Horror stories of Umbrella Cockatoos a bit over exaggerated?

[SilverSage]

Perfect! I only WISH I had had that kind of access to experienced parrot owners in person! I am so excited that even in your small town you will be able to have a parrot community of sorts around you =D

 

[Jayyj]

Nobody is doubting that there are many success stories with these birds - just that, in the case of these highly challenging species, for every happy, well adjusted U2 or M2 there's a basket case that tears holes in itself and screams murder all day long, and that statistic isn't a ringing endorsement of their suitability to be kept as pets.

If you have done all the research, and understand exactly what is involved in providing for one and are confident you're up to it that's great, particularly if you can adopt rather than buy from a breeder. But there seems to be no margin of error when it comes to making mistakes with these birds, and I'm grateful for people on the forum with first hand experience of birds that have fallen victim to inadequate owners who can use their experience to warn what the consequences are if you get it wrong. It's a big decision best made with your eyes open to the bad stuff as well as the good.

 

[Phlox]

You'll have to forgive me for seeming harsh...but I'm a 'learn the worst case' person, so I've been reading sanctuary stories to make sure I can find ways to deal with anything that might come up. There's so many heartbreaking tales of U2s and M2s literally killing themselves by tearing their skin off. Its just so terrible and I'd hate to be part of encouraging someone to take a step they aren't quite ready for. Like I said, I know I'm not ready and wouldn't ever be the right home for a Too...

 

[Birdman666]

Thanks SilverSage.

You know even here in this tiny little country village of 1700 people, there are two successful umbrella cockatoo owners with big happy healthy birds. I know this because I just visited them tonight to find out more about the birds in person (small town, everyone knows everyone else). They are the delight of their owner's lives and very spoiled. That much was clear. So it does happen they other way around as well then.

1. How old? Less than 5? Because the first five years are almost always all good. After that is when you find out what you've got. Jouvinille birds are little love sponges... (then they mature, and become a tad more vocal and demanding.)

2. I never said they were bad birds, and with a large too, it's not about neglect. It's about creating this overly needy creature that mutilates itself because it has no "flock structure"... SPOILING a large too is actually as bad, if not worse, than neglecting it.

3. They are incredibly loving creatures.

I worked with the problem birds, so that is my frame of reference, and I am biased. Obviously, the not a problem birds are wonderful little love sponges.
And they weren't all neglected birds. Many were just the opposite, well loved, well cared for, but they still screamed and plucked.

Obviously if they were all just scream n plucks, NO ONE would ever want one.

WHAT I AM SAYING is that there is a lot to raising one correctly so that it doesn't end up a scream n pluck. You didn't even realize they had to be taught to self entertain?

There are many species of toos that are NOT that needy. I most highly recommend a Rose Brested Too (Galah) which are every bit as big a personality bird as any of the others, and which don't tend to scream or pluck.

That to me, would be your best choice...

Search this forum. There are some wonderful RB2S on here.

Lastly, if you're already feeling somewhat overwhelmed by life, why do you want to take on an animal that is going to be high maintenance, and will likely outlive you? Is this the right time for you?

I'm not asking you to answer this question on the forum. I am asking you to ask yourself that question, and answer it honestly...

 

[thekarens]

I would argue that for every good story there's 3 or 4 horror stories. There's a reason why U2s and M2s are rehomed more often than other birds, not because the bird is bad, but because there's not that many people who are up to both the commitment and challenge for the next 80 years. I've known very few people that are "qualified" for that. I know I'm not. Mostly what happens is it's a love fest for a few years and then the bird is a screamer and/or a plucker and/or a biter and the person decides they don't want to deal with it anymore. It's not the birds fault they end up that way, it's the owner for not providing the proper care these high maintenance birds need.

 

[Birdman666]

I even read the rumor that in the wild these birds will wean their babies a lot longer then a lot of parrot species and that unlike other birds or parrots the rumor adds they do not even enforce tough love and force their babies to wean etc at a certain time.

TWO YEARS as a matter of fact. And even then, the kids don't fly off. They are part of the flock. 1 big 100+ bird family support system. Some birds are simply lost without that...

