Sophie got an award from Avian Companions! here is the link to the site
Avian Companions
Sophie is a lesser sulphur crested cockatoo. This does not mean that she is any "lesser" of a bird, just that she is a bit smaller. With the loss of Simon, it didn't seem right to have this big blank spot in our house. My husband and I really missed having a parrot in our lives. We thought that we would wait until Christmas until Sophie picked me.
Sophie saw me when we were walking through the pet store and immediatly started to dance and put her crest up to get my attention. She kept saying "hi!" over and over. I had to admit by that time I was suckered in from the word go. Sophie will never replace Simon, but she is a wonderful companion. She has settled in beautifully and has me wrapped around her little talons.
We feed her the same things that we fed Simon(lots of fruits and veggies)and she seems to be very happy with whatever we give her. She makes less mess than Simon did (maybe because she is a smaller bird) and she is much more dainty than Simon was. Sophie is the same age as as Simon was, six.
When we took Sophie out for her first outside adventure she did excellent. We had only had her for a few days and we weren't sure whether or not she would be nervous. She insisted on sitting on our shoulders so that she could watch everything that was going on. She was most interested in the people that would walk by.
I also had another breakthrough. I was finding it difficult to coax her out of her cage in the mornings. Her previous owner always let her come out of her cage by herself, she never was taught how to step up and get taken out of her cage. After a couple of days of sitting there with almonds to bribe her, I am very pleased to say that I now have a bird that loves to step up in the morning.
Sophie had her first vet visit to get her nails and beak done. She did so well! Her vet wrapped her gently in the towel and she just laid there waiting for the vet to finish. I am proud to say that I am no longer geting skewered by her long nails. Simon used to screech every time he had to get his nails done. He made it sound like quite the ordeal!
The only thing that Sophie wasn't too crazy about was going into the cat carrier. I recommend that when you need to transport your parrot to do so in a carrier. It keeps them out of trouble and your eyes on the road where they should be. We screwed a perch into our carrier and it works wonderfuly. I also make sure to strap the carrier in with the seatbelt just in case anything happens.
THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU CAN LEARN WHEN DEALING WITH PARROTS IS THAT THEY ARE SHALLOW...MEANING THEY REALLY LIKE FOOD AND IT IS A GREAT BRIBE!
COCKATOO BODY LANGUAGE
The biggest challenge that my husband and I had was reading her body language. With amazon parrots, it is very easy. Sophie did some things that left me trying to figure her out.
One of the things that she does is to squat down and start to shake this is a cockatoo's way of saying "could you please do more of that!" it must feel pretty good. I thought that she was having a seizure! :)
Sophie will also scratch her cheek with her foot. This is her way of saying "I'm so pitiful that I have to scratch myself! Could you Please scratch me here?!" I never knew what that meant because Simon used to do it as well. Now I know better and when I see her doing that I will go up and give her a scratch.
When cockatoos fan their cheek feathers over their beaks it means "I'm so sweet, I don't even have a beak!". This means watch out! Your cockatoo may bite you.
Finally, the most well know expression of a cockatoo is to Put their crest up. Cockatoos will do this when they are frightened or excited about something.
She is more difficult to read than Simon was, and I would not recommend a cockatoo as a first parrot because they are a bit more of a challenge. Cockatoos are very sensitive to their environment and if they are stressed, they could scream more and start plucking out their feathers.
Here is a list of words that we have heard her say so far. New words are comming almost every day since we brought Jazz home. Sometimes I find myself reaching for a pen in the middle of dinner, in the middle of a movie, when I am in the bathroom, etc...
Hi
Hello
Hi Sophie(in varying octaves...high pitched when excited)
Good Girl
Hi Sweetheart - My husband calls her this
Hi Soph - I say this to her when I come in the house from work
Night Night
Night Sophie
Goodnight
Goodnight Sophie
Hi Sophie Girl
Hello Good Girl
Bye
Hi Baby
Sophie
Up!
Hi Soph
She also hisses at the cat and anything that scares her (Like my husband)
Oh yeah, I can't forget that she screeches when I don't notice her trying to get my attention...
