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Umbrellas and Moluccans are the LAST 'toos who should be in captivity in our homes. It's cruel for us stupid humans to ever have thought they could live happily as pets in cages. Inhumane. But the classifieds are not how a responsible person rehomes a bird she loves, and certainly not a cockatoo. The trouble you could put Casper in is nightmarish, easily deadly. Find a GOOD, REPUTABLE rescue organization and talk with them about how you might find a GOOD home for him:

http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org/

http://www.phoenixlanding.org/

http://www.mickaboo.com/index.html

Notice that I'm not saying to find a rescue to TAKE Casper. They're all full of unwanted 'toos who've been driven to the brink of insanity in captivity as "loved pets." But they care enough about Casper to give you good advice on how you can help him. Please don't just dump him.

Bluesbird Exotics wrote:Umbrellas and Moluccans are the LAST 'toos who should be in captivity in our homes. It's cruel for us stupid humans to ever have thought they could live happily as pets in cages. Inhumane.

Blue Bird ... Who is your expert or from what knowledge do you base anything like this?

Simply, it takes someone special to understand and live with a Too!

They are delightful as (the OP) you mention in your posting when around you. And yes they can get "testy" at times. But I can't remember any other bird who acts so lovingly toward their human companion then the Too. I have a female U-Too over 21 years old and sooner or later ... you either love them with all their difficulties or hate them.

As for you Bluebird Exotics.. try owning some of the birds you speak about before you put your extremely large foot into your tiny mouth. I might suggest staying in the Cockatiel section as that forum has the birds you have experience with. As for calling us stupid humans, I'll just consider that one of the many wrong and off topic comments you have made here in your short time and another example of your intelligence and worth as a poster.

Take your meds, Dutch

Bluesbird Exotics wrote::lol: Take your meds, Dutch

Your the one off your rocker

Imagine calling us stupid humans... and thinking your going to get away with it?

Just who in heck elected you and gave you the power about which birds we should have and which we shouldn't?

Come on Blue Bird... tell us about all the Toos you have owned?

You constantly come on here and write about stuff you have no idea about. Just what in the heck do you think you are doing?

As in this topic, you play into the feelings of people who are looking for an answer, and then you come from "left field" with no merit what so ever. You may be an expert in your own mind Blue Bird but your postings tell us everything we need to know.

Thank you purpleheart. I honestly am just looking for maybe some advice on this issue.... I didn't go out and trap the bird and bring him home!! As a matter of fact I'm trying to do the right thing in finding out the information that i can because i don't want to as bluebird put it "dump him off" . He is the most loving affectionate thing i've ever had. He craves people's attention, that's my problem. It's not like he just wants to fly away and never look back at "stupid humans" ever again. That bird would be on my shoulder permanently if he could. I just need to find some kind of happy medium. Where we can all enjoy him, but also have a break time once in a while where he can amuse himself......and not just scream.

Now thats the kind of attitude you will find replies on here. As I am writing this my 2 is going off as well. But I have found a place in my mind and heart for her antics and hoping you do too. You can not change your bird. This is how they act in the wild as well. While in the US Marine Corps I attended several training missions (Kangaroo 1 & 2) where we landed on several islands in the South Pacific that had native homes to our beloved birds. Imagine seeing 1-2000 of them making the same noise? or for that matter getting spooked and flying off together, it was enough to turn the sky "White"

You just have to reach down in your heart of hearts and find that special place for your bird and understand that this is what they do and you can not (repeat can not) change this. It is mind over matter, being the human, or any other colloquial phrase I can find. But there are advantages to having your friend, use that as your inspiration and grow to love him no matter what he sounds like.

That's the best I can do, hope I didn't offend you, but it was my hope for you to stand up and accept this and not dump him off on somebody else who might for a better term not be so compassionate.

Dutch

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Re: Caspers last chance....

Postby Greengrrrl on Sun Oct 04, 2009 2:30 am
Hi.....I want to say, I sympathize with you and understand.....depending on your living situation, it can be hard or unbearable living with a screamer.

