Possible new rescue

We have a small bird rescue in Utah. We have been contacted about taking in an umbrella cockatoo. He is coming from an overwhelmed rescue. He was being kept in a car paint shop prior to being rescued. He doing well health wise. According to his care takers he has no bad habits. My only concern is we have never dealt personally with cockatoos. We have a room we could devote to him with large windows and cargo nets. We currently have two play rooms for the birds. I just know cockatoos require a lot of attention. We have 2 Amazon Parrots, 1 of which has been very ill, nothing contagious. Max is doing very well right now. I just don't want to take in the cockatoo, his name is Peaches and not be able to give him all he needs. He would be our 9th parrot; 2 Amazons, 1 Sun Conure, 2 pineapple conures, 1 green cheek and 2 lovebird. Do I sound like a wimp? In my heart I want to take him. I just need to hear from someone who has cockatoos. Peaches is 29 yrs old.

Would he be taken in for keeps? Or just till you rehome?. Noodles will tell you they are Alot!!! They ate not for everyone!!!

Usually when you are in doubt, you already know ...


Ideally speaking: never go for a bird when you haven't a huge YESSSSS in neonletters hanging over your head and lighting your life.


Toos are the clingy-est of clingy birds, the dust is unbelievable as well, and you have to find a way to keep that bird out of the other birds food because it is too rich for them ... are you ready for that?


(I do not have a too, so I am disqualified - the only reason I do not have one is because I keep saying no/ I am not an official birdrescue or even very active in the birdcommunity- but there is one 'for keeps' too on offer to me personally every 2 or 3 years and it breaks my heart every time.)

What do you need to know? You're right that they're needy. They want all of you all the time. They scream at a volume that will make your ears bleed. About the time you're ready to kill them, they snuggle up and say "Ah wuv ooo." They're clingy. They're cuddly. They destroy everything they can get their beaks on. They can bite hard enough to maim, but can preen you so gently you hardly feel it.

I have one.... It is WAY harder than caring for 2 toddlers with autism (and I work with kids with autism etc, so I can make the comparison--no offense intended, I just often notice similarities between birds and the kids I work with). Cockatoos require INSANE amounts of stimulation/ interaction...and they are very very very easily upset/prone to plucking/mutilation (if you are the best parront ever, your bird may not agree and tear a hole in its chest)..Mytoos.com is not wrong about what they say.. I love mine, and my U2 is well-behaved (2 vets said "most well-adjusted" they have ever seen..My life revolves around her out of necessity and it is EXHAUSTING. My mom had her for 4 days (a bird person) and she said she doesn't know how I do it daily ("4 days was my absolute max with her."----mom's quote)...Again, my bird is well-behaved and she STILL beats every bird I have ever met at obnoxiousness/clingyness (and she is a mild case).
That is just ONE bird...9 is a lot...and they aren't cheap...I LOVE her more than anything, but if I could do it again, I probably wouldn't (assuming I knew all that I know now without any of the attachment etc). It is impossible to know what it feels like to be so obsessed with an animal that basically controls your every move. I couldn't ever part with mine (having lived with her), but I wouldn't get one again. I would probably opt for a more independent bird....who knows....

Thankfully, this one (Noodles) will be more than enough for one lifetime LOL. I am in it for the long-haul, but FOREVER is what you are potentially looking at here...some live past 80. Research can only get you so far with cockatoos because people are still inclined to assume that people are exaggerating or that it can't be THAT hard, but again I say to you, as a person who works with kids with EXTREME emotional/behavioral issues, my bird is a much bigger challenge...UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED WITH OTHER BIRDS.


There is a reason that they are THE most rehomed bird.....all parrots are challenging, but these beat the others for a reason---the BEST parront can only barely meet their needs, and that is assuming the bird comes first in everything you do...So imagine doing your very best and imagine what it feels like to know that that is basically still a C- in the bird needs gradebook. I CANNOT imagine life without mine, but I constantly feel stressed/guilty because it is impossible to own a cockatoo and give them all that they need (these birds just aren't well-suited for captivity). I think I do a decent job, but it takes it out of me, and even then, it is barely a passing grade when you consider what these birds were meant to do/how they were meant to live....and even the wild ones are pretty crazy/mischievous lol! I would like to add, that according to others, I am doing a good job...I just know my bird, and I know that (while she is semi-content), she isn't as happy as she would be in the wild....

