Goffin cockatoo behavior

[mica21493]

Hi! I adopted a 10-12 year old Goffin Cockatoo on Tuesday. The vet thinks the bird is male. The feathers on his legs are gone and he chewed the rest of his feathers terribly. He tested negative for PBFD, polyoma, and psittacosis, but I've still got him quarantined for the next month or so. He has some behaviors I'd like to ask you all about...
1. He sleeks his feathers and puts his down like he is bowing. With my TAG she wanted head scratches but when I try to touch him he moves like he doesn't want to be touched. My IRP would do this with head bobbing and wing flaring and it was breeding behavior. I'm just not sure with this guy, he totally freezes when he puts his head down and his neck is kind of rounded.
2. When he is with me, if my husband gets too close, he bites me. Vice versa if he is with my husband. He bites hard enough to break skin and leave bruises.
Anyone see these types of behaviors before? Any advice on the biting? Currently we tell him no bite, move him off of us, and ignore him for a few minutes.
He's quite the little clown, hopping and dancing around and I adore him already. We are doing no body petting, just head scratches. We are working on step up, step down, transitioning to pellets and fresh food, and making a big deal of playing with toys (which he has no interest in at this time).

 

[Siobhan]

I don't know about goffins, but my U2 does the biting when he's on my lap or arm and my husband goes by. It's kind of part warning (DANGER, Will Robinson!) and part territorial (it's MY turn with her, you need to go away right now!) and since he can't reach Bill to chomp him, he chomps me. Rocky also chomps me when he's happy and excited. I guess chomping is just what he DOES.

 

[mica21493]

Lol, I guess we will be taking turns with him and giving each other lots of space when we have him out then. I had to take him to the vet today and he is extra skittish and bitey. Poor guy has been through a lot these last two weeks.

 

[Siobhan]

That's probably best. Also, he's just getting used to you, so he's probably skittish and everything startles him right now. Birds are nervous creatures, even bigger ones.

 

[noodles123]

I cant say for sure, as I have an Umbrella, but with her, it was/is VERY obvious when she wants/wanted to be touched and it was more along the lines of not jerking when I raised my hand near her face, and wanting to step up on her own.
If your cockatoo is lowering its head, that probably doesn't mean pet me (at least based on what I know from mine). With my umbrella, that means, "I am thinking about jerking my head to bite or running toward you".
Now, I could be wrong, but with my "too" that whole head lowering for a pet thing just isn't typical---I'm actually not sure that she has ever done it BEFORE I was already actively petting her head. She will when I am petting her, but never before.

 

[mica21493]

Thank you both. That is good to know about the head lowering/petting thing, I won't be attempting to pet him when he does it again. Maybe once I know him better, I'll figure out what it means for him

 

[Scott]

Congratulations, Goffins are extraordinary birds!

I've found eye color to be a reasonable indicator of sex with this species. Coal-black generally signifies male, brownish iris denotes female.

Displaying as described seems to imply "begging" but being new to you implies confusion. As if he wants touching but is slightly afraid. I've found them to be extremely tactile and craving of physical contact.

Might consider bite pressure training: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

Have you offered soft wood toys? Mine all love to chew and easily tackle macaw-sized blocks.

 

[mica21493]

Thank you From a few feet away the eyes look black, if you get up pretty close, the iris is dark brown.
He definitely is craving physical contact, he sidles up to me sideways frequently and sits just touching me and he uses his feet to grab me a lot and wants head scritches. Good to know about the begging/uncertain behavior.
That article on bite pressure training is GREAT and has great links, thank you! I'm going to use it with my macaw too.
I don't have good options from stores around here for bigger toys so I bought him a knotty rope toy to preen, a shredding toy that has the tiny crinkled strips of paper in it, and a kabob shreddable. He actually started chewing on the kabob last night I have an online order in for lots more toys to see what I can get him interested in.