Parrots scream......cockatoos in particular scream. That's not to say they can't be trained to curb their vocalizations, however, if this bird came to you as adult, no way of knowing how long the bad behavior has been reinforced. Any animal, worked with can be turned around, that includes the screaming, however, it takes a considerable amount of time AND work. I do sympathize especially with you because my female Amazon is a screamer and had 7 homes before me that I was told of. While her behavior has vastly improved, to this day, almost a decade later, she'll still occasionally have melt down tantrums of screaming. Luckily with all the years of research and work I did with her, she's nothing like she was when she came home, but I have to stay on my toes and if I get tired or busy and lazy with using the right techniques, we backslide (I say WE because it's a team effort.) But we do backslide sometimes and the neighbor's are treated to me and the parrot, having a screaming match with a lot of "be QUIET!!!" and even some "shut UPS!!!!" I don't recommend that, but the point is, it's not a perfect road working with a screamer, we're only human, so your aggravation is completely understandable, I've been there, but it can be done. (my amazon screamed pretty much ALL time time when she first came home and the first week, I had to put her in a pitch black bathroom to sleep where she'd scream for a while before falling asleep. Those days are LONG GONE.....THANKFULLY. But believe me, I KNOW!)

1 year is not a very long time to work with a cockatoo, particularly one that came to you with a screaming problem. And the issue might never be "perfect," but that doesn't mean it cannot be made to be tolerable enough that all his wonderful qualities make it worth it. But an issue like a screaming parrot cannot be answered on a chat board.....you have to bring in a REAL behaviorist, you have to make an effort on your own to read up on different techniques (positive reinforcement is the most effect in my opinion, look up a book called "Don't shoot the dog," and you have you family on board to contribute to the training (it's no use training an animal, if they live with other individuals that send conflicting messages to the animal,) and most importantly you have to be PATIENT. There are techniques you can look into......when he's screaming because you're out of sight it might be a contact call......I know someone who's trained her bird to whisper back to her and makes it a game. Or in our house, there are times when the music is blaring, hubby singing along and the parrots are all screaming as loud as they can.......it's a screaming session and when it's over, we're all quiet. A cockatoo might just have to scream for 15 minutes a few times a day.....but you can work with his natural behavior so you stay sane.

To be frank, this problem won't go away overnight, but to also be frank, if you took on the responsibility of this parrot, you should know that screaming cockatoos are quite common and people are not lining up to take them as pets. Every shelter and rescue out there is inundate with them. And I know sometimes people like to just dump them on the few people who are willing to take them, but keep in mind that for every kind hearted person that really has the time, resources and ability to take care of them, don't clear your conscience too easily because there are plenty of crazy hoarders that take in too many animals and then the animals don't really have the quality of life they deserve. If you pass him on to another home yet again, you are most likely going to increase in insecurity and YOU ARE GOING TO ADD TO HIS ISSUES. Make no mistake about it, you will be compounding the problem.

That said, I understand that not everyone has the time, effort and skills to work with screaming cockatoos (that's why there's so many thrown away.) I guess you have to make a choice if you want to do it. Truthfully, chances are you didn't "socialize" him at all and he probably lost his last home due to screaming, he was social to begin with and someone lied to you. That's pretty common. If he was insecure or shy at first, it's probably because the last love of his life couldn't deal with his screaming either and gave him away.

Greengrrrl wrote:Parrots scream......cockatoos in particular scream.

Any animal, worked with can be turned around, that includes the screaming

my female Amazon is a screamer

But believe me, I KNOW!)

You do not know about a "Cockatoo Scream" unless you have heard one. They are actually deafening to the ear drum. I'd take a whole aviary full of Amazons screaming to the top of their lungs over one Adult Cockatoo. In fact there is a web site directed to this very fact (before you buy a Cockatoo listen to the scream, and it's recorded, and suggested to turn up the volume on your PC to its highest level to get the same effect)

Now this poster goes to say some great things about re-homing or rescues and I'd have to say this is some good information. But the thing I'd like to say is don't give up. If the U2 does not stop screaming, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT, and there is no magic bullet to stop this. Again it is the human who has to change here not the bird.