All that being said, I love my 'too madly. They steal a piece of your heart like no other critter does. If you can handle the noise, the destruction, the neediness, the dust, the demands, there's nothing like a 'too.

Yes it would be for keeps. My heart tells me yes,I would drive down and get him tomorrow if it were up to my heart.

I have a room I could devote to him so not worried about the powder. I have raised 6 kids, 4 which were boys and I have 8 grandbabies. Having parrots is like cleaning up after a party you weren't invited to everyday just like kids. My hubby and I also took in foster children for 10 years until we adopted our youngest son who was born to a meth addicted mom. He has fetal alcohol syndrome, bipolar and severe ADHD. Special " kids" don't scare me. Perhaps that is my problem. I also worked in the gang community for 10 years and until recently was a rape crisis worker. I guess I was basically looking for someone to tell me I am crazy because I can't tell anymore. My heart breaks for these poor babies and I want to help them all.

Your description of extreme is my mild...Not in reality, but compared to what I meant when I referenced "extreme" students---I am talking EXTREME.......walls don't stand for more than a day when referring to the group in question.

I say this lovingly, because what you described was my (previous) life as a cross-cat teacher (ALL OF MY STUDENTS--no fewer than 10 at a time)--The govt. paid me to make it 5 years-----IN THE SAME SCHOOL...again, that was easier than a cockatoo in many respects...because you couldn't blame yourself if BIG things went wrong (among other reasons)....and you have no paperwork lol! I now teach kids with "EXTREME" behaviors, as opposed to before...privately run and strict application requirements..as in, kids who can't do public special education= my life now.

Now, take what you think is extreme, multiply it by 5-10 and eliminate your life ....
Most people understand words and don't freak out when a picture is moved. Just saying...
Love my bird to death, but you have been warned..It is impossible to articulate the level of this commitment..Again, I AM YOU!!! LOL
You have 8 other babies, and your cockatoo won't care.

Your son is not a cockatoo...He was challenging, as was the situation, but he is not what I was describing when I said "extreme". I am talking about kids who are....cliche extreme... and my bird takes the cake.


I get it....I did it....I adopted one for the same reasons...THEY ARE AMAZING ANIMALS, but I hope you have a VERYYYYYY strong marriage and a ton of money....and I hope your other birds are okay with being potentially bullied.


I sound like an ass. I know...I don't mean to, but I feel like you are standing on a ledge and I NEED to pull you back lol...
I LOVE MY BIRD BEYOND WORDS...but it is like being a prisoner to your choices. At this point, I wouldn't change it, but that is because I refuse to be my bird's 4th home...That having been said, I had hoped to have a life....lol(ish)


Again...lots of people get by, but it is still really hard to ignore the fact the we (As people) fall short...Anyone who claims that this can be done well is simply ignoring the fact that their bird is, basically, not as happy as it could be...


It won't just be the 2 of you....and your must also consider your own age.


I also am not saying my bird is malicious...she just wasn't meant to be caged. She is doing "well" according to anyone you ask (especially compared to mytoos.com) but I am sensitive, and I know that she could be happier...just not with humans..I am not saying she is bad and I am not saying people shouldn't own birds, but cockatoos are their own unique brand of "high-maintenance".

Sorry to bump an old thread, I was scrolling down and now I’m curious to know if you rescued Peaches.

I am a brand new member so my opinion isn’t the most reliable, but I just want to say that some cockatoos aren’t clingy nor loud. I don’t know the details of Bianca’s past but when I first came here, she sat quietly in her cage 100% of the time. She probably appreciated the quietude at first, after having been abused, and later gave up on receiving any meaningful attention from the current owner (meaning the person I’m adopting her from) so as a result she’s a very “nonchalant” bird. Now that I give her attention she sometimes gets vocal (won’t scream though), but if I am not around to pull her out of her cage she just sits or plays independently.

If you rescued Peaches, I hope you have the best time together


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Surprised he doesn't have brain damage from fumes. We had an educational raptor who was hatched in a similar place and she was quite stunted mentally because of it.