 

[Scott]

Thank you From a few feet away the eyes look black, if you get up pretty close, the iris is dark brown.
He definitely is craving physical contact, he sidles up to me sideways frequently and sits just touching me and he uses his feet to grab me a lot and wants head scritches. Good to know about the begging/uncertain behavior.
That article on bite pressure training is GREAT and has great links, thank you! I'm going to use it with my macaw too.
I don't have good options from stores around here for bigger toys so I bought him a knotty rope toy to preen, a shredding toy that has the tiny crinkled strips of paper in it, and a kabob shreddable. He actually started chewing on the kabob last night I have an online order in for lots more toys to see what I can get him interested in.

Hmmm, my female is distinctly brown in any lighting, so yours is likely a male.

I think a bit of adjustment time will reconcile his desire for physical contact with newness to you and your home. He's likely extremely conflicted but desirous of a relationship.

If he likes chewing wood toys, a good solution is to purchase a long plank of untreated 2 x 4 from a lumber or "big box" store and have them cut into one-foot sections. Drill a hole in the center and hang from a chain. Sounds like a massive block, but mine will decimate one in a week or so.

 

[mica21493]

Wow, they are quite the chewers, I will keep that in mind. So far, he has just touched the kabob, but when I take him out and play with him I am sure to include the other toys to try to get him interested. He tried out his swing for the first time today
And oh my gosh, he is so adorable when he dances. My husband and I like to sing and Little Bird just went to town when we were singing Rudolph. Crest up, wings out, bobbing and swaying and a nice big hop!

 

[Scott]

You mentioned chewed feathers, have you observed plucking? Little Bird may be at greater risk during the transition period in your home. Plucking is one of the most difficult behaviors to manage. Good info here: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

 

[mica21493]

The vet said he feels Little Bird plucked in the past. His legs are bare with no pin feathers so he doesn't think they will grow back.
I have noticed that not only does he shred his feathers, he snaps them off though not in front of me, I've found them in the bottom of his cage and when I pet him I can feel the prickly ends. I am concerned about that, I was trying to read up on it, thank you for the article, I'm sure the same principles apply.
We did give him a shower yesterday and his feathers looked a lot better once they dried and he actually seemed to go after them less. I need to get some better pictures of him. I did upload photos in an album though

 

[Laurasea]

It takes a lot of nutrition and extra calories to regrow feathers. A plucker is putting a lot of strain on their body because if that. I don't know how bad his plucking is...but he might benefit from a little extra protein. I might have some links I will look.
Also if you live were it's cool, I like the sweeter Heater you can find on Amazon, it's a radiant heat panal, and outs off a lot of heat. So I hang mine low on one corner do they can choose to be by it or move away. The smallest size the sell is more than enough.

Ok saw your lovely parrot picture! What a nice flock! Your baby isn't bare so you are not as bad off as I was worried about. The heater is great to have though, incase if illness, or as a place to stay warm after baths. I'm in Florida and mine use it after baths.

 

[mica21493]

Yes, I do live where it's cold and I have forced hot air so it's dry too. I have humidifiers in both rooms I have the birds. I have the K&H snuggle up bird warmer, from when Mica was sick, which I was thinking about putting in his cage. He is upstairs now due to quarantine and it's quite warm up there, once he moves downstairs it will be cooler (we have a very old house). The sweeter heater looks great, thank you! I will keep that in mind.

 

[Scott]

Lovely flock images, thanks for uploading. Little Bird is in better feather than I had expected. Frequent bathing may substantially help, but temps ought be reasonable.

 

[mica21493]

