Adopted a C2

Hi everyone! I recently adopted a 13-year-old Citron Cockatoo from a pretty sad situation. This bird had been basically left in a cage in a room with little interaction and no out-of-cage time for at least the 2 years that his most recent owner had him. I don't know his history before that.

I have experience with birds, having 2 macaws (who mostly are my husbands birds, but they like me too) and also being mom to a C2 for 14 years who I had from a baby. She was the sweetest thing and she grew up happy and healthy. She passed away last year, we don't know exactly why but the vet said it may have been her heart. My heart was broken when she passed, but recently I've been wanting to open my heart and home to another bird.

The bird I adopted (rescued...) is very sweet, but he is cage-bound, and seems to be a bit of an attention screamer. I can't blame him, given his past. But the problem is, I've never had to undo someone elses mistakes, and though I've read all about it, I was wondering if someone here had some first hand experience. I certainly don't want to make things worse by doing the wrong thing.

So here's the situation. 2 years in a cage, seed diet, cookies for treats (or to quiet him). He'll let me reach my hand in to pet him but will not step up. (Does not know the command). He seems to really like me, and after only 2 days with us he will now scream if I leave the room. He doesn't like my husband at all and will hiss at him. He looks to have plucked the feathers off his legs, but nowhere else.

What I've done so far: I gave him fresh veggies, and added pellets to the cage in a separate bowl to get him used to it. I misted him with a spray bottle (he hadn't had a bath in months) and he seemed to like it. His feathers look much better. I sit in the room with him, with his cage door open, and encourage him to come out. He hasn't yet. Every so often I will reach in and pet him. I cover him with a dark sheet at night which he doesn't seem to mind.

I'm just wondering if there's anything else I should be doing or not doing to help this poor guy adjust? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Jane (and Jax the C2)

Welcome

congrats for adopting

Thanks for changing a birds live foreverSounds like you are doing a fine job so far, keep it up

Jax climbed out onto his cage yesterday, and I was so excited! ...until I found out that once up there he became VERY aggressive! Lunging, hissing, trying to bite. I had to talk calmly to him and wait until he went back in on his own to shut the door.

He's also taken to screaming whenever I am not actively talking to him. The previous owner assured me that he didn't scream much, unless he could hear her son in the other room. She also said he was friendly and liked to be out of his cage and petted. Unfortunately none of those are turning out to be true.

...I'm worried that I've taken on more than I know how to handle. But I'm not giving up! :31:

Congrats to you, I am so glad you were able to help this guy. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Im sorry that he has become cage aggressive but it hasnt been long, just try to be sure not to reinforce the screaming by responding to it or giving him treats when he does it. Sounds like the other owner trained him to scream by giving him a cookie when he did it. He can be taught different behaviors with a lot of dedication, patience and love. Good luck tp you

PS- Look at past topics on the forum, there is alot of help on these subjects

Well, he's taken to attacking me once he's out of his cage, and once actually flew over and bit me on the arm! But I'm still not giving up, I still think this guy can be helped. At this point I'm just giving him his space and spending all the time I can just sitting across the room doing my own thing and talking gently to him while I go about my business. I hope he sees that I'm not a threat. He seems to be less afraid of my husband than he is of me; it could be because his first owner was a man who had him for 11 years, and the last 2 years of captivity and neglect has been at the hands of a woman.

I mean, if I'd only been thinking of how much work and time this could take, I'd have walked out as soon as I saw him. But once I walked into the room they had this poor guy in, I couldn't get him out of there fast enough! It was all I could do not to take the Peach-Front Conure and the Sun Conure (which she was planning to keep) with me!

The room couldn't even be called a bedroom it was so small. One tiny window that was so high up that none of the birds could see out. The cage he was in was covered with 'Too dust, as were the 2 toys (plastic...no wood) that were hanging in there. There was junk everywhere in the room. Hardly a place to stand, let alone sit, so I know that nobody was spending any time in there at all.

If I thought his cage was bad, the conures had it worse! There cages were way too small. About 3 feet long and only about 2 feet high. Looked more like a damn rabbit cage than a cage for a bird! Both were so filthy that you could hardly pull out the tray. (Funny that the C2's cage tray was clean....I know she must've cleaned it right before I got there...)

Anyway, this guy needed me, and I guess if he never warms up to me enough to let me pet him, as long as he's in a clean place, with lots of toys (went shopping as soon as we got him home, lol) and can have out of cage time for a few hours a day, then he's MILES ahead of where he came from. That's all I can hope for. Anything else is a bonus!

Hi, I can relate to everything you're saying. It sounds very much like what I was facing with my Lesser just a couple of months ago. Seems to me you've got the right instincts, and the patience - you'll need a lot of that.

What helped me most was realising that everything Gwynn did was out of fear. Figuring out what scared him was harder - for instance, knowing he was afraid of sticks didn't alert me that he would think a spoon was a stick. He used to fly at my head when scared but now he's getting used to the idea that bad things don't happen when he's upset, so he'll swoop around me then put himself back in his cage. In fact he'll just take himself home if he feels too unsettled and then I praise and and treat him. The cage is his safe place and being out is full of uncertainty. I'm guessing most of his bad experiences have been when out of his cage. He still spends more time in than out but at the moment it's better for him to have a short but happy time out two or three times a day.

Getting him to go back in his cage wasn't too hard once I gave it some thought. (The first time out was great, the second was a disaster so I had to figure out what was wrong.) I loaded up the cage with food and foraging before letting him out. He soon wanted to go back in to investigate all the lovely things in there, giving me the chance to praise him up and give him an almond. He only gets a piece of almond for going home, no other time. It didn't take long for him to react to me saying 'Is it time to go home for your nut?' by taking himself in.

I would say keep doing what you're doing. Be quiet and calm and undemanding. It's taken him a long time to get into this state and it will take him a long while to come out of it. I have to keep reminding myself I've only had mine for two months and not to expect too much - but the difference already is wonderful. Please let us know how you get on.

Yesterday, I opened his door and said "Hello there, Jax!" and he actually put his head up against the cage bars for a scratch. YAY! I left the door open, went and got him his treat, and put one in his bowl. Then, I held another out to him...waiting patiently...and he took it from my hand. YAY again! He was not interested in coming out of the cage at all, but seemed very content and calm inside.

I decided to try an experiment. Jax hadn't met either of our Macaws yet, as they are in the family room and out of sight. He can hear them, but hasn't seen one. So...I went and got my Blue & gold, Rio. Walked in the room with him, gently sat down on the couch across the room with Rio on my lap and began petting and talking very gently to him, while ignoring Jax. My husband kept an eye on Jax, and told me he was VERY interested in what I was doing, and didn't take his eyes off me. He didn't seem agitated at all, so Rio and I had a nice conversation and "cuddle session" for about 10 minutes. After that, my husband took him back to his room.

I wonder, if I do that every day, maybe Jax will begin to 1) realize that I'm nice and gentle with my bird friends, and 2) possibly want to be included? I'll let you know how it works!

That's great! Jax asking to be petted is a huge step forward. I remember the first time it happened with Gwynn and feeling a connection with him. I knew then we were going to be alright.

Gwynn shares the room with my jackdaw so he sees her relaxing with me so yes, that probably helped him. She's too vulnerable to be out at the same time as Gwynn so they have to take turns with me. I'm sure Jax will want to be friends with you, they need it so much.