Hi there,

It's hard when a bird has learned to scream so well. You're right on the money in that you've reinforced it judging by what little you posted here. Ignoring screaming behavior is never a solution because what happens is we end up going to the bird sooner or later and bam....we've just reinforced it. We end up reinforcing longer and longer periods of time and before you know it we have a 24/7 screaming Cockatoo in our house. These are REALLY smart birds, they learn quickly. Instead of only ignoring start reinforcing another sound. Teach him another way to communicate with you. Maybe he says hello, or whistles, coos but every time he does that sound (and you can start out reinforcing more than one if you like) run to him, praise him, give head scritches (save those scritches for reinforcement), if you're already with him then praise him for the sound, work on teaching him the sound you have chosen is what gets you to him. If he has a favorite food such as almond, use that as a reinforcer as well. Don't give him entire almonds though. Break almond slivers into 2-3 pieces, sunflower seed break in half...anything you use, make it small, it'll give more mileage out of that reinforcer. Then work gradually such as leaving the room and immediately re-entering before he starts to scream. PRAISE him for being QUIET...praise praise praise the behavior that you WANT him to do, quiet being one of them. Changes won't happen overnight but you should be able to work this out and I would hope seen an improvement at least within a few weeks.

Also work on his environment. Make sure he has plenty to do that doesn't involve you. Take a look at http://www.parrotenrichment.com and you'll see some wonderful free downloadable books with foraging ideas and lots of other great ideas to enrich the environment such as the use of positive reinforcement for desired behaviors. If he needs to learn how to do some different things then be his teacher. Interactions between the two of you should involve games, chatting but not any excessive cuddling, petting, stroking as this can lead to problems such as screaming too. Scroll down on this page and you'll see a few Cockatoo articles.
http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org/training.html At the top of the page you'll also see articles by Susan Friedman PhD. Being at home he should have projects to keep him busy. When you leave you might put a favorite toy in his cage at that time.

Shauna

Thank you for all of the good advice. I'm sure that you all just think that i'm some dumba** who bought a bird because I thought it was "cool" or something but that really is not the case. I only reached out becuase I would much rather find a solution to the problem, rather than give up. This is my first bird, and if his screaming only affected me, i could deal with it. I was given an ultimatum becuase it is just getting worse and worse. I admit, I don't know what i'm doing. I give him everything that he needs, he is very well taken care of. As far as the training aspect of it, it's confusing to me whether the things I'm doing are right or wrong. And obvoiusly, over the time that his screaming has gotten worse and worse, I'm doing the wrong things. I've always tried to ignore bad behaviour and reward good with my pets, it's harder with the bird, becuase he demands and doesn't give up. But he does talk and interact with me, and rewarding the talking to get my attention makes so much sense, I just wasn't thinking clearly becuase he's been ringing in my head for weeks now. The past couple days have been better. I really appreciate the advice.

I do think that cockatoos can make good pets for some people. Unfortunately, because cockatoos are known for being affectionate and cuddly, people spoil them in the beginning. Parrots are not little people. It is important for birds to be birds.

How can you NOT expect that this bird would have separation issues? Casper is only 3 years old, and you are his 5th home. He has been abandoned repeatedly. His family (now you) is his flock. When a parrot loses it's flock in the wild, it's life is literally in danger.

Based on your post, there is a lot of information missing. All you've really said in your posts is that Casper wants attention and screams. It's difficult to tell if Casper's basic needs are being met. Since this is your first parrot, I'll just mention a few things that popped into my head.

Does Casper have a large spacious cage? Personally, I don't think you can ever buy too big of a cage, as long as the bar spacing is appropriate.

Where is the cage located? Is it somewhere that Casper can see you when he's in his cage? My house is pretty open, and my bird room can be seen from the kitchen, dining, and living areas. Even when I'm not giving my birds one-on-one attention, they get lots of ambient attention. As I'm doing dishes or other chores, I talk to them occasionally. If they say something to me, which I consider a desirable behavior, I talk back. This way, they know they are not being ignored.

