Hello!new to parrots and the Forum

[rockincna2013]

Hello, my name is Nikki. I work at a rescue in Illinois for dogs and cats and I am currently a stay at home mom and run a small daycare. oh and I am a Vet tech Student in my second semester

I LOVE These things........

My 5 kids

My husband

all of my animals.....we have 5 dogs, 3 cats, 2 bunnies, and now a cockatoo named Baby!

I love crafts, sewing, DIY

I also love love love my pinterest lol!

OK, I am sure all of you are wondering how I got my cockatoo, I was at work one day and a lady came in and wanted to give away her bird, the owner has to many parrots now and could take him, so I said I would do it. That is the long story short. Anyway go to her house pick up he bird and the cage and come home. I spent HOURS cleaning the cage, it was horrible, and I thought the cage was tan...well I was wrong it is white. it had moldy poop in it and the feeding dishes were filthy! The cage was covered in cig. smoke and so is the bird! Any advice on how to wash the yellow off the bird would be great!

well got a little off track, Baby is loving to most of my family there are a couple he does not like. He also plucks all his feathers! I had to switch his diet, because he has been eating parakeet food! I had to add toys cause he had none, and had to add perches cause he had only tree branches at the bottom of his cage! He has a huge vocabulary also he can say lots of things, just breats my heart when he says bad bird or stupid stupid bird.......he loves me to hold and pet him and loves to have attention! I know we still have a long way to go with bonding as I have only had him for 3 days hahaha, but he still seems very comfortable with me and being here! he even follows me around the house, and decided already to mock my laugh, which is too funny!

I do need help with feather plucking

and also how to make him like everyone in the house!

and how to get the smoke off of him?

he has seen a vet no physical cause for the plucking! I think it has a lot to do with him being board with nothing to do, his diet for sure and the fact that his cage and him are filthy!

 

[Christinenc2000]

WOW Busy Person. Welcome to the Forum

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Congrats on your new addition to the family and welcome to the forum. I cant answer your questions so I will leave that to more experienced members. I have never had a cockatoo but your Baby sounds Adorable and a very lucky fid indeed to have found a home with you. Im glad the health check at the vet went well and that you got the all clear that must be a great relief. Best of Luck with Baby sounds as if she is bonding really well with you already which is Great.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome to one of the best sources of information, support and parrot friends in the world. Plucking a wide spread issue with 'toos, and it ain't easy to get them to stop. More owners of rescued 'toos will come round of offer help with that. You made a good start with his diet. Get him off the seeds (like Crack for parrots), and onto pellets and fresh veg and fruits. That's first. More toys and puzzle toy's stuff (helps with plucking). That'd second. If there some one he hates, that's the one who should be offering SPECIAL TREATS that he can't live without. And spending time alone with the 'too. That's third. All 3 can take days, weeks, months or even years ( rarely). Again welcome and post pics and storeys, we love those.

AL

 

[psychocircus91]

near daily misting/bathing will help with the smoke and potentially with the plucking.

You mentioned you changed the diet. What is he eating now? As mentioned pellets, fresh veggies, and fresh fruit are a good starting point.

Lot's of stimulation. mysafebirdstore has toys that are under a "plucking" category. Foraging toys are great as well.

Try to establish a routine that you can stick to LONG TERM. Don't give him an extreme amount of attention now, that you will not be able to provide 6 months, a year, 5 years, 10 years from now. Toos are very smart and will wonder why they are getting less attention. This can lead to plucking.

What kind of cockatoo is he? Sorry if I missed it.

 

[Flboy]

Wow! Welcome to you!

 

[Scott]

Welcome Nikki. So what do you do with your spare time? As if you have any!

Cockatoos are wonderful companions, and it seems Baby found the right home! Very frequent misting will help clean the feathers, but if they are extraordinarily grimy you may wish to ask the vet for a recommendation. As mentioned, proper nutrition is key to so many issues, and this can include plucking. A varied fresh vegetable and fruit diet is best, though pellets and sparing quantities of seeds are a supplement or reward.

 

[rockincna2013]

I am not sure what kind of cockatoo, because the lady that had said he was some odd name and I googled it but nothing came up...... He is all white except the top of his head with the yellow. At least that all I can see with all the plucking. I did put him on a pelleted diet by zupree and lots of fruits and veggies. As for my busy schedule it's not as bad as it sounds. He spends all day with me watching kids and out on his stand. Or while I am blogging or writing he is usually on me the entire time( saying......what are you doing lol) he looks a lot better in the pictures as far as color than he really is. He is really a very off white or light yellow color. He does love to get in the shower. Also what can I do to stop him from grooming my hair! Sometimes he will actually pull it out, like he is almost plucking me to. Good thing is if I say ouch he will stop and say bad bird lol. I say no your not bad, cause I don't know what else to say, and I swear he can hold a conversation with me......I know it's a bird! I have a couple videos of him talking, I will have to post. Also what should I do about screaming? He's not real bad unless he's alone, if he's alone in the room he will scream..... I have read to ignore it and not go in the room until he stops, but is there anything I should be doing that I am not?

 

[psychocircus91]

The best "negative" reinforcement you can do is to ignore unwanted behavior.

If he is in another room screaming, ignore it. When he is quiet, return to the room and offer a treat.

If he is pulling out your hair, put him on his cage or stand and ignore for 20+ minutes. Repeat as many times as necessary.

The "on you all day" thing concerns me. Do you feel you will be able to maintain this high level of interaction forever? Out of cage time all day is great if you can provide it! However, parrots (particularly cockatoos) need to know how to be alone without adverse effects (ie: plucking).
Also, try not to react to the plucking, as hard as that may be. If he learns plucking=attention, then it will certainly continue.

 

[rockincna2013]

I didn't mean on me all day just out on his stand or cage, and I run a daycare so, and a stay at home mom, so I am home 90% of my the time, unless i am running errands but that is all usually done on Sunday after church, its the only day I can say we are not home until about 4 or 5 pm and we leave at 9:30 am. will that Sunday be an issue, if he is use to being out all the time? Or will he get use to that schedule? as far as the hair thank you so much for the advice on that, I will definitely start that.

Here is the schedule I have him on now let me know if its need changed.

I get up at 5:30 am and take my shower, he goes in right after that and spreads his wings and cleans and seems to love it

while he does that I clean up his cage and change the news papers and sweep around the cage and get his food ready and change his water, and since we have well water he gets bottled water.

He then goes back in his cage to eat and dry off and clean up his feathers. I do leave the cage door open at that point, he comes out once he is done eating and is basically out the rest of the day until we go to bed.
Saturday is the day I clean his cage and change his toys, and wipe down the cage and stuff like that...

i just feel like if I am home and work from home he should be out, or at least have the option to be out?

 

[GraciesMom]

Welcome to the forum

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi Nikki, welcome to the forum! Your schedule makes me tired lol .

Here is an interesting article on plucking. There are just so many reasons out there, and this article touches upon several reasons. Also, my avian vet who sees only birds, tells me that the majority of plucking is rooted in a medical issue, not behavioral. I wish you the best! http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html