cockatoo question

[Savannah]

Hello,

I am new to forum and to cockatoos. I have a very sweet two year old senegal that is peach(most of the time I love her to pieces and she is a pretty good girl.

Well, I saw an ad on our local sales paper for a goffins cockatoo. I called and talked to the lady and knew from our conversation the bird was not thriving in her care.

Anyhow...I went to look at him and oh my goodness. I was smitten. I know I have a lot to learn about cockatoos and their behavior, but I am more than willing to try.

I have no history on the bird. She said it is a male and young. I brought him home last night in his cage with no toys and only one perch. He is fully flighted. So far so good. He is craving human companionship. He doesn't like to step up but will with some coaxing. He loves my husband! He reeked of cigarette smoke so bad that I had to give him a shower this AM which he seemed to enjoy.

My first question
1) He has an open type band on his leg. Not like the nice closed one on my senegal. Does this give us a clue to his age? Or are people still using those?

2)He needs his nails done and his beak trimmed a little, I think. Should I let him settle in a bit first. I thought of doing his wings too, but he seems to really enjoy his flying and hasn't caused any trouble with it so far.

I am sure I will have many more questions, but will ask them as I think of them. Sorry so long. Didn't mean to blab.

Alice
NH

 

[Savannah]

Sorry I posted this twice....shouldn't let us newbies on the forum I guess

alice

 

[MonicaMc]

1) He has an open type band on his leg. Not like the nice closed one on my senegal. Does this give us a clue to his age? Or are people still using those?
That depends entirely on what's on the leg band. If it's an old band, he could be a wild caught import from over 20 years ago. If it's a newer band, then a breeder probably banded him late.

2)He needs his nails done and his beak trimmed a little, I think. Should I let him settle in a bit first. I thought of doing his wings too, but he seems to really enjoy his flying and hasn't caused any trouble with it so far.
If he's healthy, he shouldn't need his beak trimmed. If he wasn't being cared for well, it's probably a good idea to get him to an avian vet for a basic checkup with a blood panel and fecal, and they can also do nails and beak, if required.


Grats on bringing home a little feathered puff of cockatoo love!

 

[Savannah]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply...

I haven't had a chance to check to see what exactly is on the band. It looks like 3 letters and three numbers, but not sure. He lets me rub his toes but doesn't want his band touched.

I made the vet appt for next week. He is in quarantine in my bedroom right now, which shares the same airflow with the rest of the house, so not really effective, I am sure. But the best I can do for now.

After looking at a bunch of pictures of goffins, his beak looks pretty normal. It just looks different from my sennie's beak. Color especially. But vet should be able to tell me more.

He is doing fairly well. I couldn't wait for my husband to goto work today as Marley wants to be on my husband all the time. It will be good for him to have to rely on me today. My husband likes the birds but they aren't his life's dream or anything

Thanks again for replying. I am reading and learning a lot here.

Alice
NH

 

[CoCo1]

Goffins will steal your heart and your earrings! They love shiny things so always make sure you are not wearing any jewelry when handling him. They also need to know who the "boss" is-if there really is sucha thing in the birdie world. they are notorious pluckers when bored and building a relationship with them is key. Of the goffins I had I have never seen any real gender preference but then again regardless of the ages I always made sure my birds were very well socialized with the whole family and the members of my friend circle who enjoyed and were confident with the birds. Can you upload any pictures of your new baby?

 

[Savannah]

He has already stole my heart. He is so funny and loves to have his head rubbed. He seems pretty well rounded and I am trying not to let him "train us" to bad. He doesn't like his new tree stand and won't even go on it so I am moving it a little closer to his cage daily and I know that he will eventually not be able to help himself as he is a nosy little bird He will go to just about anyone, but really would prefer to be sitting on my husbands knee watching TV.

He was on a diet of peanuts. Yes, peanuts. He is picking at his fresh food and is throwing out his pellets and eating some of his higgins seed mix. He does love banana so I mixed it with squash today and he loved it. Just like a toddler, got to hide the good stuff in something they like

He seems to like to shower so we have had a couple of those. Surprisingly so, his feathers look pretty good and Thank the good lord, he isn't plucking.

He really needs a new cage so I am going to investigate that further today and see what is the perfect cage.

Thanks again everyone.

Alice
PS..will post pictures later. I took some on my phone, but haven't downloaded them yet.

 

[CoCo1]

Sounds just perfect! I can't wait to see pictures In choosing a cage make sure it is one that he cannot escape from...in addition to being brilliant-they are great escape artists! Happy hunting!

 

[terry52449]

I can attribute to them being escape artists. My U2`s first cage I hade to padlock all doors including the swing out food doors. As soon as I would put Cameo in heer cage she was opening the door and out she came. Her new cage has an open proof door latch so I don`t worry about it any more. My U2 is the best companion for me and my wife. She really enjoys being with both of us. If Jean has her out and I come into the room Cameo will make bee line right to me and if Jean entersthe room Cameo will do the same for Jean. Even a few of our close friends Cameo loves to greet that way. But you better pet her or she will peck at your hand til you do so.LOL

 

[Savannah]

Thanks for all the help....The cage that came with him has a padlock on it and I lock it at night, just in case. He is out most of the day as I stay at home.

I couldn't take his flying any longer and took him to have his wings done. He was a little upset with me as he didn't want to get in the carrier. But I think he thinks that I "rescued" him from the mean lady that clipped his wings So, all is well and what a difference. It knocked some of the arrogance out of him that is for sure. Now I think we can get to know each other better without the frustration.

Thanks again for everyone's help and I hope to have time to sit down and upload pictures of him tonight.

Alice

 

[jlockhart29]

Can' t help on the band put sounds like you got a peach. Only thing I might mention is clipping his wings.Since he was flighted the stress of new home, diet and clipping might stress him. Would watch for any signs pf plucking. Give him plenty of things he LIKES to chew. Aerial my BE has only certain things she likes to chew. She is flighted and I totally understand wanting to clip. Sometimes I want to pull hers out!!lol She can't be left alone for one second but when she flys from one end of the house screaming than flairs at the last second to settle on my shoulder all is forgiven!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

As, sorry you had to clip him you should of taught him touch training and worked on recall training. Has he had his checkup yet? A peanut diet is terrible! I'm not sure if it's better or worse than the sun flower seed diet Rosie was on(which was killing her)

Try a chop mix, they are fantastic and usually more accepted. I use the birdtricks chopmix.

 

[Savannah]

Hello,
Thanks everyone for commenting and all the ideas. I made a chopmix today and can't wait to try it tomorrow.

Marley is doing really well and is settling into our rountine. I hated to clip his wings but he was dive bombing us and I really felt that we had to get control of the situation. I am hoping that we can get to know each other and have the boundries all set so when he moults, he can keep his wings.

He is eating pretty good for being on a peanut diet. He gets one peanut a day now, at bed time. He really loves my husband but will goto just about anyone that isn't scared of him.

He hated his new cage but his old one was way too small and dirty to be saved. I feel bad for him as he has had so many changes in his little life lately. Hopefully they will all end up being for the good.

Thanks for listening.
Alice and Marley.

 

[MonicaMc]

It's a huge change for him, but hopefully, he'll be able to adjust! May take several weeks or months, but under the right guidance, I'm sure he'll come around eventually! And it's great that he's already eating better!