Here is a few of my favourite pictures of Sophie:
A picture is worth 1000 words!
Whee!!!
Their main meal of the day. Cockatoo Salad!
As you can see, Sophie is excited to have the twins comming soon! I bet she wishes that they would stop kicking her though!
On my favourite cockatoo message board on Mytoos.com, a lady had asked what our cockatoos cost. This is what I posted:
What have our cockatoos cost...
Sophie was 800.00 and her cage was 400.00
Jazz was 525.00 (because she had picked all of her feathers) and her nice big new cage was 400.00 (a steal of a deal). Sophie occasionally costs me my sanity when she has a shreeky day, but that comes with having her and Jazz is good at costing me my hearing when she does her morning wake up call at 8 am. We swear that Jazz can sterilize frogs at 100 paces!
Their toys cost me anywhere from 20-100 dollars a month depending on how much they shred them.
Their perches are free because we go out into the forest and cut them ourselves.
The only thing I regret buying for Sophie was a toy that you fill with almonds that you couldn't refill later. They didn't have a way to refill the toy.
I find it difficult to find almonds in the shell in the summertime and that is their favourite treat.
The first sacrifice in our new house was a door moulding. Turned my back for a minute and there was Jazz with a piece of moulding in her mouth smiling away
I am glad that I bought a decent vacuum before we got "the girls". it has a hepa filter on the front, and the vacuum bags are also filters. The question is, how many brooms do you go through in a year...I am constantly sweeping up after the girls. I think this year for halloween I will be a witch ( I already use a broom about 4 to 5 times a day)
Their seed costs me about 25 dollars a month between the two of them, but I feed them a 7 layer cockatoo salad as their main source of food. I spend an average 15 dollars a week on the fresh fruits, vegetables, and beans for them, as well as another 15 dollars a month for their pellets that they like to throw around
Our girls are noisy, that is why we are renting a house instead of an apartment. They are the celebreties of the neighbourhood here, so it is not much of a problem.
Hope this answers some of your questions !
Miriam
This is a post that my hubby put up after we brought Jazz to the vet:
Yet more costs involved.
Time for an update,
Trip to vet this afternoon for a check up, DNA test, beak trim, nail trim and peace of mind $200.00
Knowing that she is healthy AND happy... priceless.
PS: Seeing the excitement in our Avian Vets face as she sees our rescued M2.....priceless
What the heck, it is only money. And we are talking about our special babies here.
Peter
Below is a communication that I had with a lady named Karleen Davis. I decided that her emails to me would be wonderful to post on my webpage because she says a lot of things that make sense and I thought that I would pass those thoughts on. I figure if you don't have the answers, you should ask some questions. She has a whole bundle of cockatoos and she has worked with them for a while. So here are the posts with her permission:
GOOD MORNING MIRIAM:
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I am hooked on parrots, cockatoos especially. When I began raising birds when I lived in Newport Beach, CA where houses are built 2.5 ft from the property line, raising birds had to be done with much awareness of what sounds might offend your neighbors. When the windows were opened, you could hear your neighbor's toilet flush. However, I really loved it there and I was only 1/2 block from the oceanfront. The "lesser" or smaller cockatoos were known to be some of the quietest and least raucous of the species (an Umbrella or Triton Cockatoo can render you deaf if he gets real vocal). My first cockatoo was Wally, a sweet clown Goffins cockatoo. I had him for nine years and died a very sad and unfortunate death at the hands of a neighbor's crazy dog who chewed his way out of his yard and jumped my fence and snatched him off an open perch a few feet away from where I was working. He was so "cool" that he would even get written invitations to parties and weekend visits to friends. They are an interesting species: very clownish, always doing something, and can even get into trouble in their ventures. Wally loved attention, especially from children, and would do some of the silliest things that would send you rolling with laughter (which would fuel him for more silly stuff). My friend, Pam, has a sweet, affectionate female named Maui who can destroy everything in sight in 15 seconds. She's constantly on the lookout for something to chew or knock over. She looks so sweet and innocent, but look out!! I could have left Wally out for days and not have worried about a thing -- and I have a house full of antiques. But he loved being out and just hanging out with me, shopping, going for a walk on the ocean or just asleep on my shoulder watching TV. When I would come home from work, I would ask him if he wanted out, he would say "Right now, baby, right now!" His cage was in front of some french windows which opened on to the sidewalk and he picked up some great comments from the surfers and beachgoers. I truly miss him still.
