I've never had a cockatoo or any large parrot, but before anyone says anything, I'm not planning on getting one anytime soon... maybe in a year, but no sooner then I think I'm ready.
I've been researching many different bird breeds and out of them all I think the Umbrella Cockatoo is the best fit for me in terms of their behavior. I have read up on all the pros and cons from many different sites and have gotten a lot of insight on what I would be getting myself into.
Things I know:
- They live for 50+ years
- They can be very loud
- They are very dusty birds
- They can be very sensitive
- They can be destructive if not given enough to chew on/keep their minds busy
- Need fresh fruits and veggies everyday along with pellets
- They need lots of attention(I can give that since I'm home all the time)
-- The one thing however that I think I really need to know that could make or break this decision is how would my emotional state effect the bird?
I'm bipolar(non-manic) and even though I am on mood stabilizers I still have mood swings that can be stronger then most people would have. So the smallest things could send me into an unbalanced state.
Now, I have lived around birds all my life(mostly budgies) and for the longest time I had a female budgie named Meimo and she was the best bird I ever had(surprising being that she wasn't even hand tamed as a baby) she just seemed to be like a mini-cockatoo to me just in the way she acted; her temperament was amazing(so gentle and loving) and bonded with me instantly. She would always come to me even after she had gotten outside a few times. And then one day a few years ago she got sick and died hours later... I think it was bacterial since I fed her bulk budgie seed and then found out later when I was looking some stuff up that, that was the worst thing I could have been feeding her... I feel so responsible for her death now...
Anyways, those had to have been my best years emotionally because she was always there when I really needed someone and because of that it really helped my emotional state to stay balanced, being that we didn't know I was bipolar back then so I wasn't on any medication stabilize my mood.
I did try to have that relationship with another budgie I got from the same place(again not hand tamed, but she took a lot longer to trust me), but after nearly a year of loving dedication she decided to reject me and began to attack me, not even letting me get into her cage to clean it without fighting me... heart broken I knew it was best to find her a new home with someone she liked...
I still long for that peace and balance again that I got from such bird love Meimo gave me and though I think a cockatoo would be the best choice as a bird breed, but I don't want to get a U2 if there is a chance that if I end up going into an unbalanced state that it could also hurt the bird being that they can be far more sensitive then budgies in what I've read...
So in-short, I'm not only thinking about getting one for the companionship, but also as a type of therapy that I know can work for me.
----
If that doesn't become a real issue then other things I'd need to know about is training...
I've never done any type of animal training other then encouraging natural trick/traits my cats do; like the one with fetching, but that isn't really training since I didn't teach it to her...
How would I go about training a cockatoo and what should I train one to do?
~Amber
I've been researching many different bird breeds and out of them all I think the Umbrella Cockatoo is the best fit for me in terms of their behavior. I have read up on all the pros and cons from many different sites and have gotten a lot of insight on what I would be getting myself into.
Things I know:
- They live for 50+ years
- They can be very loud
- They are very dusty birds
- They can be very sensitive
- They can be destructive if not given enough to chew on/keep their minds busy
- Need fresh fruits and veggies everyday along with pellets
- They need lots of attention(I can give that since I'm home all the time)
-- The one thing however that I think I really need to know that could make or break this decision is how would my emotional state effect the bird?
I'm bipolar(non-manic) and even though I am on mood stabilizers I still have mood swings that can be stronger then most people would have. So the smallest things could send me into an unbalanced state.
Now, I have lived around birds all my life(mostly budgies) and for the longest time I had a female budgie named Meimo and she was the best bird I ever had(surprising being that she wasn't even hand tamed as a baby) she just seemed to be like a mini-cockatoo to me just in the way she acted; her temperament was amazing(so gentle and loving) and bonded with me instantly. She would always come to me even after she had gotten outside a few times. And then one day a few years ago she got sick and died hours later... I think it was bacterial since I fed her bulk budgie seed and then found out later when I was looking some stuff up that, that was the worst thing I could have been feeding her... I feel so responsible for her death now...
Anyways, those had to have been my best years emotionally because she was always there when I really needed someone and because of that it really helped my emotional state to stay balanced, being that we didn't know I was bipolar back then so I wasn't on any medication stabilize my mood.
I did try to have that relationship with another budgie I got from the same place(again not hand tamed, but she took a lot longer to trust me), but after nearly a year of loving dedication she decided to reject me and began to attack me, not even letting me get into her cage to clean it without fighting me... heart broken I knew it was best to find her a new home with someone she liked...
I still long for that peace and balance again that I got from such bird love Meimo gave me and though I think a cockatoo would be the best choice as a bird breed, but I don't want to get a U2 if there is a chance that if I end up going into an unbalanced state that it could also hurt the bird being that they can be far more sensitive then budgies in what I've read...
So in-short, I'm not only thinking about getting one for the companionship, but also as a type of therapy that I know can work for me.
----
If that doesn't become a real issue then other things I'd need to know about is training...
I've never done any type of animal training other then encouraging natural trick/traits my cats do; like the one with fetching, but that isn't really training since I didn't teach it to her...
How would I go about training a cockatoo and what should I train one to do?
~Amber
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