For me I could get use to the screaming, and it sounds like to me that you are a good choice for the following reasons
1. Your work with damaged humans and communities makes you uniquely qualified because of your experience,,,,raising a meth addicted baby is your resume
2. You have reservations on your qualification and that keeps your mind open to learning what the bird will emotionally need on a specific level
3. As a combat army vet my FIDS keep me on track with my PTSD I suspect your special needs child can also benefit just because of your experience with handling both species souls, meaning human and bird
What a special and qualified person you are,,,
The opportunity the universe or god or however people 4xpla9n their spirit, you find yourself here OPPORTUNITY
Good luck

sunshine.within said:

Sorry to bump an old thread, I was scrolling down and now I’m curious to know if you rescued Peaches.

I am a brand new member so my opinion isn’t the most reliable, but I just want to say that some cockatoos aren’t clingy nor loud. I don’t know the details of Bianca’s past but when I first came here, she sat quietly in her cage 100% of the time. She probably appreciated the quietude at first, after having been abused, and later gave up on receiving any meaningful attention from the current owner (meaning the person I’m adopting her from) so as a result she’s a very “nonchalant” bird. Now that I give her attention she sometimes gets vocal (won’t scream though), but if I am not around to pull her out of her cage she just sits or plays independently.

If you rescued Peaches, I hope you have the best time together


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The honeymoon phase can last for a few months. Your bird may have interesting quirks that you do not know about yet lol. ESPECIALLY because she came from an abuse/neglect situation in which attention was not the norm (your bird is probably just figuring out that she might want people around, and when she really figures it out, you will be the first to know haha). A well-adjusted cockatoo still wants to be with its flock (and as a rule, they will push this as far as they can). The indifference that you have seen is likely a response to past treatment- I am almost certain that it will change...not to the point of all-day-screaming (which also indicates unhappiness), but I am sure you will hear her more in the future. They are naturally loud..and whether or not the noise is frequent, when it happens, it is like an air-horn on crack.

That having been said, my cockatoo is fairly "quiet" compared to many, but that comes at a price (lots and lots and lots of enrichment, routines, training etc--she is not even remotely an after-thought and that is hard when you have other things, like multiple birds or kids etc). Even though mine isn't usually super loud, the capacity is there and with a lot of other birds, the tendency for vocalization would be higher. She usually screams briefly in the morning and at night, but the stress comes from all that it takes to keep her truly happy/stimulated (without over-indulging). As much as I feel for Peaches, and as much as I love my bird, I maintain that cockatoos are like emotional vacuums and yes, mine makes me happy, but she sucks up a lot of energy too. I can't imagine having 9 birds, plus her, plus a job or grand-kids or children etc.

I don't know if this OP decided to adopt the U2 or not, but either way I hope he found a loving, responsible home...It's sounds like he's in good health overall, and was apparently well cared for in his prior home (at 29 years old who knows how many homes he's already had, it may have been just the one, or it may have been 20). I too was both surprised and horrified that this U2 was living in an Automotive Paint Shop and is still in good health, or even alive for that matter...His prior owner must have kept him completely separate from any area that was exposed to the fumes; anyone who has ever spent any time in a Body Shop knows that you're not only dealing with paint fumes, but also fumes from all the different fillers and epoxies that they use (Bondo, fiberglass resin, etc.), as well as from paint thinners, turpentine, mineral spirits, etc. We're talking extremely lethal fumes for birds, so it's quite obvious that his prior owners knew what they were doing and kept him in a safe area that had to have been totally separate and away from the actual "shop". So that's good.

I don't know if the OP currently has this U2, but if not, or if you're still thinking about it, or for the future, as someone who interacts with all kinds of Cockatoos on a regular basis at an Avian Rescue but who owns only small parrots herself, and who also grew-up with a Congo African Gray, I can tell you with assurance that dealing with any species of Cockatoo is an entirely different experience than having ANY OTHER SPECIES of parrot in your home, and that includes African Grays, Macaws, Amazons, and any other species of large parrot. Cockatoos are probably the most overall-intelligent parrots, they have every bit the intelligence of a 5 year-old child...

However, the difference that I've noticed with every single Umbrella and Moluccan Cockatoo that I've ever spent time with on a long-term basis at the Rescue (and in a few cases actually formed a bond with, as most Cockatoos spend a longer amount of time at the Rescue than other species) is that the Umbrellas and the Moluccans actually perceive things on a higher-level than other species do. It's like they can actually understand what is "going on" in a situation without actually seeing it or hearing someone talking about it, just like we as humans can perceive things...They are more emotionally, psychologically, and mentally similar to human beings than any other type of animal/bird that I've ever had contact with, to the point that sometimes it can be a bit weird, if not frightening, lol...I would think that the same would go for keeping any type of primate as a pet, such as a Capuchin Monkey, Spider Monkey, a Marmoset, a Lemur, etc. I actually had a professor in graduate school who had a pet Ringtail Lemur that he often brought with him to work. He had a large enclosure in his office/lab where he kept him, but usually he was on a harness/leash and on his shoulder. That Lemur was very much the same way as the U2's and the M2's are, he could understand not only the words that were being said, but also the context of the words and the underlying situation that was going on.