But, I had been reading a book on cockatoos by Rosemary Lowe and saw a photo of the little-known Ducorps cockatoo. Several months later I was at a large bird show and in the back of the booth of a Chinese man who sold canaries was a white cockatoo. I recognized the bird right away by its powder blue eye ring. He had bought him in an import lot that came in out of the Solomon Islands. Thinking that he would be able to find a mate, he bought him and then discovered that there were no females around. Nicholas was wild and terrified of me, but I bought him at a fraction of the import price, which was around $2,000. I was absolutely enchanted with him, and so was my vet, and we soon became friends. Although he is still a "wild" bird, and will not perch, I can pick him up with both hands, clip his wings or give him a spring bath, and feed him from my fingers. I too soon discovered that only a single small quarantine lot of Ducorps ever came into the US in 1990 and were soon scooped up by various cockatoo breeders across the country. I think I talked to nearly every major cockatoo breeder in the US in my search for a female for Nick, with poor results. They either had sold them to another breeder because they wouldn't breed, or the chicks were too difficult to feed and wean. I ended up following the recommendation of a breeder in Texas and bought a second generation young female from ABRC in Florida. Since then, I have had the most wonderful experience raising and breeding Ducorps. They are absolutely enchanting, with the most gentle endearing spirit. They are so heavily feathered with long lacy feathers that they appear to be angels. My second pair, Sam and Cassie, I also purchased from ABRC and had them shipped as unweaned babies. Sam and Cassie are so sweet that even my granddaughters can handle them when there are babies in the nest. They love to talk, so they spend very little time vocalizing --which is not really noisy. I have been selling the babies exclusively to Bob in Texas as he wants to increase his gene pool. And, I have BenJammin, who also came to me from ABRC at 42 days. From day one, I knew I had to keep him as a pet and let the world really see what great potential these birds have. So Ben is now nearly 6 years and rules my household. He talks non-stop, has a real love affair going with the cat and his sweetness and affection endears him to you immediately. As are most cockatoos, he is super smart and picks up on everything immediately. he is so mechanical, he can disassemble, weave or unlock anything. His current cage has a key lock. I kept coming home and finding him on top of his cage looking as proud as punch. He even unlocked my Grey's cage and let him out and then took out all of the bolt in the cage. It is really difficult to squash some of his activities, he is so proud of his accomplishments. All of his toys are sealed with "Lock Tight" because he would take them down, remove all of the quick links and then put them in his water dish. this gets old after a few weeks. Now he has lots of rope and leather toys, which he weaves through his cage bars. A very interesting collage. He really tugs at my heart when he says, "I love you guy". Every hour that I am at home, he is out and free to roam, mostly because he will only go potty in his cage or on command and really doesn't get into trouble. When he's headed down off his cage or in a direction I don't want him to go, I just have to tell him "No, not right now", and he will go back. There are time I really think he clearly understands everything that we say to him. So, at the moment I have only 5 Ducorps cockatoos, but I shipped out 5 babies last year. I have a bare-eyed cockatoo (Little Corella), which I purchased from a breeder friend a few years ago along with his sister with the intentions of finishing the weaning and selling them. I had helped Sharon with a bumper crop of babies to feed, so she offered them to me at a token price. I sold Snowflake, the female, and was a sucker for Hawk, the male. He's a bit noisy at times - just being a typical cockatoo, but he's really a clown and a great talker, too. He reminds me a lot of Wally. And I have a Slender Bill Cockatoo, Yogi, that I purchased as a two year old domestic bred and parent raised magnificent wild bird. I have a breeder friend who bought him along with a second which he planned to breed. He was sure, from his experience with cockatoos, that he had a pair. Then, he had them DNA sexed and discovered he had two males instead. He offered one to me and I jumped at the chance. If you've ever seen a slenderbill, you would know why. They aren't very common, and not really "pretty" with their long piercing beak and short crest, but they are big bodied almost like a fat goose, densely white and orange feathered, with a major attitude. I think he was "wild" for about two weeks and has been a lover and a marshmallow ever since. There's nothing I can't do to him, but around strangers other than family, he's a bit territorial. The funniest part is that his beak looks sharp and menacing, but it really can't do any damage. They are root diggers in Australia (and even shot by farmers for their crop damage!) My other birds include an African Cape Parrot, an African Grey (Congo), a pair of Blue Head Pionus, three Caiques (my white bellied Cacique pair should nest this spring!), an Adelaide Rosella, a Port Lincoln Parakeet ("Twenty-Eight" subspecies), and zebra and society finches.
