I swear to birdjesus my new baby is on drugs

So i recently got a 3-4 month old CAG from a breeder and man is this guy hyperactive?? Which is okay. I am a bit concerned that he seems to already have neurotic behaviors in that when he is in the cage he will scratch the floor like a chicken? And ignore all his other toys and food and everything that he normally plays with outside

As i have a cockatoo already who is very needy i do want to teach this baby to be more independent and he has been very curious/interested in all my toy offerings. But this cage behavior just concerns me a lot. Any tips/insights? It has only been a day but i want to have a better idea of what i should do to rsise a less neurotic more independent bird

When he is out, he also seems to have this obsession with climbing/flapping his way to the top of my head, even when a higher perch is offered. Then his feet get all tangled and it is really tempting me to get my hair cut short again

I can tell you my CAG used to attempt to dig inside her cage, but she was weeks old at the breeder. She didn't do it when I visisted her, but she did it immediately when I put her back and had to leave. My breeder said it is probably an emotional response, since she is so young she was sad to see me leave. Have never seen her do this since I brought her home a year ago this month.

1 day? As in one? Let the guy settle in and observe the household before asking if behaviour is odd or neurotic. IMHO

I need to meet this birdjesus if he's any help with bird behavior.

wish I could remember the exact post but it was from a new CAG owner who was weaning her bird and showed a video of it doing exactly what youre talking about. Her baby settled in and quit doing it after 3 days. the video was really cute!!!

melissa

He's young and new in your home. Cockatoos are known to be needy, one person birds. CAGs are very independent and you have a newborn pretty much. Like a puppy baby birds are very active. He needs lots of toys to destroy and keep him busy for sure. Dollar Tree is my friend, I buy the alphabet blocks there, my CAG loves them and they keep him busy. What are your activities with your CAG?


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CAGs have that peculiar behavior of digging. Don't worry.

As babies they are more needy than they are as adults. Spend as much time as you can working with your baby, but also introducing toys and things to chew. Some warm up fast to toys, others, like my Nigel, don't like new toys for months sometimes.

CAGs are so intelligent that they need lots of direction to stay healthy and happy, the CAG forum has a lot of info.

Now for pics please! We love lots of pics!

My CAG would scratch at the bottom of the cage as a baby, but he eventually grew out of it.
His personality will evolve as he gets older. His behavior sounds perfectly normally for a baby.

Would love to see a picture of this new baby!! I got my timneh when She was already 1 & 1/2, so I like the baby pics.

Our 20+ year old CAG still does the "chicken scratch" often. We never have figured out why, but he's normal in every other respect (not according to him, of course - as far as he's concerned he's the highest & mightiest creature that ever lived!). My 12-year-old 'Zon does the chicken scratch, too, pretty much daily. I wouldn't be concerned about it - sometimes I think they just do weird stuff to keep us of balance & laugh at us when we react...