And it's not necessarily anything that anyone did to them, it's that their wild instinct says I need constant interaction, and something is wrong here. When they don't get it... they get upset.

Not all of them do this, in fact I've got friends who have M2's in their mid 20's that are in perfect feather, and have never plucked a day in their lives...

So it can be done. That is a learned skill...

 

[Birdman666]

This is the dark side of too ownership:

All About Cockatoos - MyToos.com

Most of y'all are aware of this already.

It doesn't always go bad, but when it goes bad, it goes really bad.

NOW LOOK AT THIS:

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/46038-calling-all-rb2-parents.html

PARTICULARLY THE THIRD PICTURE DOWN. THESE BIRDS DO SO MUCH BETTER IN A CAPTIVE BRED SITUATION, AND ARE REALLY JUST AS CHARMING AND LOVING AS ANY OF THEM...

If you have your heart set on a too, this is honest to god the bird I would absolutely recommend.

 

[Allee]

Dark reading, Mark, along with the volumes and volumes of dark reading about cockatoos.
I love Popeye with all my heart, with U2's love is never enough, so much more is involved. I haven't regretted taking him for a moment, but I'm the first to say, it's an enormous commitment and a very long term one. People meet Popeye for the first time, their eyes light up and they say, "I want one", my answer is always the same, "Let me tell you about Popeye and his species." So far, all of them are happy to visit with my boy. And even after you get one of the "good ones," you continue to worry constantly that something will go wrong and things will go bad. And then there are those that refuse to listen and learn....

 

[Kiwibird]

All the warnings have finally paid off, my husband has been effectively scared away over reading all of this (he had me read all of these replies to him) plus the advised trip to see one in person. I find it kind of sad now actually, because I know me-the one who will be dealing with it all the time-and my own heart. My level of commitment is not like some people's who give up easily. That's why I'm still married after nearly twenty years to my high school boyfriend and why my children were never once left with a babysitter their entire childhood. I'm used to my life being completely about someone else-it's my gig so to speak. I don't give up. I know our home and life and I think we would have been ideal people for one. I have that sort of iron clad persistence and love for birds, coupled with all the time in the world to deal with it. Tripled with a large rambling farmhouse with room to spare. I know these birds will continue to be bred, and I know that the possibility is high that one of those wrong people for the job will be taking a U2 that probably would have lived a very good life with me with all that room to roam and homemade jungle gyms to climb all over in different parts of the house.

I just want you all to know that for every horror story you've seen or heard about with those 95% who can't handle it-there will be a potential 5 percenter in the bunch somewhere. They are out there and every great parrot parent here started out by buying one bird sometime. Everyone here had to start somewhere right? That's all I'm going to say.

I actually think you are the right kind of person to have a parrot, but I also think you still have A LOT to learn if you want the most difficult kind of parrot as your first parrot. Having other bird experience is good, but parrots are different from other types of bird due to their intelligence (however, if you have owned corvids or BOPs, they are similar intelligence-wise). Choosing your first parrot ever is like being a 16 y/o brand new driver- which car is actually more suitable? The 1990 Toyota Corolla that runs fine or a brand-new custom-built 220MPH Lamborghini? Of course you want the Lamborghini, but the reality is, if your going to skip the step of cutting your teeth on a easier to maintain, easier to drive car, you need some additional education or your going to crash and burn.

Don't give up on your dream of owning a cockatoo, just make it goal to start looking at birds this time next year after you've learned more instead of rushing into one. Really do your research, schedule a day (or maybe even a little weekend trip) to visit the closest shelter to meet some older toos (even if it is a few hours away, I think it really is an important insight to have), keep talking to LONG TIME owners of these birds and hang around here. There are a lot of large cockatoo owners who just aren't regularly on here, but if you stick around long enough, you'll "meet" some of them and hear their success stories People here just want you to succeed instead of being on here 2 years from now asking (why does this terrible monster bite, scream, pull out its feathers and rip up my house".