When you mentioned the "beak scraping" -- I know just what you mean. I really believe it is a sign of affection. Yogi, my Slender Bill cockatoo does it all the time, and it really looks scary to an outsider because of his long piercing beak, but he is ever so gentle as he passes his beak across my fingers and even inserts it between them in a rapid motion. He will even do it across my cheek and tug at my nose. It sounds all so menacing but after several years of this crazy activity with no scratches and my nose still intact, I know without a doubt that it is just his way of being affectionate or, perhaps, he thinks he is tickling me back. I love to run my fingers through his dense feathers and tickle him under his wings. He gets a bit "hormonal" in the spring, but at this point I don't think I want to pair him with a mate. I know he would favor the female and we would lose all the enjoyment of his companionship. I would reconsider putting your cockatoo in a breeding situation unless you really want to go into the business of parrot breeding. The bond you build with him as a gentle pet may be lost when the territorial protection of a mate takes over. It is more unusual for a parrot's pet relationship with you to remain once there's a true mate in the picture. Also, depending on your bird's current age, the first season into adolescence with its rush of hormones is often bewildering for a parrot, but if all things remain the same in terms of your response and behavior, she will mellow out and become her old self. I remember Yogi would act wild with me and display a lot and even appear aggressive, but if I didn't react to it or discipline him for it he simmered down. Now it is only an occasional occurrence. Wally went through the "terrible twos" at about three years old and he was a real pain for a few months. He didn't want off my shoulder, was nippy and difficult. After a few months it passed and was really never repeated again. From then on, he was one of the sweetest birds you could ever imagine. I could hand him to the youngest child with confidence. BenJammin has developed a love affair with my cat, Tiger Lily, and it is really funny to watch. When she comes into the room, he will meow to her (really a pathetic should for a cockatoo) and call her "cat-cat-cat". He will climb down and come over and crawl all over her, preen her ears and whiskers and act totally subservient, bowing his head and fanning his tail. If a bird could look "stupid", this is it. So....?? I think when we put parrots in human relationships, it is often confusing for them in terms of mate identity. We just have to help them get past it. My recommendation is not to get Sophie a friend. You will lose a great friend.
Anyway, must get back to real work. Was nice hearing from you. Let me know about you pending purchase of an African Grey -- that's another story.
Warmest regards, KARLEEN
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 11:23 AM
To: Karleen Davis
Subject: RE: COCKATOO BEHAVIOR
Hello Karleen:
Thank you for writing back so promptly. I am sorry to hear about Wally. Only a parrot owner would understand the extent of the loss of a companion. Simon passed away 5 months ago and it is still difficult. I was just kidding about getting sophie a companion. I know what would happen if I did.
So I must ask you, where do you keep all of your birds!? How do you find the time to have one on one contact with all of them? What kind of noise dampening field do you have around your house? lol.
I love the pictures of your babies. they are beautiful.
My husband was asking where you live now. I was not sure so I thought I would ask.
I can hardly wait for the weather to get better here so that I can start taking Sophie out into the big world. I have a few times and she loves it, but with winter here, it has been a couple of months in the house. At least here in Victoria, BC the weather stays fairly mild. I am just waiting for the temperature to go up to about 15 degrees Celsius before I start to take her outside again. That should be by the end of this month (I hope).