I just wanted to give you all an update on Little Bird. I was terribly panicked because I could not find a food he would eat enough of to sustain himself and he was losing weight, only 4 grams but enough to totally freak me out. I tried three kinds of pellets, dried and soaked, pasta, potatoes, carrots, peppers, corn, peas, bread, toast, rice, oatmeal, apple, blueberries, two kinds of bird seeds...even sunflower seeds, peanuts, peanut butter on a piece of cracker, walnuts, and hand feeding formula. The poor guy just kept searching and searching through his food bowl as if he was looking for something. I really wish I knew what his diet was before. I thought he had small poop though my vet wasn't concerned when he saw it. I'm so glad he told me to weigh him every day!
I really thought he must be sick and I was beside myself because I could just not get him to eat enough and had a vet visit scheduled but cancelled it when I finally hit a winner with nutriberries and scrambled eggs...of all things. He quickly gained the weight back and has been eating quite heartily each day since, (I do limit his scrambled eggs). Whew! I've already snuck some doses of benebac in his scrambled eggs and plan to introduce him to other foods this way.
His personality is really starting to shine through. He is vocalizing more and dancing and hopping even more than he was. He's taken a couple of hard landings when he tries to fly, his wings were cut way too harshly especially for his feather condition, so I'm trying to be really careful with that. He willingly steps up to come out of his cage and will now sit on the perch on the scale too. He is using all of his perches, his swing, exploring his toys, and has even come out and crawled down to grab a sheet of newspaper out of the bottom of his cage to tear up. He loves to sit with me and nibble at my hands and get head scritches. Unfortunately, he has bitten my husband, who isn't really a bird person to begin with, one too many times and so he no longer gets hands on with him though he is able to talk to him and pet him through the cage bars and the bird seems happy enough with that. It seems strange to me though that he asks for head scritches through the bars but if he is out, he is just as likely to bite my husband as he is to ask for scritches. And they are hard bites, he leaves bruises and breaks skin. He got me good once and lunged for me a few times. We are still figuring each other out and overall I think it's been very, very positive.
Oh and he doesn't do that freeze and bow thing very often at all anymore. His latest interesting behavior is a kind of squat walk with his head up but crest down that makes him look pretty regal. He only does it for a few steps and he usually does it when I put him back in his cage. He is quite a character!

 

[Laurasea]

What a nice update! Great job!
On the husband and cage petting, he feels confident ( husband) so parrot doesn't bite. But when out if the cage your hubby isn't so trustful, maybe nervous, anticipating, and do bites happen. Parrots read us do well.... Just a thought, might be off base

 

[Betrisher]

It's so nice to hear some positive news about your Little Bird! Well done! He's clearly gaining confidence in you.

It's very easy to get despondent with cockies because you feel so darned *responsible* for everything that goes wrong. Sometimes, though, things just happen because of baggage from his past or something you didn't notice that upset him or simply that he got out of bed on the wrong side. I found I did much better with my Rosetta when I just *relaxed* and made a conscious decision to actually train her rather than simply react to the things she did.

Target Training. I rave on about it all the time, but it saved our relationship, so I'm a Believer! It gives you a way to communicate with your bird that is only positive: he touches the stick, you give a reward. Everyone wins and so everyone's happy. Also, cockies *need* stuff in their lives to make them think. They're too smart to simply hang out with you all day. They need jobs, training, tricks, exercise. Target training can supply all of the above. I was *so* proud of Rosetta, the day she flew across the room to touch my stick! We had finally connected and done something we both understood! Yay us!

One other thing I'll mention that you probably already know is that you should always move slowly and purposefully around your bird, especially when he's new and/or skittish. I've watched various bird trainers on YouTube and without exception they all move slowly and definitely without fluttering or faffing about. If disaster happens, they fix it slowly and calmly and then follow up with a positive, rewardable thing (such as 'step up'). When I stopped and made myself move slowly, I found Rosetta responded much more positively and paid much better attention.

Good luck with Little Bird! It'll take time, but it'll all be worth it!

 

[Scott]

Wonderful update, suspect more to come! Trish suggested Target Training, check out this link: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html

Parrots can be quite stubborn with food. I've seen them dis food(s) for decades and suddenly sample and love. I easily transitioned my entire flock to Harrison's Pellets. Mentioned not to market a product but rather share their protocol that ought work for any brand pellet: https://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/using-our-foods/large-bird-conversion/

Goffins can inflict painful and deep bites but are capable of mitigating the pain when they want to "discipline" you. http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

 

[mica21493]

Thank you all! I posted a new pic of Little Bird (as well as Bebee) in my album if anyone gets a chance to take a look. I'm still figuring out how to post the pic on a message.
Yes, I was feeling very despondent with him and my nerves were totally getting the better of me. I started target training with my B&G and it's wonderful. Thanks for the links too, I'll be checking them out.