So I guess the best way to sum-up what it's like keeping an Umbrella or Moluccan Cockatoo (as well as other Cockatoo species), or most species of Primates, is that it's pretty much like having a 4-5 year-old child in your family, your home, and your life for decades and decades. The only difference between bringing home a baby Umbrella Cockatoo and bringing home a human baby is that the human baby is going to grow-up and eventually be able to take care of itself, and move-out, and not rely upon you anymore. In the case of an Umbrella or Moluccan Cockatoo they simply never grow-up, and really are like having a perpetual 5 year-old child for the rest of your life that you are totally responsible for. And at only 29 years-old, this particular U2 has a long life ahead of it, and this is why there are so many of them in-need of homes, people just don't understand what they are getting themselves into.

That all being said, you're an experienced parrot-owner, so you're not the typical new bird owner who decides it's a good idea to adopt an Umbrella or Moluccan Cockatoo as their very first bird, when they've never even owned a Canary or a Finch, lol...The main issue that I see in the larger Cockatoos that are surrendered to the Rescue that makes their cases so heartbreaking is that they have a very, very difficult time getting over the loss of their "person", more so than most other species of parrots; while all parrots are very intelligent and form very close bonds to their people, and they all take it very hard when they lose their person, the large Cockatoos suffer this loss in the way we as people feel the loss of a loved one; this is one of the main reason that so many of the larger Cockatoos in Rescues/Shelters and that are re-homed to a new person suffer from Feather-Destructive Behavior and self-mutilate...

***As long as you are an experienced parrot owner and you not only understand the personalized care that an Umbrella Cockatoo is going to require, including their dietary needs and their regular medical/health care, but you also understand the daily amount of direct interaction, mental stimulation, and just plain love that these guys require, and you're ready, willing, and able to provide them all of this for the rest of your life, then I say go for it! Your home is the type of home that these guys need to be in...

AND, 5 year olds can't bite and fly like a cockatoo. Taking typical kid out of the house is easy (aside from behavior)--but on top of that, cockatoos have to be harness trained...Additionally, they can't use verbal communication as well as a child. Finally, upset kids don't often self-mutilate until they are much older...cockatoos do, and it doesn't help that changes upset them more than a typical child + everything can kill them (a scented candle won't hurt a child's lungs significantly). Finally, people (as a rule) are not truly TERRIFIED of kids. The same cannot be said for Toos. Not to mention the dust/allergens and noise capacity..

just thinking out loud here and wondering:

Well...if the male cockatoos-in-heat were not such murderous, mate-mutilating bastards to the females I would say "pair them up and let them live happily ever after", but that's is only not an option ... getting 2 males together for company like you can with african greys is also not an option because... well the hormones will still kick in and they will kick each others "behinds" or worse.

That makes me wonder about the girls though...
can you pair those up? As bachelor companions I mean.

(I seriously want to know if this is an option - because if you can keep the girls happy with each others company, it would at least solve about half the problems around the rehoming them, right?)

I know a lot of people who would love to have them around in pairs or more, if things would remain peacefull or at least without bloodshed etc. - just because toos are cuddly to a fault they are also gorgeous just to look at so there can be a second/third/etc. future there.

The humans and birds both get what they want- the best of both worlds.


am I being too optimistic ?
(pun not intended btw)

Never had the nerve to buy a second one lol! It is possible, but somehow I think this would be a more well-known solution to the cockatoo "problem" if it worked. Don't know though.

I've often shared my belief that multiple cockatoos housed together makes for an ideal situation. Plenty of caveats... they all must be tame and compatible. This gives them plenty of interaction with their parronts and own kind.

That said, I've never lived with a U2, quite different from Goffins or Citrons. My late M2 was incredibly sweet and never outwardly neurotic.