Sophie is well behaved. she is quite happy to sit on her perch and watch the world go by. she is quite timid. Do you have any idea of how my husband can get her to like him? she was raised with an elderly lady who never had men around and sophie is scared of my husband. he's a big scary guy with a deep voice. all he wants to do is pet her, feed her, and hold her, but she won't let him near her. Am I never going to see her sitting on his shoulder? she is so attached to me and only wants me. I think that in some ways I must remind her of her previous owner. she is 6 years old.
How can I get her to interact with her toys more? she does not play very much. if I try to show her a toy she runs away from it in a panic.
I finally figured out how to get her to try different human foods by eating it in front of her and saying "yum!". she will go and eat it after that.
She is definitely different than my Amazon was, but I love her to death!
Any response is appreciated.
:) Miriam Lambert
GOOD MORNING MIRIAM:
Didn't get a chance to read your email until just before I was leaving work. But it gave me a chance to think about my reply while driving home last evening. I work in Anaheim and live in a small rural lower mountain town in north San Diego county called Fallbrook. It is woodsy and rural and if you blink you have passed through the village. One major supermarket and quaint restaurants, antique stores and galleries and the feed & fertilizer store that's it. Many of the inhabitants are involved in raising citrus and avocados or breeding race horses, the rest are wealthy doctors or attorneys from the Los Angeles area who own weekend estates or commuters like me who want to live in a hideaway to recover from working in the city. My commute is 78 miles each way, so you know that's NOT the best part of my day. I have a small house on nearly 2 acres at the end of a small lane. I am surrounded by trees and a canyon which offers me much privacy and tranquility after combating the insanity of southern California freeway gridlock. The weather is mild with some freezing in the winter we're only about 12 miles (as the crow flies) from the ocean, so even on a hot summer day we are cooled by ocean breezes in the afternoon. BenJammin, my Ducorps cockatoo, and Shadow, my African Grey, are the only pets that are caged in the house all the time, but the rest are caged outside in protected areas that are sheltered from the elements. I have a large insulated shed with a 20 X 20 outside overhang with drop-down sides, so if it gets extremely cold or windy, they can be easily rolled inside. I have a large open perch stand in the house and I usually have one or two other birds inside there when I'm home and then they just sleep in their cage. I have found that, just like children, consistency in all things keeps them feeling secure and happy. I have routines for feeding and coming and going to work, and they all get their one-on-one attention, even if its just riding on my shoulder while I cook or feed everyone else or water the flowers or wash my car. Shower time is also a great time to spend with your bird. Most of my birds just love the shower in the summer time. I have two granddaughters, and now a third.. who just love the birds. So we often will take long walks and have picnics with them. I am a firm believer in lots of toys and activity objects, and foods that involve a lot of work to eat, like nuts, chicken legs (bone included), whole sunflowers and corn. I feed a variety of foods, I soak sprouts twice a week and cook warm soak-and-cook or other cereal/veggi/pasta mixes twice a week; and I am so fortunate to live in an area where fresh fruits and vegetables are abundant either in my garden or at the local vegetable stand. Yes, they are spoiled, but I have little hollering and everyone is in great feather. If your cockatoo is afraid of toys, it is probably because she was not raised with toys and really hasn't learned to play, but even my wild-caught Nicholas now comes to the front of his cage when he sees me coming with a new toy. I raise my babies in a basket (and later a cage) filled with stuffed washable teddy bears and bunnies, so they are used to being around strange stuff. It seems to me that if I want to introduce something new, even a new vacuum cleaner, it works best if I put it in the area so that it is visible for a while so they can slowly get used to it before they are confronted by it. I don't even allow strangers to rush up to any bird cage. I would suggest putting a new toy on the table near Sophie's cage or on the top of the cage, so she sees it when she comes out. She may feel trapped inside her cage with her new toys. Cockatoos usually like things they can chew up or shred and take apart. There are some neat toys that you can fill with hole nuts and even fruit wedges. These are hard for any bird to resist. They also seem to like things that they can un-knot, unwind or un-ravel or destroy. If you are not already a subscriber, the VERY BEST reading is a publication originated by Sally Blanchard called the Companion Parrot Quarterly formerly the Pet Bird Report? Every word is invaluable. I first met Sally about 10-12 years ago at a bird behavior seminar and she would send out a little newsletter as a follow-up to the participants. It also included articles by other experienced breeders and handlers. It then evolved into one of the best sources of information on nutrition and behavior of pet parrots and it got larger and developed a larger and larger circle of readers. She has a website: Companion Parrot Quarterly . You can subscribe and also read some of her earlier articles. If you can get your hands on some of the past issues of The Pet Bird Report, you will read them like the bible. They make such good sense. No frills and flashy advertising. Just concerned parrot owners and breeders trying to get the best information out there.
