New Member

Hi all, New to the Cockatoo world. I have a 1 1/2 yr old male cockatoo named fireball that I've had for about 2 months. Beautiful bird but comes with all the complaints I see in these forums. Mostly the screaming I'm in for the long haul but not so sure the wife is. Anyway, hopefully I can pick up some ideas to make it a little less painful.

Welcome to the forum!!! What type of Cockatoo do you have???

Thanks, he is an Umbrella.

Oh boy....start training him positively now! He needs to learn to entertain himself without you. Are you sure it's a boy?

LOL!! I think he is the one training me. Yes he is a male. I took him to a avian vet when I first got him. He is more attached to my wife then me and his screaming is what is driving her crazy. He only tolerates me right now but does not scream so much when I am around. He acts scared of me but when my daughters boyfriend or my male neighbor comes over he all over them. Frustrating because he is my bird.

Hello and welcome! I also have a bird (eclectus) who was supposed to be my bird, but he didn't get the memo. He loves my hubby and tolerates me. I feel your frustration. He does do well with me when I am alone with him, though. Does it make any difference with your too whether your wife isn't around?

Welcome! U2 are one of the sweetest birds in the world but yes training is a must, plus they bring out your creative side in finding ways to keep them entertained

Thanks, when I am home alone he lets me scratch his head one minute and cowers the next. When my wife is home he cuddles with her then allows me to pet him and tries to cuddle with me. Crazy. Hopefully in time he will come around. I've read that they are very hormonal from Dec to March so maybe thats it.

Welcome to the forum! You've found the right place to get advice on helping Fireball become a better member of the family (and you a better "parront" to him). This is certainly the beginning of what may become some of the significant behavioral problems tops' can develop if not corrected. Right now is the time to nip this in the bud! If he's only a year and a half old, he isn't sexually mature yet, so it's not hormones. A couple questions to better understand your situation:

Does Fireball have a set schedule every day (wake/sleep/feeding/playtime/interaction ext...)? How do you react when he screams? How does the wife react when he screams? Do you rotate toys frequently? Has he been taught to forage? Do you have time each day where he is encouraged to play alone (independent play)? How big is his cage and where is it located in the home (living room, hallway, guest bedroom ext...)?

I know it's a lot of questions, but knowing what is happening with the interactions between your family and Fireball, along with some other "key" indicators that will predict a future of negative behavior will help other members get you on the right track with him before that happens! Cockatoos can be absolutely wonderful birds, and I hope you stick around and gain some knowledge.

We try to have a set schedule. His bedtime kind of varies within an hour or so 8:30-9:30 and he gets up at 6 when we do. We feed him in the morning but it lasts all day. I give him oatmeal every morning and he loves it. I work 24 hrs on and 48 off and when I'm home he is out of his cage most of the day but won't have much to do with me. My wife is home every night and they interact for a few hours. Not sure what you mean by being taught to forage tho. He has a lot of toys but just learned we need to move them around.And he has a really big cage that sits in the living room so he sees someone all the time when we are home. We try to leave the room when he screams and we don't yell at him. At least not yet :0 I will take any advice from anyone and at least try it.

Cockatoos are big flock birds, so their natural tendency is to be with their flock (your family) 24/7. Since no one can be around their bird 24 hours a day, the need to be taught how to entertain themselves (which is not a natural behavior, it is a learned one). That means, encouraging independent playtime every day with toys and foraging.

Toys should be size-appropriate for the bird, and rotated out a couple times a week to keep them interested. You should replace toys when they become too ripped up or dangerous. It is a good idea to keep any beads, bits of leather ect... that are still in good condition, as you can make new toys with them later and save some money. Cockatoos specifically are quite fond of shredding stuff, so you can also save money on toys by balling up sheets of newspaper, putting them in the cage, and let him go crazy on them. Foraging is nothing more than working for their food. In nature, parrots spend most of their time looking for food and mimicking this behavior in a domestic setting keeps them occupied. This can be as simple as taking an old toilet paper roll, wrapping some treats in TP, sticking them in the roll, and sticking the whole thing in the cage or investing in some foraging toys like these- https://www.google.com/search?clien...TF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=foraging+toys&rls=en&tbm=shop. You should always provide food in his dish, but many parrots actually PREFER to forage for their meals than to just eat them out of a dish!

Playing and foraging is whats called self-rewarding behavior. That means the bird is doing something that gives it some kind of positive reinforcement without you needing to be around. He may scream for the first few times until he realizes he could be playing instead, but he really needs a couple hours every day where he is left alone (no one in the room) to entertain himself. Fill his foraging toys, give him stuff to shred, introduce a new toy, and then leave. He will soon learn to be excited for his "alone" time, and once he is used to entertaining himself, when you leave at other times, he won't need to scream for attention because he knows a better thing to do (play). That isn't the FULL answer to screaming, but it is a good start to at least curb the attention screaming he's been harassing your wife with all day long.

Welcome to you and Fireball! My Umbrella loves to forage and loves puzzle toys. He can spend hours ripping up phone books and playing in the paper. Another game he likes is paper lunch bags with treats inside, I twist the tops and wind them in the bars of his cage. He climbs around to each one to see what's inside. Almonds and foot toys are his favorites. My Umbrella was a screamer, we leave the TV on a cartoon channel, ignore him and leave the room, darken the room by turning off the lights or covering his cage. We don't have to use the last two much anymore. Setting him up with something to keep him busy works best for our boy. All birds are different, you'll learn what works with Fireball! Umbrellas are incredible birds! Congratulations!!! Popeye is fickle, he chooses different humans for favorites and then changes his mind. He usually adores my mom, but the last visit he acted like he didn't know her.

Thanks Kiwibird. These seem like great ideas. I will defiantly look for these foraging toys today. I really appreciate the info.

The small paper bags are a great idea !! Thanks Allee.

Welcome to the forums!! We have two cockatoos, bare eyed toos, smaller then your boy. You've gotten some great advice that really does work, just takes time for Fireball to learn the new routines

Toos love to tear things apart, and you can do quite a bit of make your own. Save up the paper pulp type egg cartons (long as no egg goo on them from a broken egg), toilet paper and paper towel rolls are great items you have around that can make fun toys. My Ivory loves q-tips, strangest thing, but one of her favorites. I take a plastic wiffle ball and stuff in shredded paper then push qtips in for Ivory to pull out. Also children safe puzzles are another great item to use in making foraging and shredding toys. We use gimp or natural hemp twine, punch a hole in the large puzzle pieces and use them as ends for toilet paper rolls. We stuff the rolls with shredded paper and nuts or treats, then tie the puzzle pieces to cap the ends. Ivory loves gimp (plastic lacing like the kids use for making string bead crafts), and first thing she'll do is snip the gimp, then pull everything apart. A roll of paper for a desktop calculator is another great item that many birds will just pull and rip up.

I could babble on, but check out the toy section, there are tons of great ideas there too. Curly straws are super easy to make too. We use those in conjunction with cardboard type shredding items and they are usually a hit.

For the screaming, we found that they quickly pick up another type of call. Everytime I talk to or ask her to step up, I do a tongue clicking or kinda kissing sound to Ivory, she learned almost instantly that was a sound meant she was getting attention. She seldom every screams or calls, but will do the clicking and when she says hello, we all answer her, so that's another noise she knows to make to get attention or a response. The only time we ever hear a too call or scream is when she thinks she has been left alone and gets startled such as by one of the cats or when we are all out and she hears the key in the door, she will call then start with her hello.

Post some pics when you get a chance, we all love photos of everyone's babies. Congrats on adding Fireball to the family and again, welcome to the forum!!