Siobhan
New member
My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted balloons, so I went to the party supply shop and got a Star Wars and a Batman balloon. Rocky screamed and screamed and screamed and would not stop until I put them in another room out of his sight.
Yesterday, Hubby, who works construction, brought home a giant cardboard tube (I'm talking 10 feet long) because Rocky loves to destroy cardboard and gets all the boxes to chew up. But this tube terrified him and he freaked out, and Hubby laid it down on the floor. This morning, Rocky screamed and screamed until I took the tube outdoors out of his sight.
I've often heard from parrot "experts" that you have to learn to look at things through your parrot's eyes. What is a harmless balloon to me is a terrifying monster to Rocky. Of course, cockatoos scream sometimes just to hear their heads rattle, or to make you come and play with them, or because it's Tuesday, but I've found with Rocky lately that if I start looking around to discover something that might be scary or out of place or new, that is often the source of the scream. If I move/fix/change the thing that's disturbing him, he might well quiet down and go back to chewing up his toys.
Yesterday, Hubby, who works construction, brought home a giant cardboard tube (I'm talking 10 feet long) because Rocky loves to destroy cardboard and gets all the boxes to chew up. But this tube terrified him and he freaked out, and Hubby laid it down on the floor. This morning, Rocky screamed and screamed until I took the tube outdoors out of his sight.
I've often heard from parrot "experts" that you have to learn to look at things through your parrot's eyes. What is a harmless balloon to me is a terrifying monster to Rocky. Of course, cockatoos scream sometimes just to hear their heads rattle, or to make you come and play with them, or because it's Tuesday, but I've found with Rocky lately that if I start looking around to discover something that might be scary or out of place or new, that is often the source of the scream. If I move/fix/change the thing that's disturbing him, he might well quiet down and go back to chewing up his toys.