Help with Britta.

[birdman7]

Hey guys,

So here's the story:

Britta joined my family a couple weeks ago. Her previous owners had her for a couple of years. I'm her third owner. She is now 6 years old.

I come from a background of having tamed several adult cockatiels who were pretty vicious. With lots of handling and blowing in her face with a firm "no", my birds learned quickly (within a week or two) not to bite. Over the next couple weeks, they warmed up to me and became pretty tame. With all my cockatiels, it didn't take long (usually a few days) for them to start responding and becoming "themselves" after taking them in to my home.

I am finding Britta very different–as you all can imagine.

I know cockatoos are supposed to be noisy and active (I often hear it said they are like a 2 year old), but Britta is the very opposite. After bringing her home, it took her three days before she made a peep. For the next several days, she would screech here and there, but now she is quiet again and hasn't made much noise for the past week.

I try to handle her as much as possible, but she still prefers to get to her cage any chance she has. If I put her on my shoulder, she's always watching for her chance to get to the cage. If she's on the floor somewhere, or a piece of furniture, goal #1: get to the cage!

She often lets me scratch her head and neck, but sometimes she freaks out in her cage if she thinks I'm going to try to take her out (oh, and she'll come out of her cage and climb on top just fine on her own). She'll even use my arm as a means of getting out of her cage as fast as possible, just to get away from me (so it seems).

She is not violent and does not bite, nor does she pluck her feathers. All in all she seems very "tame", but she is not the curious, 2 year old one would expect her to be.

Another thing to note, is that when I purchased a new perch for her and put in her cage, she positively freaked. She would not go into her cage for the life of her. I took the perch out and left it near her cage for a couple days, and she finally warmed up to it and stands on it as if nothing.

Sometimes she lets be hand-feed her bits of fruits or veggies, but most of the time she pushes it away with her foot. But, if I leave it in her cage and walk away, she scrambles over to it and eats it.

Britta comes from a smoke-ridden house (it took me forever to clean her cage and toys, and still...she smells awful). It might be good to note as well that she didn't touch any of her toys in her cage for over a week. She just barely started playing with a toy the previous owners called her "lifeline".

I guess my question(s) would be:

1) By others experience, how long does it usually take for a Goffin to warm-up/bond with new owners?
2) What are some suggestions on how to improve this situation?

Feel free to comment and give your advice and thoughts as to how I can make this bird feel at home!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Wow, she came from a bad environment. Don't worry though as there is always hope.

My biggest advice is to get her on the best diet possible, it may take a while (took my galah Rosie 6 months) and just be patient. My galah came to me in a catatonic state and had learned hopelessness. She didn't acknowledge toys and was extremely unhealthy. Now almost 2 years later she has done a complete 180 and is a very happy well rounded bird.

Are you planning to take you're goffins to a avian vet to get checked out?

I added a image of Rosie when I first got her compared to half a year ago. I have a newer photo but it's not on my phone. I can post it later if you'd like.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Things will probably be fine you just have to take a step back and let her call the shots . Keep your interaction consistent , but if she doesnt want to come out dont make her [She sounds scared ] no pressure. Let her be curious about you. Try this and see if theres a difference in 2 months. Please dont blow in her face

 

[birdman7]

Wow, she came from a bad environment. Don't worry though as there is always hope.

My biggest advice is to get her on the best diet possible, it may take a while (took my galah Rosie 6 months) and just be patient. My galah came to me in a catatonic state and had learned hopelessness. She didn't acknowledge toys and was extremely unhealthy. Now almost 2 years later she has done a complete 180 and is a very happy well rounded bird.

Are you planning to take you're goffins to a avian vet to get checked out?

I added a image of Rosie when I first got her compared to half a year ago. I have a newer photo but it's not on my phone. I can post it later if you'd like.

Thanks for the hope!

I had not planned to get her checked out at the first. I know most people would freak at that, but I am not of the mindset to pay bookoo bucks to get a bird looked at if there aren't any notable reasons to (general checkups cost over a hundred dollars). In this case, there's an exception since she came from an environment filled with nicotine. So I'll be doing that.

I am wondering if she his having nicotine withdrawals or some other health problem. She'll probably hate me for it at the first, but I'm picking up a new cage and toys/perches for her today and plan to migrate her over to them. I need to rid the house of the toxins. Blah.

 

[birdman7]

Things will probably be fine you just have to take a step back and let her call the shots . Keep your interaction consistent , but if she doesnt want to come out dont make her [She sounds scared ] no pressure. Let her be curious about you. Try this and see if theres a difference in 2 months. Please dont blow in her face

Thanks for your input!

Scared, yes definitely. Sadly.