I have always wanted a cockatoo, but never had the time until I retired. Upon retirement, I inquired with my local sanctuary and ALL 6 of their Cockatoos were self mutilating except one Lesser Sulpher Crested and she was just crazy neurotic! Then I started watching Mr. Max TV about a man and his U2. It quickly became clear to me everything that Noodles has elaborated on for us. I thought at the time that his bird was very like an autistic child. That man obviously loves his bird, but obviously has no life apart from that bird. And obviously the bird has destroyed a large part of his house, i.e., all woodwork, moldings, furniture, etc. I want to thank Noodles for the cockatoo education she's given us and am sure every word is true. If I was young with no children, no husband, and could spend all day with a bird, I would rescue a cockatoo that needed a home. Not one that was self-mutilating though. I've learned that lesson from my friend with her poor CAG. Birdie is so simple really compared to the large parrots. I am so happy I have the Birdie Brain!

When talking about "Max", the M2, there is a backstory that not a lot of people know, and so you can't know what Dan has gone through or why, or what he was willing to give-up for Max...That situation is the best example of a selfless person who loves a bird that he never ever wanted or had any thought of bringing home...

Quickly as I can tell the story of Mr. Max: Dan had a friend who decided he wanted a Cockatoo back around 2006 I believe; he had no bird experience at all. He got on Craigslist and found Max, the M2, up in Maine, who was I believe 3 years old, and who's original owner was an elderly man who had gotten Max as a little baby, and who had passed-away suddenly. So Max was taken and cared for by a relative until they could re-home him...So this friend of Dan's, who had no bird experience at all, drove from Pennsylvania to Maine and adopted Max; however, he did this only 2 weeks before he was leaving to go to North Carolina for 6 months to work a construction job. So he had Max for 2 weeks, no bonding occurred at all obviously, and then he asked Dan if he would be willing to watch Max for the 6 months he was gone. Dan said yes, and he moved Max into his house...

Unlike his friend, Dan did tons and tons of research, went and spoke to Avian Vets, etc. He changed Max's diet, bought him a new huge cage, and basically over the 6 months he and Max bonded very closely, and Max was happier than he'd ever been...Well then Dan's friend came back home after 6 months and immediately came and picked Max up, not having any idea about Cockatoos and how they bond to people...Dan was crushed, but it was his friend's bird...Well it ended up that Dan had to go to his friend's house every single day, for hours each day, just to calm Max down, as he was screaming 24/7, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, couldn't be handled by the friend, and was only non-neurotic and just out of his mind when Dan was there...So what does this friend do after a couple of weeks? He puts Max up for sale on Craigslist...that's what kind of person this guy is...So Dan begs him to just give Max to him since Max was bonded with him, he said no, and Dan ended up paying his friend a ton of money and giving him a bunch of possessions for Max...And when Dan got Max back, his huge, steel cage was completely dented and broken from this guy throwing things at it and beating it with things while Max was inside of it, because Max wouldn't stop crying and screaming...So yes, Dan has definitely devoted his life to Max, and happily did.

Like I said, it's like having a perpetual 5 year-old to care for, and that's exactly what Dan has, but they love each other, and thank God for Dan, because otherwise Max would be just another Cockatoo lost in the world...

****HOWEVER, TO THE OP: You would be very wise to go onto YouTube and search for "Mr. Max the Cocktoo", go to his YouTube page, and start at the beginning...I think his owner, Dan, has done a couple of "Question and Answer" videos that are like 20-30 minutes long, and I highly suggest that you watch all of them, where Dan answers all of the questions written-in by viewers, because Dan answers them all extremely honestly, and you'll see how much of Dan's life is devoted to Max..which is pretty much all of it besides his 9-5 work days Monday-Friday, and Dan even comes home from work for lunch every day for an hour so that he can let Max out of his cage and eat lunch with him....other than work and the occasional concert with a friend where he has to have an experienced babysitter, Dan is with Max...He used to love to go to concerts all the time, and since adopting Max circa 2007, Dan has only gone out once or twice, where he had to have his parents come to his house to babysit Max for the few hours he was gone. He states he hasn't been on a vacation since he got Max, he hasn't gone out on even one date since he got Max, and he ended up selling a very nice lake-house that he lived in when he first got Max, and moved into an older house in the country, where Max has his own bedroom/playroom...BTW, that's the room that you see in the videos that is really messed-up, with the woodwork chewed and that always has stuff all over the place, that's Max's room...Yes, Max has his own room, with just as many toys, books, etc. as any young human child would have. If you walked into Dan's house, you would immediately think he had a young child. That's the level of commitment it takes to own a large Cockatoo...But, what you'll also notice immediately, is that Max is the most gorgeous, healthiest Moluccan Cockatoo you've ever seen in your life, not a bit of plucking ever, he's well-socialized, he eats all of his meals with Dan, they are a family, and that bird is probably the healthiest M2 you'll ever see, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically...So I highly suggest you take a look at Max's channel, because you'll get a good idea of what these large Cockatoos are like, and more importantly what it takes to raise one and keep them happy and healthy...Also, Max became almost fatally ill once, he chewed on the electrical cord to a space heater for just a minute, and he ingested a tiny piece of the copper wire inside of the insulated cord...Dan had to take Max to 3 different Vets throughout central PA before he found an Avian Vet who knew how to properly do a Chelation Therapy, and even after that the wire hadn't broken down completely, and Max nearly died, and it seemed like Dan was trying to prepare himself for losing Max...It was terrible...Somehow, with the help of that third Avian Vet, Max pulled-through, but I can't even imagine the amount of money that Dan spent saving Max, we're talking thousands and thousands of dollars, and a good 3-4 months of his life...

