Honeymoon's over

We've had Rocky for eight weeks as of last Sunday and he's stopped being on his best behavior. A couple of weeks ago, he decided Hubby is The Enemy and if he's out of his cage and I'm not right there, and sometimes even if I am there, he'll climb down to the floor and march across the living room to confront Hubby. He has already bitten him badly once.

But until yesterday, he was still sweet and affectionate with me. Yesterday, he had to spend a lot of time in his cage because I was at work and Hubby was busy with his elderly dad, who's in the hospital, so Rocky didn't get to get out until I got home. This is not unusual. Hubby is reluctant to handle him now and he often has to wait for me to get home.

Normally, he would want to sit on my lap and we'd go out on the enclosed porch and hang out, which we did. But he displayed several times, and was agitated and tense, and when I stood up to put him back on his cage, he grabbed my wrist (the same place he bit Hubby) and bit down. He didn't bite as hard as he did Hubby, and I said, "Ow, no" and he let go, but it hurt for hours afterward (he didn't break the skin) and it's still kind of sore today. Instead of going ON his cage, I put him IN his cage to settle down. I got him out later and he was still tense but a lot better behaved.

This morning, when I let him out, he immediately started to go for the floor so he could charge Hubby and possibly me. I let him sit on my lap a while, but he was tense again and that made me nervous, which I know he can sense, so he didn't get much Mommy time before I put him in his cage and went to get ready for work. Now I'm feeling kind of reluctant to handle him and worrying that the next time he bites me will be as bad as the bite he gave Hubby.

I know he has a troubled history and we've done immense amounts of research about what to do and NOT to do when handling a 'too so as not to trigger sexual urges or reinforce bad behavior, and we have parrot experience due to the other birds (just not BIG parrot experience). NOW what?

Someone with experience enough to help will come on.

Just wanted to say good luck and hopefully you can get the help to turn it around.

I think the first thing is to resign yourself to the fact you WILL get bit maybe as bad or even worse than he bit your husband. Rehabbing a Too is not for the faint of heart or someone who is afraid of being bitten. Unfortunately cockatoos do not give much warning before you are nailed. If you are fearful he will know this.

Back in the day when I was younger and working for my breeder friend we would tame WILD caughts. In some ways it was easier because they feared humans and had not been taught that biting was an effective way to back off people.

We would wrap them in a towel and some times spend as much as an hour in a small safe room petting and talking to them in a calm soothing manner. This was multiple times per day as well. It takes a lot of time and patience to rehab a Too. It maybe time to consider whether you took on more than you can honestly handle. I say that with NO judgement whatsoever.

I've certainly been chomped more times than I can count by Quakers and tiels and a budgie. Clyde can be as happy as a clam and playing peekaboo one second and suddenly chomp out of nowhere the next second with no warning. But as mangled as they can make me, they can't break bones, and a 'too can. Resigning myself to bites that bruise and bloody me is one thing. Resigning myself to possible broken bones when using my hands is how I make my living is entirely different. I don't want to give up on Rocky, and this is new behavior that I hope I can head off at the pass. I just don't know how.

That is exactly what I meant, there is a real possibility of bone, nerve or tendon damage with a Too. Since I also make a living now with my hands I personally would not want to risk real damage to my right hand but with a Too you would need to be aware and prepared that the very real risk exists. The truth is once a Too reaches sexual maturity even if it has been in the same home it's whole life poses that same risk but even more so when it has been re-homed many times. They are just so sensitive.

Small bird bites hurt and I have had more than my fair share but taking on a angry Too with past issues is way different that smaller birds and certainly not something I would recommend to anyone without loads of big bird experience.

Do you ever raise your voice at her/him and tell them "NO!"?

Tough love might be what works but what necessarily works for one too doesn't work for another too.

The towel thing that Labell mentioned is a good idea. You may get bit the first few times until you get the towel wrapping down but they need to know who is in charge...and it really isn't them.

He's probably at least in his teens if not older, and we suspect he's older than that, so he's not just reaching sexual maturity. We suspect past abuse, but he must have had some good homes along the way, too, based on the things he says. He coos "Hi, Rocky. How are you? I'm all right!" and can be very affectionate and sweet. Someone taught him that sort of thing. He lets me fiddle with his pinfeathers and doesn't mind having his feet or beak touched. He preened my hair yesterday morning, which he'd never done before.

I wish I had some encouraging words, but have never worked with a volatile Too.

His feathers were in appalling condition when he came to us and many still are. The junk they were feeding him was some nasty stuff that I wouldn't give to the wild birds (who eat as well as my kept birds do!). I got him switched over to pellets and nutritious treats with no trouble at all. He was aching for something proper to eat. His feathers look much better and he's doing some serious molting and that could be what's making him edgy with me. He was much better today and got more out of cage time. He has numerous toys and can entertain himself if he chooses to, but some days he just doesn't choose to. This evening, for example, he had a long one on one session with me, then I put him on top of his cage (with even more toys!) and tried to go in another room and he screamed. I stuck my head back in to assure him I was close by and he stopped, I went back to the other room and he screamed until I came back. I have five other parrots and a pigeon and a starling and each is demanding in his or her own way. I knew a big parrot would be that much more demanding. But, I couldn't leave him where he was. Those people had no business with a parrot, much less one as intelligent and emotional as a 'too.