A cockatoo afraid of perches…

[Ebirb]

Hey everyone!

Very first time posting, so I hope rhis is all done correctly.

Today I brought home my first cockatoo a Goffin. We are his second home and want to take the best care of him possible. I have a lot of parrot experience from volunteering and having my own sweet grey, but I know that there is always more to learn and more situations to encounter.

I need a bit of advice on Teacup, the Goffin who I brought home. The people looking after him gave him up for lack of time and finical challenges. He is only a year old, and so far seems to be a very confident relaxed bird. (Though I know his goofy side will come out when he settles in). The issue I need advice on is Teacup is terrified of perches and branches of any kind. He is terrified of them and will only rest on the floor or on a person. I don’t need to go into why it’s bad for a bird to be on the ground, or why it’s bad for a young too to be held all day. The amount of fear he has for these things is intense, and I don’t know how to approach it.

And advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
Eleanore

 

[zERo]

Hey everyone!

Very first time posting, so I hope rhis is all done correctly.

Today I brought home my first cockatoo a Goffin. We are his second home and want to take the best care of him possible. I have a lot of parrot experience from volunteering and having my own sweet grey, but I know that there is always more to learn and more situations to encounter.

I need a bit of advice on Teacup, the Goffin who I brought home. The people looking after him gave him up for lack of time and finical challenges. He is only a year old, and so far seems to be a very confident relaxed bird. (Though I know his goofy side will come out when he settles in). The issue I need advice on is Teacup is terrified of perches and branches of any kind. He is terrified of them and will only rest on the floor or on a person. I don’t need to go into why it’s bad for a bird to be on the ground, or why it’s bad for a young too to be held all day. The amount of fear he has for these things is intense, and I don’t know how to approach it.

And advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
Eleanore

Wow that's an odd thing for a bird to fear! Is he scared of all perches including all wood types and lengths?
When my Gcc is scared of something new, and he often is, I show him the object from afar and give him a treat, move it a bit closer and if I notice he's even slightly fearful I pull it back a bit, wait for him to be comfortable again and do it over until eventually he will come up and touch it. He does with very 'solid' looking colors like hard plastic wiffle balls.
Have you tried platform perches? Say ones made from pine, fir, or mangrove? They look less like perches, especially pine.
Vet tape wrapping the perches could be a good way to disguise them.
Have you tried rope perches? Or calcium perches made from oyster shells? Both of don't look anything like wood so maybe he won't be so scared?
Working with him on his fear is the only way he will learn that perches won't hurt him. He may have had some traumatic experience with them or was never taught how to perch on branches?
Hope this helps

 

[Ebirb]

Wow that's an odd thing for a bird to fear! Is he scared of all perches including all wood types and lengths?
When my Gcc is scared of something new, and he often is, I show him the object from afar and give him a treat, move it a bit closer and if I notice he's even slightly fearful I pull it back a bit, wait for him to be comfortable again and do it over until eventually he will come up and touch it. He does with very 'solid' looking colors like hard plastic wiffle balls.
Have you tried platform perches? Say ones made from pine, fir, or mangrove? They look less like perches, especially pine.
Vet tape wrapping the perches could be a good way to disguise them.
Have you tried rope perches? Or calcium perches made from oyster shells? Both of don't look anything like wood so maybe he won't be so scared?
Working with him on his fear is the only way he will learn that perches won't hurt him. He may have had some traumatic experience with them or was never taught how to perch on branches?
Hope this helps

Thank you! I appreciate the advice and information. I don’t know the extent of his fear. We only brought him home this afternoon and it was never mentioned to me by the previous owners. They told me that he loves being on the tree outside and he seemed stressed so I brought him to the apple tree in our yard and noticed the fear immediately so I pulled back and he calmed down. Other perches he had a stronger reaction, vocalizing shaking and trying to fly away. (clipped wings)

Our greys feet are very sensitive and prone to issues so we only have natural and rope perches in the house. There is a large hanging branch, two play stands made from cholla, and several other natural wood perches I collect in the fall. He was scared of all of them.