And to anyone who thinks that Dan is "obsessed" or "overdoing it" with the way he cares for Max and the amount of his life he dedicates to Max, just ask yourself how many large Cockatoos you've seen that are pluckers, self-mutilators, who scream all day long, every day, who have horrible neurotic behavior, etc. For me, when I think about that, it's almost ALL of them (I work at an Avian Rescue, for 8 years now, and now that I think about it, I don't think we've EVER had an U2 or an M2 that was surrendered to the Rescue or that we have picked-up from somewhere else that wasn't at least plucked, usually they are much worse than just being plucked)...So the question that we need to ask ourselves when we think about how Dan cares for Max and how much of his life he gives to Max, which is pretty much all of it, should be "Is this what is required, or at least close to what is required to keep a large Cockatoo who is the only Cockatoo in the house, happy and healthy, and from developing psychological and behavioral issues?". I've heard many people say nasty, mean, hateful things about Dan and right to Dan's face about how attached he is to Max, and how much of his life he's given-up for Max...My first comment is always "Why do you care, it's not your life", but some people just have to be mean and say what they're thinking because they just do I guess...But these people are actually giving Dan a bunch of crap ] BECAUSE he takes excellent care of his Cockatoo! If Max was a young, human child that Dan adopted, then of course no one would say anything negative about the situation, and Dan would be "Father of the Year"...But because Dan did the research about large Cockatoos, because he understood going into the situation prior to adopting Max that these birds are very much perpetual 5 year-old's who live longer than most people do, and because Dan knew that he was going to have to sacrifice much of his time/life if he wanted to give Max a happy, healthy life, and because Dan decided that this was what he was not only what he was willing to do but also what he WANTED TO DO, people actually harass him and tell him that he needs to "cut the cord" and "get a girlfriend", etc...But on the flip-side of this discussion, the majority of large Cockatoo owners have birds with physical, psychological, and neurological issues because they ARE JUST LIKE 5 YEAR-OLD CHILDREN...

***Just to add something...maybe I understand because I am 38 now, I knew that I could never physically have any children from the age of 16, and because I've always had a deep love of animals that is just as strong as any love I've ever had for other people (mostly because animals aren't purposely abusive, mean, nasty, rude etc. just because they can be, if you treat them well and give them love, they simply give it right back)...So when I think about Dan's life with Max, I think about my own life with my birds. I don't have a Cockatoo, but honestly if I didn't work horribly long hours, I probably would...Hindsight is 20/20, but if I could go back and do some things over, I probably would have found a reputable M2 or U2 breeder and brought home a just-weaned baby back when I first graduated from college/grad school and started my adult life. Anyone who has human children should be able to understand (they should be, I understand all too well that some don't) that the bond that you have with your children is different than any other relationship that you'll ever have throughout your life. And the problem is that most people who bring home a large Cockatoo, whether a new baby or an adopted/re-homed adult, simply don't understand that they are not just "pet birds".