Knowing what the "dangers" associated with cockatoos are beforehand and how to prevent them before ever bringing a bird home is far better than damage control after the behavior has started. When you don't know things like a parrot can in fact receive too much affection/handling, it tells people who already have them that you still have some learning to do. As you see from some of the responses, a *seemingly* GOOD thing like always holding your bird can lead to terrible behavior. Someone who'd never heard such a thing before wouldn't necessarily be able to figure out why their bird was behaving that way either. They think "I gave my bird so much attention and love, why is he/she ripping out all their feathers and/or screaming and/or biting/being aggressive?". You need to know these things before bringing a bird home so you don't blindly love your bird into bad behavior or feed them the wrong diet or train them with a less effective method or whatever it may be. Don't give up on your dreams, just continue (as you have been) researching, talking and learning

 

[riaria]

I think one of the reasons why U2's and M2's can be so challenging to live with is their size. If we ignore for a moment their possible propensity for being "difficult" (it's already been discussed in this thread): even with the loveliest sweetest bird ever, you are likely to get bit at least once. Now, with a smaller parrot, it'll hurt and you'll feel hurt, but it'll pass. But with a bird the size of a U2, it'll not only hurt but you may lose a finger. Or an eye. Or a nose. Or an ear. They are capable of inflicting so much damage to the human body. Dealing with an attacking amazon is one thing; dealing with an attacking U2 is a whole different story.

Not that this means that they can't be great companions, of course - it's just something to keep in mind. Especially if you've got children. I'm willing to bet that an M2 can probably snap a small child's wrist, if it chooses. So, it's not something to be taken lightly. But cockatoos can be amazing companions.

There are also a lot of smaller cockatoos that may be a bit easier to cope with. Our Ducorps has his idiosyncrasies, but he's mostly a lovely little guy.

 

[MikeyTN]

The bigger cockatoos are love bugs big time BUT when they want to be evil they will. For me who's owned and bred birds for years so I've never been afraid of any birds BUT a Cockatoo! I have posted in the past when I took in Java the U2. The sweetest bird ever then all of the sudden turned evil over night all because I told him not to do something. He went to town attacking me none stop up and down from my hand to my upper arms. I was drenched in blood while calmly walking towards his cage to put him away. Ever since then he tries to dominate me. He tries to kill anything that's too close to me. So I had to be with him alone. It was evident in his previous home he was allowed to do whatever he wants. You can tell by looking in their house for the stuffs he's destroyed. He was on poor diet so I had him on pellets and fresh fruits & veggies. He was in perfect feather and shape before I let him go. He was causing us issues as we argue about him often. He screams from morning til night. It made me quite sad to rehome him but I was out of options. I know many other owners who dealt with the same thing. They're not meant to be in the pet trade!

 

[dreamspirit12302]

How about the lesser sulfur crested Cockatoo's?

 

[MikeyTN]

How about the lesser sulfur crested Cockatoo's?

The LSC isn't as bad but they can be evil as well. It all depends on how they were being brought up. How they were trained and handled. My LSC2 Dixie is the sweetest little angel!!!! There's a member off here that had to rehome his due to his being as evil as he can be after he tried for a long time.

 

[Nexus]

How about the lesser sulfur crested Cockatoo's?

I'd much prefer handling a wild one rather than one that's been hand raised alone as a pet. In fact, in and around parkland, the wild ones can be quite friendly and land on you for a snack (separate issue there).

However, improper socialization is the KILLER, in flocks they learn how to act around other members of their group. But when they're alone, which often happens in domestic situations, they can be very domineering, very aggressive and can bite HARD.

Just noticed the "lesser" but I'm sure the same applies. The whole cockatoo family is notorious. Though all of them make the right bird for the right person. But you really, really need to prepare yourself for the odd nip. The owner of the pet store I go to has a long billed corella, and it's very tame, but he's got a photo of a pretty gruesome bite.

 

[Birdman666]

How about the lesser sulfur crested Cockatoo's?

Agreed. LSC2's are sweet, but can be major tantrum throwers. Spoiled bird syndrome with these guys is a nightmare. But that's really true of any of the large toos.

 

[Birdman666]

How about the lesser sulfur crested Cockatoo's?

The owner of the pet store I go to has a long billed corella, and it's very tame, but he's got a photo of a pretty gruesome bite.

That's not a beak on those birds! That's an ICE PICK!!!