. Living with her was like living with a really jealous spouse, she didn't want me to so much as look at other people if it meant that was attention she could be getting. She would also trick people into trying to pet her. She would hold her crest up and give them this "go ahead, pet me, I'm a nice innocent bird" look, I could tell everytime she was doing it, but most people didn't listen to me when I would tell them that she is just trying to lure them into biting range. They always seemed to think that they were special and of course this bird would like them. She would let them get a few head scratches in, plume up and looking as sweet as can be, until she could tell that they were getting relaxed. Once she felt they weren't afraid of her anymore she would whip her head around, lightning fast, and bite them as hard as she could. That bird granted me a lot of "I told you so's" I can give her that much. :54:

IcyWolf said:

ShreddedOakAviary said:

Honestly, umbrellas are the MOST sane of the "crazy three" (goffins, moluccans, umbrellas).

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Lol, I've been lucky enough, that every umbrella I have met was pretty friendly, except for the one that took a huge chunk out of my finger, but that was through a cage, so I can't say the bird was actually aggressive, probably just didn't like me touching her cage.

My goffin was a nut though! If I wasn't giving her my complete attention she would scream, throw her food as far as she could and just otherwise go insane. She would attack my boyfriend if he even sat near me and she especially went crazy on him if any body contact was made, holding hands for example. Living with her was like living with a really jealous spouse, she didn't want me to so much as look at other people if it meant that was attention she could be getting. She would also trick people into trying to pet her. She would hold her crest up and give them this "go ahead, pet me, I'm a nice innocent bird" look, I could tell everytime she was doing it, but most people didn't listen to me when I would tell them that she is just trying to lure them into biting range. They always seemed to think that they were special and of course this bird would like them. She would let them get a few head scratches in, plume up and looking as sweet as can be, until she could tell that they were getting relaxed. Once she felt they weren't afraid of her anymore she would whip her head around, lightning fast, and bite them as hard as she could. That bird granted me a lot of "I told you so's" I can give her that much. :54:

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What happened to your Goffin?

Long story made very short, we lost our place and were only given 10 days to vacate. We had a "friend" of ours foster her for a bit and then she disappeared. They tried to lie to us and tell us that she was stolen off of their porch but we have heard from others that they gave her away Not to mention, it was too cold at the time for her to have been outside(and they knew that), and there is no one anyone would have been able to steal her and her huge cage without anyone noticing. It really sucks, she was my grandmothers bird and I got her when she passed away and she loved me to death. I have never had a bird like her before, I could literally do anything with her. I've been trying to find out where she is, if I could find out, I don't expect to get her back at this point, but it would be nice to know that she is okay. I would be head over heals if there was a way I could get her back but I have pretty much lost all hope of that

Spiritbird said:

There is an aviary here in Maryland run by the monks. They take in only the birds that cannot be in a home with people, no rehab. potential at all. Many as you may expect are M. cockatoos. Will you be able to handle him? When the monks were at my bird club for a talk they said the birds behaved much better after they got them into groups in a large cage where they interact with eachother.

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This is the ideal setting for birds who have been thrust into a captive envionrment against their own wishes. Most parrots are great fun and are even cuddly when they are young, but once maturity sets in the reality of owning a parrot really sets in. One day we can all hope and pray that real compassion will cause those in the aviculture business to reconsider their actions and turn their businesses into sanctuaries and will stop the cycle. :red:

Training mens adapting a behaviour so that the bird can live with human. If they cant live with human the it is not a pet. So we need to learn the bird bird othervise he/she will end up in a recue

IcyWolf said:

Long story made very short, we lost our place and were only given 10 days to vacate. We had a "friend" of ours foster her for a bit and then she disappeared. They tried to lie to us and tell us that she was stolen off of their porch but we have heard from others that they gave her away Not to mention, it was too cold at the time for her to have been outside(and they knew that), and there is no one anyone would have been able to steal her and her huge cage without anyone noticing. It really sucks, she was my grandmothers bird and I got her when she passed away and she loved me to death. I have never had a bird like her before, I could literally do anything with her. I've been trying to find out where she is, if I could find out, I don't expect to get her back at this point, but it would be nice to know that she is okay. I would be head over heals if there was a way I could get her back but I have pretty much lost all hope of that

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That's soooo sad... How awful of your 'friend' to do that to you... She certainly sounds like great fun... lol... Sometimes their sense of humour outwits us all...

If you hadn't of mentioned his age I would have suggested he had entered his adolescent phase as 'toos can get a bit antsy around this time. A late developer maybe LOL

Maybe he had a great bond with his previous owner and hasnt accepted you yet?

Scary though as they can be so powerful......was this behaviour why he was rehomed?

Hope he settles down soon or you develop some coping strategies.

Good luck

Jackie
xxx

I so agree with the spoiling. Rome's first 2 years was a home where she was completely neglected, so her second home that had her before me for 14 years went way over board in the other direction and spoiled her completely. I've had her for about 6 months and shes just really started playing with her toys. Its been such a challenge to get her to act like a bird and to be able to enjoy herself. Shes made good progress but I still have a long way to go before I would call her emotionally healthy. Its so hard to promote independence in a spoiled Too. Not only that but a spoiled Too is an emotional disaster. The M2 you took in couldn't be in better hands, good luck with him, if anyone could provide him with what he needs it would be you.

I have a friend who very much wants a cockatoo. She has very minor bird experience but thinks she knows it all. I suspect this is a disaster waiting to happen. Having a budgie as a child does not prepare you for a too. Can anyone recommend reading material I can pass onto her and hope she will read it? I've already told her several times she has to raise it right so it can play independently or she will be in for a huge problem. She said she doesn't care if she has to hold the bird every second of it's life. Well, we all know that isn't possible. She is planning to return to her nursing career. I said what are you going to do? Tell the other nurses you can't put in that IV, change sheets, etc, because you have to hold your bird? I don't think you'll have your job for long.

I have to admit, I'm not willing to take the bird if things get out of hand. I'm quite allergic to them. Even my zon has increased my allergies. I can keep him under control with showers every other day or so.

Now that she knows I adopted the zon for free, she is looking. And hasn't done any research.