Screaming

[terry52449]

I am going through a screaming tantrum right now with Tasha. She has rally been a challenge the last couple of days. I need to work in my office this evening and all I can hear is this screaming of hers. I have put her down for the night but she is very stubborn. I covered her even though she was never covered before.
I need to get her busy playing with toys. I have new toys for her but it seems she is not interested. However Cameo loves them so I am a bit perplexed. So my patience will be tasked to the fullest.
So even though things may seem good at first the ycan turn sour very suddenly. So if you see a blue faced U2 that is Tasha after I let her scream til she was blue in the face. LOL

 

[Mare Miller]

I am going through a screaming tantrum right now with Tasha. She has rally been a challenge the last couple of days. I need to work in my office this evening and all I can hear is this screaming of hers. I have put her down for the night but she is very stubborn. I covered her even though she was never covered before.
I need to get her busy playing with toys. I have new toys for her but it seems she is not interested. However Cameo loves them so I am a bit perplexed. So my patience will be tasked to the fullest.
So even though things may seem good at first the ycan turn sour very suddenly. So if you see a blue faced U2 that is Tasha after I let her scream til she was blue in the face. LOL

I found my male U2 extremely hard to relate to, when thinking like a human. They are wild animals and birds, at that!

When we lived with Amigo in the house all day and night, I had NO clue how to deal with this bird. They definitely aren't like a cat or dog, nor a lizard or snake, for that matter. These large cockatoos have a rough time adjusting to confinement and I can't think that they really do adjust. They are very complicated.

Do you have her cage outside, ever? Is she exposed to any outside views? She might love seeing what's going on outside a room. I feel your pain. I lived it for two years before making a life altering decision to free fly my bird. I know it's not a reality for most bird caretakers. Nor do I recommend it.

If there is a way for you to get your bird outside in a cage, during the day, you will not believe the impact it has on her well being.

 

[Molcan2]

Was cameo a re-home? Not sure if you've had a re-home before or not. With a re-home Too, I would EXPECT a lot of screaming for the first year or so. Tasha has been through a lot, with changes in her old home and now being moved to yours. Toos just don't deal with major life changes very well. She probably is going to take longer to transition into your home. With any re-home large Too, it can take up to a year or two before they accept their new surroundings and settle in. The 'honeymoon' period usually lasts a few days to a month and then they realize that this is really their new place and the screaming starts. The screaming is for sooo many reasons: testing what she can get away with, uncomfortable in her new environment, doesn't understand the change in her normal daily routine, missing her old owner, and simply just not happy yet in her new place. She might be calling out to you to. You said that she is really comfortable with you, she may be calling out to you for comfort. They are on the level of a two/three year old child. In her eyes she was taken from everything she knew and is now living in a strange place with people she doesn't know. It would be unfair (and completely unrealistic) to not expect her to scream a lot in the first few months to a year.

Rome didn't touch a toy for about 6 months or so after coming here. She didn't really start to actually play with them until around 8 months or so. Around 8 months is when she started to settle and stopped screaming. For 8 LONG months, she screamed all the time. It isn't easy for them to transition. Their world has completely been torn apart and they've been given no say in what happens in their life.

With an adult Too that comes from an environment that they are happy in is a way more difficult re-home than one that was completely neglected. She loved her family. Right now she feels abandoned and shes not happy about it. Toos are extremely sensitive birds and she doesn't understand (nor is she comfortable with) the environment that shes in.

Its not easy to take on a re-home Too, but the rewards are so worth it, if you can hold out long enough for her to settle. I always tell people, if your getting a re-home large Too, expect the absolute worst behavior for the first year and if you think you can handle that then try to take on the bird, if you think that in the slightest bit you cant then its not fair to the bird to even try. I would suggest getting a pair of ear plugs for you and your wife.

I agree with MareMiller, I really think a Too does a lot better if they can spend the majority of their time outside.

 

[Kitty]

Wow, thanks for all the info and advice guys. You've really helped.

Since I last posted on here, I've been thinking a lot about getting a Too. I've decided that rather than saying "yes, I want one" or "No, I don't want one"... I'm just going to wait and see what I find...Or what finds me!

A couple of weeks ago I really had my heart set on an umbrella... But after visiting a parrot sanctuary again the other day I noticed that all of the umbrellas were quite motionless, which didn't seem right after all the videos I've seen of them online! I found that the citron crested cockatoos were much more active, playful and inquisitive. It might've just been the time of day because I've heard loads of people say that umbrellas are the most "clownish" of all cockatoos. Anyway, after spending lots of time with the Citron cockatoos, I think I might prefer them to my original first choice of Too especially seeing as a citron is apparently the quietest of the cockatoo family.

Do you think I'm right in having a change of heart, or do you think I simply caught the umbrellas on bad day?

 

[Mare Miller]

Umbrellas, from my experience with just one, do have very quiet times, I call it nap time. They truly are a magnificent bird, just be sure you know what you are getting into.