As for noise control, I really don't have a problem. All the birds I have chosen are relatively quiet and don't "sound off" like the macaws and larger cockatoos. I have a canyon to the side of my house and I can hear conversations on the decks on the other side. I have tried to choose species that are talkers and mimics, not screamers.
I was thinking about Sophie on the way home. Most cockatoos who are raised in a busy household are pretty flamboyant and venturesome and definitely not afraid of new experiences or toys. They seem to roll with the punches and the more raucous and exciting the better. I have always said that they have at least three screws loose. My best bet is that she was raised in a very conservative household with a very conservative person. Not much singing and dancing and game playing going on. My poor birds have been dancing on the shoulders of my kids to rock music for years. The minute the music starts, their heads are bobbing and their feet are moving but the worst part is when they try to sing! Sophie just needs to loosen up a little just kidding, but give her some time and I think you will see a change. Don't be afraid to dance and sway with her or sing with her, or play catch and laugh and praise her when she acts goofy. Parrots are so much like little children, sometimes a little shy but it doesn't take long to bring them around. You've caught on to one good thing that always works. Parrots always love what you are eating. My parrots can spot a pizza box at 20 yards.
I also think that one reason she is intimidated by your husband may be the lack of social interaction with strangers as she grew up, leaving her primary source of security to be the lady who owned her. I have always let my granddaughters and family handle my babies and young parrots. We are always passing the birds around. It gives them all great self confidence. This too will take time. I would recommend that you and your husband take turns feeding her, putting her back into her cage, giving her treats, etc. Even if he just spends time near her reading the paper to her. That's what I did with Nicholas when I brought him home. He was terrified of me and would scream in fear any time I got near. He had been caught in the forest and then housed here in a large aviary with no close human contact. So, I put him up in my upstairs bedroom in a medium cage and every evening when I got home, I would call up to him to tell him I was home and then I would bring him pine nuts and sit on the bed at the other side of the room and read my mail to him. It wasn't too very long that he would call out to me when I would leave or as soon as I was home. As for food, that's another story he was fed sunflower seeds and mashed corn only before I bought him junk food. Eat pellets no way!! Fruit and vegetables thrown to the farthest parts of the room. One day I discovered he liked warm mashed yams and I started hiding peas, beans and pellets in each spoonful. The change definitely didn't happen overnight but now he LOVES pelleted food, any kind of seed/dried fruit mix, and definitely all fresh fruits and vegetables. You should hear the vocalizations when he eats warm mashed food. I am sure Sophie is intimidated by your husband's lower voice tone and size and a man's body language is so much different than that of a woman. Create situations where you aren't at all in the picture. And where she doesn't feel trapped. Make sure that there is a reward involved. My BenJammin just loves playing games and talking back and forth with my son, but when he comes out on his own he comes over and hangs out with me to snuggle and be scratched. I adopted a wild African Cape Parrot his mother had eaten all his toes in the nest. He doesn't know he should have had toes, so he actually gets around quite well. But when I got KoKo, any time I got near he would scream and growl. He soon developed an admiration for my Grey, so I would go over to see him with Shadow on my shoulder (the reward!!), and soon he became more mellow. They're a funny looking medium bird with a grey head shadowed underneath with orange. Wings and tail are green tinged with black like a Jardines parrot, and with orange splashes at the shoulders and ankles. They have a huge intimidating beak and large dark eyes. He has a most bizarre repertoire of creaking sounds, whistles and noises. Although they are known to be outstanding talkers, I have only heard him say KoKo and a few other subtle mumblings. But over the years, just being patient and kind to him has won out and now he will let me scratch his head and will take food and nuts from my fingers and no more screaming and growling.
