Welcome home Charlie!

TheSpoiledReckless

New member
Apr 7, 2016
31
0
New England
Parrots
Bonnie-rescued orange-winged Amazon
Darwin-my baby girl, pineapple green cheek conure, also a rescue. RIP Darwin, dearly missed
Kiwi and Damon, the devilish lovebird twins
Charlie-Umbrella Cockatoo,
My baby umbrella cockatoo came home Saturday night and it's been exciting ever since. He is four months old, hatched June 29th and a DNA tested male. Such a little baby and I can already tell he is going to be SO MUCH TROUBLE. He's getting into everything, nothing is left unchewed or untested. He wants so badly to meet his older sister Bonnie, who would rather have nothing to do with him and his big scary crest. Bonnie is in a rage about having a baby brother (new baby syndrome, oh boy). She has quadrupled her already fairly impressive chewing and ripped about anything she can get to. Cardboard coin rolls, alphabet blocks, yucca wood, wooden bird toys, straws, ANYTHING. She spends most of her time running back and forth on her perches like a mad bird and tossing her head wildly while she chucks food out of her bowls. Gone is a simple bird who sat quietly on her perches and chewed her blocks happily throughout the day while she waited to get her next nut treat. I guess she loved her nuts so much she decided to become one, you know what they say, you are what you eat, haha.
Anyways, back to Charlie. He is handfeeding three times a day, eating zupreem baby formula. Turns out, I have absolutely no idea how to handfeed so I messed up pretty bad the first few times. He didn't get to eat his first night home because I botched his feeding so badly I nearly choked him! Thankfully, I stayed up the night researching and by morning I was able to successfully feed him 20mls of formula at the right temperature and everything. At 2 I fed him again and got 25mls in him. By that evening he was back at the full 35mls of formula and I had finally gotten the hang of feeding him. It's been a few days and I pretty much perfected the feeding. I taught my mom and a few friends how to feed him as well in case I couldn't for any reason, my mom feeds him once a day while I'm at work or in class. He is still being offered pellets and fresh foods (He seems to love apple and strawberries, he doesn't quite know how to eat by himself but he moves it around in his mouth and tries really hard). He needs a bigger cage (which I am already saving up for, should have one in a month of two) I thought my green cheek's old cage would work (when I say green cheek cage I don't mean a tiny cage, I bought my green cheek the same cage I have my amazon parrot in, my green cheek could fly around in her cage it was so huge) it turns out that it doesn't. Yes, he could live fairly comfortably in it but he won't because I spoil my birds and he will be receiving the biggest cage possible. Other then that he has soooooo many toys he doesn't know where to start (I have draws and baskets stuffed with toys, as well as every single cage and its playtop and multiple play gyms.)plenty of fresh foods and time out of his cage. He is a massive cuddle-bug and wants to be in someones arms at all times and he laughs hysterically when he gets in trouble.
 

Allee

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2013
16,852
Media
2
212
Texas
Parrots
U2-Poppy(Poppy lives with her new mommy, Misty now) CAG-Jack, YNA, Bingo, Budgie-Piper, Cockatiel-Sweet Pea Quakers-Harry, Sammy, Wilson ***Zeke (quaker) Twinkle (budgie) forever in our hearts
Welcome home, Baby Charlie! U2's are sweet babies. Best of luck with the hand feedings, please be incredibly cautious, it's easy to make dangerous mistakes even after you get the hang of it. Remember to teach your baby U2 to entertain himself, spoiled rotten baby Toos often grow up to be chronic screamers or pluckers. There's nothing wrong with snuggling them but teach them to be okay on their own too.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Ok...WHERES THE PICTURES??!!! :eek: :mad: ;)


welcome home Charlie!


Jim
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
Congratulations to you and Charlie! Hand-feeding is as much art as science and fraught with potential hazards. Please take special care as you continue to hand-feed hem! I would also suggest minimizing the number of people you delegate the feeding as a method of avoiding potential harm.

Cockatoo babies are extraordinarily playful and cuddly, but as Allee suggested it is crucial to teach boundaries and independence. A very difficult line to walk when they are so cute and lovey!!
 

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