Does Casper have lots of toys in his cage to keep him occupied? A busy cockatoo is a happy cockatoo is a quiet cockatoo. At least that's been my experience. Yes, I do have two rehomed cockatoos. Then again, sometimes a cockatoo likes to make noise just for the sheer joy of hearing itself.

Does Casper get a minimum of 10-12 hours of sleep a night? Not getting enough sleep can have a huge effect on a bird. My birds get crabby and are noisier when they do not get enough sleep. If you are in the habit of staying up late, watching TV, then that room would not be a good choice for Casper's cage because the TV would interrupt his sleep. A friend of mine has a "sleep room" with sleep cages for her birds because their main cages are in the living room. This works well for her and her birds, and she said they seem more rested.

Is Casper getting a good diet? What are you feeding him?

Is Casper getting regular showers? Many cockatoos love their showers, and it's good for them. I take mine in the shower with me on a regular basis. Afterward, they are content to hang out in their cage while they are drying naturally. Some people use blow dryers on their birds, but I prefer not to because of two reasons. Blow dryers can dry out their skin. Also, I read a long time ago that birds expend energy by drying naturally.

When you spend time with Casper, what do you do? Hold and cuddle and stroke him? You should keep the petting to the head and neck areas only. You should not stroke the back or under the wings. This can be very confusing to a parrot, especially when it reaches maturity, because stroking or petting these areas can sexually stimulate a parrot.

Does Casper play with toys in his cage? It is important for birds to be able to occupy themselves since we all have to work for a living. Unfortunately, some cockatoos never really learn to play with toys because their owners never taught them. Cockatoos are incredibly smart. They like interactive or puzzle toys - toys where they have to figure out how to get a treat are often a good choice. They also need to chew up lots of wood. If Casper seems reluctant to play with toys, try playing with him. Sometimes a bird will want a toy if you have it and play with it in front of him.

You did not put your location in your profile so I have no idea if there is a rescue in your area that might be able to assist you. Many will work with you to help keep a parrot in it's home. However, as others have said, it is not something that will happen overnight.

There was one thing in your post that really bothered me. You wrote that your boyfriend gave you an ultimatum about getting rid of Casper. Did you have Casper before you moved in with him? If not, did you boyfriend approve of you bringing Casper home?

petdiva wrote:...There was one thing in your post that really bothered me. You wrote that your boyfriend gave you an ultimatum about getting rid of Casper. Did you have Casper before you moved in with him? If not, did you boyfriend approve of you bringing Casper home?

It's the BF's ultimatum that most likely dooms Casper to be abandoned yet again, sooner than a 3-year screaming habit could probably be unlearned. Whether he agreed to living with Casper a year ago really doesn't matter IMO. Since he's changed his mind, Casper knows it. He feels it, hears it, and sees it whenever the BF is anywhere around. They are extraordinarily skilled at body language, reading ours before we're even aware of feeling anything

Of all the many birds I've lived with, my Moluccan was the most emotional. He reacted to both joy and distress felt by his parronts, flockmates, and dogs. His emotional reactions usually lasted longer than anyone else's too. Once, a dog jumped another, causing the smaller dog to yelp in pain. It took a few minutes to realize the continuing screams were the 'too's, not the dog's, and long minutes more before the 'too could be persuaded that all was well again. VERY perceptive beings.

I feel badly for you, Amy, being pressured by your BF, but I feel much worse for Casper. He's not even sexually mature yet. If no one takes the time to help him now, what does his future hold? Solitary confinement in a garage, a dark basement, a closet? He wouldn't be the first by a LONG shot. That's why your "He has to go!" scares me so badly.

I posted in the Bird Chat section about this.

[b][/b Have u ever tried leaving him out of his cage?? when your gone? Does he get off his cage when your home that is? Mine will scream when he's in his cage but when I let him out he stops still wants the attention but he's not out yelling the football game 20 miles down the road lol Anyhow if he stays on his cage try leaving him out ... Don't give him away....I have 6 of the different two's they are all different in their actions and the amount of yelling they do....may I ask what state your in? thanks for the story and hope your able to keep him they do become part of ya at least mine do