Growing behavior issues

[Ipena92]

hello everyone ,

My name is Irving and my girlfriend and I adopted a 12 year old cockatoo nearly a year ago. Up until about 3 months ago she was practically the perfect bird , give or take some property destruction and a little screaming she instantly took to both of us and even interacted with any and all guest we had over . However recently she has started displaying a lot of maladaptive behaviors and we're pretty much at a complete lost. She doesn't tolerate anyone who isn't me or my gf anymore and has started biting. Really she only kind of tolerates me now because she bites me real randomly now and it's getting worse because admittedly I've been scared to interact with her, which I know is the wrong response but bites hurt. She is extremely overly attached to my gf and will scream her head off for hours on end if my gf isn't directly interacting with her or very near by. Basically she can't be left alone for more than a couple of minutes without screaming bloody murder and I can't pick her up without getting bitten.

Some pertinent info, we have 3 other pets a cat and 2 dogs and the bird was the last one to join the family. She use to hate them and bite them all the time , now she only bites me and guest.

We went on vacation about 4 weeks ago and left her with neighbors (male and female) she bit the male and ignored the female and shortly after that started biting me as well.

Any advice anyone could offer would be amazing... I don't want to relocate her but right now I can't get near her and my gf is exhausted mentally . Please help !

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome!
Cockatoos are such a special bird that I'll leave you to the experts here.
Meanwhile, the SEARCH tab above is great... maybe look for 'cockatoo aggression', etc.
Good for you for reaching out!
And good luck!

 

[jm0]

The perfect bird doesn't exist. Socialization is key, and is something a bird is learning throughout their entire lives. If she bites then don't try to pick her up, maybe she just wants to be left alone for a bit. Don't expect her to always step up and never bite. Ask anyone in here, even the best trainers/owners can't say their "step-up rate" is a 100%. And the biting issue is just something you have to become a master in avoiding, it's an art form in it's own. A good tip will be to always have a piece of wood or another object in your pocket to redirect the bite to the object instead of your fingers. This method worked for me, now he almost never bites me, and if he does it's either my own fault, or he is just using his beak to grip while climbing around on me. Learn to read behaviour, and avoid all situations where biting might occur, read your bird. And as far as guests, the people you bring into your bird's environment, are all different. Some are kind and calm, while others might be scaring to your bird. It's a potential threat. Parrots are prey animals, and are always on their guard, remember this. Tell new guests to just ignore the bird to begin with, and only let them interact with the bird on your terms, if the bird is freaking out, then don't allow them to interact, but if your bird shows signs of curiosity towards the guest, then give her a chance to slowly approach the person and observe what she is doing and communicating. Instruct the guest with little commands in how to approach the bird. "then slooowly, do this.." you can pet her head gently now..." etc. Parrots are complex and extremely sensitive animals.

How did she handle the whole vacation scenario? Did this sudden change in behaviour start after coming home? Maybe this is your answer to the problem, she thought you've left her for good, and is still pissed and stressed about it? Or did it start way before the vacation? Try to think it through, when did the behaviour change, and what could have caused it. You have the answer. Try talking to the neighbors about how they handled her? Maybe they abused her out of not knowing better, getting angry at the bird for biting etc. Are your neighbors also bird owners? Are they qualified for baby sitting a parrot?

Hope this is helping you and your girlfriend, to understand your bird a little bit better.