Help my goffin acts scared of me!

Hi y'all I'm a birdy mom of an umbrella and a goffin too for the past year . I handfed both of them . I also have three teenage sons . Over Christmas break one of my sons came in the house with his hood on and scared my goffin by accident . Since then my goffin is terrified of him . Out of the blue this week my goffin started acting like he is scared of me as well ! I'm heartbroken over this because Simba is my baby ! He will let me pet his head but as soon as I put my hand in to let him step up he goes nuts . If I can let him out of the cage he starts out loving me then acts like he no longer knows me and runs away from me ! He will be 1 next month so he is still a baby . Any advice would be greatly appreciated .

Wow...
Sorry to hear that.
I can only imagine that it's gonna be a long, slow, steady trip back into Simba's good graces. They're so smart and sensitive and what lonnnnng memories they have.
I guess you'll just have to keep at it, be patient, do whatever it takes for as log as it takes.
Maybe others will have more ideas.

So sorry you are having trouble with your Goffin. Like Gail mentioned above, Cockatoos are incredibly intelligent and have great memory. I'm hoping Scott will comment on this, as he has a great big flock of Goffins and lots of experience with them

What I see here is, your cockatoo got spooked by a very scary thing and now is acting more timid/wary than usual. He has clearly not forgotten the incident, and doesn't feel quite comfortable yet. Cockatoos are kind of neurotic in this way, and very reactive to change. So what you'll need to do now is to backtrack a little on your trust bond to get him comfortable again with hi surroundings and with you and your son.

Keep up with the head scratching, but do not offer to have him step up. Offer a treat after the head scratching, instead. Be patient and work at his pace, so that he can overcome his fear and anxiety. Do not pressure him to do anything he doesn't want to. Let him come out of his cage on his own, or if he lets you, take him out and place him on a stand for him to stay for a while. Offer more treats when he is calm and always be positive with your interactions. This will take some time, but eventually your Goffin should come around again.

I can appreciate how despondent you are with Simba's change. Goffins are amazingly loving and entertaining birds. The bond of hand-feeding him has likely NOT been broken, but he is feeling unsettled and uncertain. He may also be going through bird puberty, so what you observe may be an unfortunately timed series of events.

You may have to begin from square-one to regain total trust, assuming Simba is a typical Goffins. The techniques shared by "itzjbean" and "GaleriaGila" will prove helpful. Please don't lose interest or confidence because behind all of that bluster is the same sweet Simba. As mentioned, his age suggests hormonal changes that simply must run the course. As for your son, Simba probably recognizes him with and without the hoodie! Once his behavior mellows they will likely get along as before. I'll also leave some links you may find helpful. Please keep us updated!!

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/17694-owning-cockatoo.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/3100-bond-forming.html

(I realize some of the above threads will seem a bit elementary, but sift through them to get some great advice!)

Thank y'all so much .... I have been so upset . Since I first wrote this Simba did come out and was being loving but as soon as my son walked in he went nuts and broke another feather after thrashing around . Since then Simba will cry to me but when I go to his cage he acts totally scared . The only way I could get him back in his cage was to put a small , soft towel over him and put him in . I'm going to keep talking to him and trying . Hopefully things will get better . Thank y'all again

IMHO Toweling him is not going to help anything, but then I an not a Too owner.

Well I let my other birds out this am and opened simba' door and he walked out and went on top of his cage . But if I go near him he goes nuts . I talk to him and he cries for me but as soon as I touch him he starts thrashing around . He followed me into my room and stayed about three feet away from me and at one point he jumped on my shoulder then remembered he was scared of and freaked out . I finally had to get a towel and used it to get him back in his cage .