I don't have any need to blow in her face since she never bites. ;-) This was a disciplinary practice for my cockatiels, which worked very well.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I'm glad to hear you'll be taking her. Do you know what they were feeding her?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Oh I forgot ,2s can be very scared of new things [My Rosebreasted was] . Id hang her new toy outside her cage. Im sure your bird needs a new cage. My rehome was a little sad at first [ I didnt expect that] but she eventually accepted it. But I think building her confidence will help with that. Make a big deal about her lots of praise My 2s are a little pickier eaters [but I would keep trying] My one couldnt resist pinecones rolled in treats and the others favorite thing is newspaper balled on top of her cage that she pulls down and shreds.

 

[birdman7]

I'm glad to hear you'll be taking her. Do you know what they were feeding her?

Sunscription Vita Prima Large Hookbill Sunflower Formula.

 

[birdman7]

Oh I forgot ,2s can be very scared of new things [My Rosebreasted was] . Id hang her new toy outside her cage. Im sure your bird needs a new cage. My rehome was a little sad at first [ I didnt expect that] but she eventually accepted it. But I think building her confidence will help with that. Make a big deal about her lots of praise My 2s are a little pickier eaters [but I would keep trying] My one couldnt resist pinecones rolled in treats and the others favorite thing is newspaper balled on top of her cage that she pulls down and shreds.

Thanks! I'll be taking it slowly...but yes, scrapping her cage and nicotine covered toys.

What are good treats for cockatoos? I bought mine some papaya treats, but she doesn't like them.

 

[Mayden]

Read this entire thing thinking you were talking about a cockaTIEL, not a 'too. Doh!

Your poor baby sounds scared, 3 homes in 6 years. Things look very uncertain for her right now and it's going to take her a long time to get used to how things are now. Her cage is her one "safe" place and she needs that, you might be nice to her and all that, but she knows her cage wont ever hurt her or make her do anything scary!

I think what you're doing is great, just take time with her, she'll build up trust with you the more time she spends with you. Cockatoo's are odd birds with complex emotions and I think you just need to give her time.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Whats weird about my 2s is that they were never treat motivated. What was important to them was my attention.[You know how you here 2s are love bugs } That doesnt mean keep trying with treats though .My one 2 gets very excited over mashed potatoes.[I think she had that alot in her other home] ]

 

[birdman7]

Read this entire thing thinking you were talking about a cockaTIEL, not a 'too. Doh!

Your poor baby sounds scared, 3 homes in 6 years. Things look very uncertain for her right now and it's going to take her a long time to get used to how things are now. Her cage is her one "safe" place and she needs that, you might be nice to her and all that, but she knows her cage wont ever hurt her or make her do anything scary!

I think what you're doing is great, just take time with her, she'll build up trust with you the more time she spends with you. Cockatoo's are odd birds with complex emotions and I think you just need to give her time.

"odd birds with complex emotions" haha, I think you hit the nail on the head. But, it's fun to work with them and observe them!

Thanks for the input! I'll definitely keep working with her (and be patient!).

 

[birdman7]

Whats weird about my 2s is that they were never treat motivated. What was important to them was my attention.[You know how you here 2s are love bugs } That doesnt mean keep trying with treats though .My one 2 gets very excited over mashed potatoes.[I think she had that alot in her other home] ]

None of my other birds were ever treat motivated. This one is definitely not...at least right now.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Rosie wasn't treat motivated until I got her on a good diet, now she is very treat motivated, but also loves her cuddles. When she is in training mode though she gets irritated if I try petting her, she is eager to learn and is in training mode lol

I got the updated photo of her, this is a her after nearly 2 years compared to when I first got her. She doesn't even look like the same bird, and in the second she is actually happy.

Once Bretta starts molting you will really start seeing a difference. I'm expecting Rosie to look even better after this years molt.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Do you have any photos of Bretta? You should take lots to look back on and compare and also share them with us you'll be happy when she is a brilliant white and you can look back to how she looks now.

 

[birdman7]

Do you have any photos of Bretta? You should take lots to look back on and compare and also share them with us you'll be happy when she is a brilliant white and you can look back to how she looks now.

I don't have any photos as of yet (except some horrible phone-taken ones). I'll try to get some today.

Great idea.

 

[birdman7]

I'll be taking Britta to the Vet tomorrow, so I'll post back and let y'all know what the outcome is!

Thanks for caring!

 

[birdman7]

Just a quick update: vet says Britta is healthy! Yay!

He did say she likely is going through cage binding right now, so I'll be working on that.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Good how is she with you today ? ( pictures)

 

[weco]

While at the vet, ask about tar & nicotine buildup on the feathers...if there is, when you can handle the bird, hand bathing it with Dawn diehwashing liquid should be on your list, you will probably have to do this 2-3 times, depending on the amount of residue.....

Feet & legs should be carefully washed also & while the feathers are soaked, after rinsing, look at the skin to see if there is any residue there.....