Another suggestion is have Sophie perched on your arm (not on your shoulder) while engaging in an ongoing conversation with your husband outside the room and then have him enter the room to give you something or place a paper on a nearby table and then say good bye to you and to Sophie and then return later as if to engage in another conversation or errand with you, but narrowing the distance slowly between Sophie and him. She should soon not perceive him as a threat, especially if he makes no move to take her from you. [ And that is the one move that is very important in sharing your birds with another person. When on your shoulder, the bird perceives that he is there to protect you, and any move by another (no matter how friendly) is perceived as a threat to YOU. Therefore, when another wants to handle your bird, always have it step to your hand and then you hand the bird to your friend, husband, etc. BenJammin is a dear with strangers, but don't let anyone try to take him off my shoulder it's an entirely different story.] Eventually, when she discovers that he is not planning to steal her from you, you should be able to hand her to him, if even for a short period. Then he should give her back to you. And then later repeat the exercise. When she goes to him, praise and thank her. Tell her everything is OK. She will hear the reassurance in your voice. They understand so much. A great example is many years, Chelsea, my African Grey at the time (but now permanently kidnapped by my son), was caged in the family room on the day I brought Shadow home from the breeder. I set the carrier down on the kitchen floor to put water and food in his new cage, not thinking that the breeder did not have cats in her household. My big Siamese mama cat sauntered into the kitchen hardly giving the baby a second look. The young Grey was immediately terrified and let out a frightened scream. As I rushed to see what was the matter, out of the family room I heard Chelsea's calm voice saying, it's all right, you're OK. She had probably heard me say that at some time in the past to reassure another frightened bird or one of my grandchildren. When you get an Grey in your household in the future, you will be in awe of the depth of their intelligence and sensitivity.
Anyway, those are a few of my suggestions. Give it a try along with lots of patience. Sorry to go on and on -- And do look up Sally Blanchards website for her publication and articles.
Have a great weekend. Best regards, KARLEEN
GOOD MORNING MIRIAM:
I was out of the office yesterday, so I didn't see your email until this a.m. I had non-stop houseguests for two weeks over the holidays and I just had to get some things done around the house. Plus, my granddaughter shared her cold with me, so I wasn't moving too fast. That's great that Sophie likes to play ball. I use the larger plastic dog balls with holes all over the outside and have bells inside. They're just like the little balls for budgies but larger and much sturdier plastic. But, as with cockatoos, nothing lasts too long. I just bought BenJammin a new toy --large pieces of colored wood with lots of colored knotted cord and big (1") plastic beads. there's now a huge pile of colored toothpicks on the bottom of the cage and he has most of the knots undone and the balls in his water dish. He has his old stuffed baby toys pile on top of his cage and he likes to throw them all on the floor and then drag them back up to the top. It's a pretty big struggle with some of them that are larger than he is.
I get my seed formula from Omar's Exotic Birds, near where I work and they are big supporters of Sally Blanchard and her work, so they always carry her current issues. I used to breed parrolets for many years and would give copies of one of her magazines and a list of parrolet do's and don'ts when each baby was picked up. Parrolets are another story. I had four breeding pair and Jonathan, my pet, and I had a waiting list for weaned babies a mile long. They are a miniature true parrot the size of a finch, with the attitude and intelligence of an Amazon. Very easy to breed and with such a reward! They are the cutest colorful bundles of love and energy. I would be feeding the other birds, and from the antique cage on my coffee table I would hear this very little voice saying, hurry, hurry, right now! Once someone would see that they could follow commands and could talk, they were in love. I sold a young male to the owner of an exclusive gift shop in San Juan Capistrano he kept Clydie on the counter in the shop and everyone was absolutely taken by him. My Jonathan was one of the sweetest little birds, you could imagine. He now lives with my old neighbor and their three girls. They would spend many of their afternoons playing with him and when their father came over to discuss a young parrolet for them for Christmas, Jonathan was really the perfect choice for them. They knew how to handle him and he just loved them. He would sit on a shoulder with one foot holding on to a lock of hair as they played. If you ever look at expanding your breeding interests, you might consider looking into the parrolet species.
