Cockatoo behavior change

[BookonaBike]

Recently, my boyfriend and I adopted his parents umbrella cockatoo. He is a 4 year old. When we first got him, he had a bit of a screaming issue every time we left the room, but we did not go to him (as that is what we read not to do) so eventually he stopped screaming. After that he was perfect for a few days. We could come in and out of the room as we please.

Yesterday we decided to change up his cage with some new toys and perches since he didn't have very many to begin with. Since then he seems to be super aggressive and doesn't want to come out of his cage. But when we leave he starts to scream again.

I'm not sure what to do. At first I though he was just getting protective over his new toys. But the screaming every time we leave was a habit we thought he kicked. I will not be able to keep him if he keeps this up, both being aggressive (clicking his beak, crouching down, hissing, nipping and biting) and the screaming.

Please help!

 

[Scott]

Welcome, thanks for joining! Umbrellas are among the most challenging of parrots. You may have inadvertently altered his behavior with the changes; how long you have had him? If the modifications were made during the "honeymoon" period, he may have rebelled during a critical period of adjustment.

 

[plumsmum2005]

If you think of it simply it helps. He has had a change of home you are now his mom and dad, so one big change and then you mess with his sanctuary. Try changing his cage back to how it was? Anything new I hang on the outside of Plums cage for a while to see his reaction.

He has really had his confidence dented. You need to work on getting this back, this behaviour is not his fault OK? I had the exit screaming with Plum in the early days, they don't know if you are going for 5 minutes or for good? I played a game with him, just stood outside the door and when he screamed because he noticed I was gone popped back again, altering the length of time from a few seconds to several minutes. "Hey I am here!". He got to know I wasn't far away and with also calling his name when in the house he could tell I was there just not in sight. This slowly builds confidence and now he shouts "see you later" when he hears me putting shoes on etc. Mix up the responses sometimes just verbal sometimes you in person.

You can get over this but he is going to need a lot of commitment from you, you just cannot leave them in a cage to entertain themselves. A routine will also help and they get to know that over time. This is a challenging time because he has lost confidence but at the same time will probably try and push boundaries.

If not too far away why not try a visit to the parents with him? Or they come visit you?

'toos are complex, time consuming, adorable, cuddly, destructive, stubborn, messy to give some idea. I love mine to bits and would not change him for the world. It takes time to achieve a close bond with your bird, do you have the patience, will and the time? If you cannot then probably the time is now to look for his next forever home?

Understand it is quite scary but would like to hear you are committed please?

BTW I had full on face/head flying attacks in the early days from mine and the youngster I am holiday mum to. Takes love and patience to win!

Some reading material for you http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/64495-my-temperamental-too.html

This is the section that can help http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/ and you will see that it isnt just you