He came with two perches the hard kind to file their nails and had the same reaction. I didn’t try to put him on any rope perches Frankie uses as I’m keeping the birds quarantined from one another and those are more difficult to clean.

There are some rope perches due tomorrow to try. I’ll order some platform perches also for his cage, and take a look at the oyster ones. He was SO upset tonight going to bed. To be selfish, I’m worried about when I’m working. I work from home and can spend a lot of time with him, but I can’t hold him all day and do my job. That would also be really bad for him in the long run.

I need to figure this out in the next couple days.

 

[Icca]

Welcome! Thank you for giving this kid a chance and how lucky are you a grey and a goffin you have smart kids
Anyways I also have a rehome with perch pickyness when I got her home I discovered it all the same way you did. Anything new starts out across the room before I move it close to the cage. That's first thing.
Second my birds fear is related to movement so thick very stable perches are a must. She really likes rope perches but they needed to be supported by branch perches.
This is just a place to start, in a few weeks she has gotten braver when the rope perches move.
Good luck I think once your too is more settled into the home it will be much more willing to try other perches.

 

[Ebirb]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to get you an update.

I went to the shop today and picked up a ridiculous number of perches, swings and platforms in variety of styles and material. One worked. A super soft jute rope. Teacup was willing to get on it and from there very cautiously is exploring the wood perches. I also put some platform perches in her cage which she is willing to use in a “the platform perch is lava” way that will hopefully get more confident with time.

Overall I call that a very successful day. I can’t over emphasize size of the sigh of relief in my soul.

Now I just have to figure out what treats motivate them, and work on getting her OFF the seed diet. I’ve also noticed just the start of feather destruction, so helping with that is also a priority.

I’m so excited to learn more about them overtime and the journey we are on. one day at a time little Teacup; we’ll make a great team.

 

[Ebirb]

Welcome! Thank you for giving this kid a chance and how lucky are you a grey and a goffin you have smart kids
Anyways I also have a rehome with perch pickyness when I got her home I discovered it all the same way you did. Anything new starts out across the room before I move it close to the cage. That's first thing.
Second my birds fear is related to movement so thick very stable perches are a must. She really likes rope perches but they needed to be supported by branch perches.
This is just a place to start, in a few weeks she has gotten braver when the rope perches move.
Good luck I think once your too is more settled into the home it will be much more willing to try other perches.

Thank you so much for your reply and help! I think you are right. For right now I’m trying to reduce stress and create healthy structure and boundaries while they settle in. I was able to find one perch that worked, which I am so glad about. I will keep slowly moving forward from there, letting Teacup decide when they are ready. Thank you again!

 

[Icca]

You're doing great so far! Now's the fun part, hanging out and getting to know each other!

 

[jeffthecockatoo]

Glad you found a perch that Teacup approves of!
Might be late to the thread, but I wonder if Teacup is just fascinated by human feet? I heard many parrots have foot fetishes and that’s why they prefer to be on the floor :’)
Just a funny thought!

 

[Ebirb]

Glad you found a perch that Teacup approves of!
Might be late to the thread, but I wonder if Teacup is just fascinated by human feet? I heard many parrots have foot fetishes and that’s why they prefer to be on the floor :’)
Just a funny thought!

That’s absolutely true for my grey! They loves feet until they move, then it’s a game of bite the toes! No ground time for Rux.

 

[skunkmonkey]

Glad you found a perch that Teacup approves of!
Might be late to the thread, but I wonder if Teacup is just fascinated by human feet? I heard many parrots have foot fetishes and that’s why they prefer to be on the floor :’)
Just a funny thought!

LOL don't even get me started about my Galah with feet. He is obsessed. I learned real fast not to wear sandals around him or my toes would get tickled by his constant exploration. Galah's are naturally ground birds in the wild though, so...