As for posting my email message(s) on your bulletin board, I have no problem with that. It's the same info I usually share with other bird-a-holics.Good luck with Sophie. Give her lots of time and space to be inquisitive; you just can't hold down the cockatoo in a cockatoo. It's in the breed to be wild and crazy. It's too bad her previous owner was so reserved around her she missed out on a lot of crazy antics. One of their basic characteristics is to be a game player, any way you can engage in a game? playing ball, hide-and-seek or anything else is an easy way to get them going. My big slenderbill, Yogi, loves to play hide-and-seek and will try to hide his head under his wing when you say, hide and seek!?
There is also a post here from our friend Donna who has also worked with many parrots. This sounded like great advice so I thought I would post it
Hi Peter and Miriam!
I was reading all the good advice from your friend on your web site.
We have taken a slightly different approach with wild or simply shy birds. I thought you might want to know about it.
With a lot of information you can just try everything and then stick to what works for you and your bird.
We spend a lot of time "socializing" (I hate the expression taming) our birds - that's because we let them move at their own speed which helps them gain confidence.
We start out by putting a chair right near the cage of the bird we want to socialize. Then we spend a good part of each day in that chair. We talk to other people, eat, bring birds in and play with them etc. All of this is to teach them that others do not find us threatening. This stage ends when the bird stops running away from us. It may just stay put where it is or if you are lucky, it may come towards you - albeit very hesitantly.
The next stage takes us out of the chair and in front of the bird. We have found that the most threatening part of human anatomy is the hand. So we stand with our hands behind our backs and talk to the bird. We insert the bird's name in the conversation often so that it knows you are addressing it. Naturally any other bird in the room will try to "capture" your attention. This is very healthy as the bird you are working on will see that other birds enjoy interacting with you. Silly as it sounds, we sing to our birds a lot reworking the words a lot so that their names appear in the song a lot. They all seem to love that.
When the bird shows no stress at this stage it is time to move on. We do all the same things but with our hands in plain sight. At first we move our hands very slowly so that the quick movement doesn't undo all our good work. Gradually we make the movements more normal. Eventually we will fiddle with stuff and eat things in front of them. When they start exhibiting a lot of curiosity it's time for the next stage.
By now you will have observed the things that your bird loves the most. Start leaving this out of what you put into the food cups. This really starts exhilarating the socialization process. At first show the treat to the bird and talk about how good it is. Say things like "Yum yum" and "Mmmm good" and even nibble at tiny bit. After a few times, open the cage and put your hand in with the treat. Naturally this is the most dangerous point. However, by this time, we usually don't have any trouble. Observe the bird's actions carefully and if you see signs of aggression, put it in the food cup and get out of there. Soon they will start rushing over to get the treat.
At that point the technique changes again. Stop putting the food in the food cup. Hold the treat through the bars so that the bird is obliged to come and take it out of your fingers. When this can happen without any sign of aggression, open the door and hold out the food so that the bird must stand close to the door to get it. Gradually get it to stand in the doorway and give it a treat.
Now, at long last you are ready for stepping up training. Get the bird to step up onto your arm and then give it the treat. Each time say "Up" or "Step up". When it steps up give it the treat. After a while give the treat for an advance in behaviour. Walk around with it. Sit down with it. Scratch ears, under the crest, etc. When you are petting it, don't give a treat - the treat is the petting and interaction. By this time you will know your bird's moods and signals very well. Let him tell you what to do next.
From here on in, it is the same as every other trainer's.
We like this method although it is slow because we have absolutely no wish to brake the bird's spirit. Their lively personalities are what we love the most.
So far we have only had 2 birds that didn't respond to this. One would only tolerate me and the other hates all women with a passion. We have used this method on wild-caughts as well as old breeders that have never had human contact.
I hope that this info helps Peter and Sophie. Although cockatoos tend to be one-person birds there is no reason on earth why they can't have a pleasant relationship with their "secondary pets"!!
Take care and we'll write again later.
Donna
SOPHIE'S PAGE