The exact same problems/issues occur with most people who bring home any type of "pet" Primate. There are exactly the same issues in that world, with most every single person who goes out and brings home a Capuchin, Spider, Owl, Howlet, or any other species of Monkey, Marmosets, Lemurs, etc. These guys quite literally ARE like raising and caring for a perpetual 5 year-old human child that lives for 40 years!!! And you'd think that most people would realize this going-in to bringing home a Primate as a "pet", as after all, they're Primates, lol...But no, people think that "Monkeys are cute" and are going to be like "Really smart dogs", and then the exact same situations occur within the households with Primates as occur within the households with large Cockatoos.

The Rescue that I work at is an Avian/Reptile (Amphibian) rescue, that's it, it's not an "Exotic's" rescue where we also take in other small animals/species such as Rodents, Primates, Marsupials, etc. However, we must get at least 20+ people each week coming in to surrender Rabbits, Ferrets, Rats/Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Dogs and Cats, and then a lot of Sugar Gliders, Hedgehogs, and yes, Primates...It's very easy for us to help people find a non-kill Rescue to place the other pets, but the Primates are such a nightmare, especially in Pennsylvania where they are totally illegal to own as pets (the only way you can own a Primate in PA is if they are a "source of income" for you, and you file this income on your yearly Federal and State tax returns, which I think is a horrible situation for the State of Pennsylvania to create and encourage, because all it does is start-up Primate breeding-mills...Good job PA!)...Anyway, I can't tell you how many Primates have been brought into the rescue, and legally we have to report them to the state, who will simply come immediately to pick them up, and then destroy them within 24-48 hours...So the way we've learned to handle the Primates is to immediately find an out-of-state, non-kill Rescue, in a state where it's legal to own Primates simply as "pets", and that will take Primates and that knows how to care for them, set-up transporting them to wherever that rescue is, and THEN we notify the state that the Primate was surrendered and that it's already "on it's way" to Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, etc. We have to have all the supporting paperwork documenting the surrender, the medical/health check, the proper registration paperwork with the state it's going to, and then all of the paperwork from the Rescue that is taking them in, but I've never once had the state of PA go after us, the rescue in the other state, or try to get the Primate back just so they can kill it...But this is exactly the same situation that happens with most large Cockatoos. They are not just "birds" or "pets", they might as well be thought of like young, human children that never grow-up...

Incidentally, you should also check-out the YouTube channel for "Monkey Boo", the Black-Capped Capuchin Monkey, and his owner Pete...EXACTLY the same situation as Dan and Max the Cockatoo. Pete got Boo as a couple week-old baby Capuchin Monkey from a breeder, and as Pete is retired/disabled and doesn't work (his wife does though), Pete literally spends 24-hours a day with Boo, who is now I believe like 8 or 9 years old. He is with Boo 24 hours a day, every day, and is usually tethered to Boo, lol. They eat all of their meals together, Pete reads to Boo every day, he does arts and crafts with Boo every day (he loves to draw and color), Boo has his own bedroom and a very large "playroom", which is more like a small gymnasium with a trampoline, gymnastic rings, and jungle-gym, climbing towers, swings, etc. (all of which monkeys need for natural exercise and movement), as well as young children's toys that stimulate Boo's intelligence, such as many foraging toys, containers and other things to open up, a play tool-bench with play hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, and screws, nuts, and bolts, and tons of toys for children between the ages of 3-8 I'd say, everything from electronic spelling/reading/math toys to talking books, lots of blocks, stuffed animals, action figures, and tons and tons of art supplies such as crayons, markers, chalk, paints, and a huge easel. Boo goes on all of their vacations with them, he goes shopping with them, out to eat with them, basically he's their young child (their children are in their early 20's and out of the house, but consider Boo their brother)...But the difference between Boo and most-all other Capuchin's and other species of monkeys I've seen is that Boo is just as socialized as any human child is, he's extremely well-behaved, he's polite, he's sweet, and he's basically just like any other 7 or 8 year-old child except he can't speak English. That's basically it. Why? Because Pete has quite literally raised him no differently than he raised his own human children, and he spends 24 hours a day with him (yes, Boo often sleeps in their bed when he get scared or has a nightmare in his own bed, and yes, he has a bed)...So is the way Pete has raised Boo and the way he has dedicated his entire life to Boo "wrong"? According to a lot of people the answer is yes, but usually they say this for the same reason they say it to Dan, because "he's given-up his entire life to his pet"....Well, these two guys have the healthiest, happiest, most well-adjusted, socialized Cockatoo and Capuchin Monkey that I've ever seen...and I haven't ever heard either of them complaining about the things that they've given-up in order to raise these two...