ShreddedOakAviary
New member
- Jul 13, 2011
- 591
- 5
- Parrots
- M2's, U2's, G2's, RB2's, VOS, RLA's, BFA's, DYHA's, Dusky Pionus, Blue and Green Quakers, Meyers Parrots, VOS, GW Macaw's, Harlequin Macaws, Tiels, YNA, TAG's, CAG's, Blue Crown Conures, Red sided Ecl
I thought that perhaps sharing the stories of Gus and Gabby might help people dealing with problem cockatoos realize that no bird is ever so far gone emotionally that it cannot enjoy life. We'll start with Gus...
Gus came to me with no feathers, a violent biting bird, who was also prone to angry violent outbursts that seemed to come from no where. He had been owned by someone who got bored with him, and then got desperate for money, and his owner sold him to a breeder.... The breeder put him with a hen, and in the first day Gus had killed his that hen. He went to a parrot rescue that adopted him out twice and got him back both times, then he spent time bouncing from one foster home to another... never staying anywhere more than about a month. The rescue finally talked a nice lady into adopting him (without any warning that he would not do best with other cockatoos in the house. She called a very well known bird lady here, who called me to see if I would work with him. (She calls my house Cockatoo heaven because for some reason cockatoos and I do very well together)... I agreed to take him... I knew that no matter what this had to be Gus' last home. The first order of business was diet, I learned years ago that if you cut the protien out of a male cockatoos diet they almost instantly stop being overly aggressive. For protien with my cockatoos we use Tofu, lentils, and chick peas only. He calmed down some on a new diet and stopped shredding his feathers. I moved him into a cage that was slightly smaller than any of his previous cages and put him in a corner so he could feel a bit more secure. I covered half the cage, over the other half I put a UVB fixture and gave him access to a window looking out over our north tree line. He started to let me touch him, started comming out of his cage (I never forced him out, and it took months of leaving the door open before he would venture out on his own.) I started using a product called Avicalm in his food daily and I gave him a makeshift nest to fill with destroyed wood and paper... he finally was going through mating behavoir during mating season with something to do ther than attack me or tear at himself. I don't necessarily reccomend doing that, but with each cockatoo I assess them and deal with each problem individually and work to heal the wounds as a whole. I had to buy time with Gus... he had to be here long enough to understand that his home bouncing was over and that way he could settle into himself and feel like was safely at home... and he is. Gus will never leave here... this is his home and he knows it.
Now Gabby... Gabby's history is much harder to piece together. A couple years ago a woman stopped by my friends house and offered her the rattiest looking most insane umbrella anyone had ever seen. My friend (not knowing me at the time), turned the bird down saying that she couldn't do anything for Gabby. The lady spent the next two years trying like hell to fix Gabby... she finally found a vet to prescrobe Halodol... Gabby grew her feathers back calmed down a bit (Halodol is a powerful drugand I NEVER use it on a bird)... She went to my friend again and offered her the bird (with the prescription for Halodol)... my friend took the bird, and then called me. Gabby had developed a strange physical headbobbing twitch from years of Halodol, she was the most uneven cockatoo I'd ever seen. I can tell you from experience of knowing birds that Gabby's first owner killed her with love and kindness... adored her and turned her into a screamer, then did what most morons do when they have a screaming bird and no idea how to deal with it... they sprayed her with water whenevr she screamed. She eventually found herslef going from home to home until a kind hearted but misguided woman thought she could fix Gabby with love and patience (you need love and patience to fix a bird, but those two things alone are rarely enough)... That was the woman her eventually put her on halodol and then gave up when she couldn't get her to stop screaming and gave her to my friend. I will be honest and tell you that for the first several months I wondered on and off if it wouldn5 be kinder to put her down (I have never had a bird euthanized, but Gabby was just impossible at times. I weaned her off the halodol as safely but quickly as I could. She went back to shredding her feathers, but I let that slide because with Gabby I had to see her behavoir without the drugs so I could figure out where to start. She showed signs of being immensly confused and sexually frustrated. She had no concept she was a bird, and showed all the classic signs of being handfed, weaned and socialized by someone who was not experienced and didn't know how to do it properly. I tried all sorts of things with Gabby to no avail. She went downhill VERY quickly. I finally realized that the answer might be in lettingGabby remember that she was a bird... I tried, but she could"t remember ever being a bird (poor socialization by whoever bred her)... Anyway I finally put her by herself ina 6' by 12' out door aviary accross from my breeding pair of Umbrellas during their off season. I srrounded Gabby by as many (non tame) birds as possible and I made myself scarce to her. She started learning to make normal cockatoo display sounds (rather than screaming), she learned to eat a variety of foods from watching the other flock members, she started to play with toys and she grew enough wing feathers to truely learn to fly. I started spending more time with her and I found that she was always pleased to see me, and I would share treats with her and eventually she moved inside during certain days to spend time with myself and some of the sane and tame babies I was feeding at the time. Gabby is now nearly fully featheered, and pretty preditable... she still screams on occasion, but she has re learned to take baths with a sparay bottle and her and Gus' cages a side by side... they kiss and play through the bars and in the morning I let them out of the play gyms together... you would never believe what they were like when they first came here, and there isn't a day that goes by that I am not surprised myself at how different they are. They have become beloved flock members here and have both rediscovered what it means to be a bird, and to have a home that accepts you and will love you forever no matter what. I have a lot of birds here that are neither breeders nor pets, but just birds that needed to be allowed to live and have the best without risk of being thrown away. Gus and Gabby are like this, abnd if they wanted to breed I may let them, but for now I feel they and the world are better off if they are left as a happy pair of friends... the world really doesn't need more Umbrellas... although I do love them
Gus came to me with no feathers, a violent biting bird, who was also prone to angry violent outbursts that seemed to come from no where. He had been owned by someone who got bored with him, and then got desperate for money, and his owner sold him to a breeder.... The breeder put him with a hen, and in the first day Gus had killed his that hen. He went to a parrot rescue that adopted him out twice and got him back both times, then he spent time bouncing from one foster home to another... never staying anywhere more than about a month. The rescue finally talked a nice lady into adopting him (without any warning that he would not do best with other cockatoos in the house. She called a very well known bird lady here, who called me to see if I would work with him. (She calls my house Cockatoo heaven because for some reason cockatoos and I do very well together)... I agreed to take him... I knew that no matter what this had to be Gus' last home. The first order of business was diet, I learned years ago that if you cut the protien out of a male cockatoos diet they almost instantly stop being overly aggressive. For protien with my cockatoos we use Tofu, lentils, and chick peas only. He calmed down some on a new diet and stopped shredding his feathers. I moved him into a cage that was slightly smaller than any of his previous cages and put him in a corner so he could feel a bit more secure. I covered half the cage, over the other half I put a UVB fixture and gave him access to a window looking out over our north tree line. He started to let me touch him, started comming out of his cage (I never forced him out, and it took months of leaving the door open before he would venture out on his own.) I started using a product called Avicalm in his food daily and I gave him a makeshift nest to fill with destroyed wood and paper... he finally was going through mating behavoir during mating season with something to do ther than attack me or tear at himself. I don't necessarily reccomend doing that, but with each cockatoo I assess them and deal with each problem individually and work to heal the wounds as a whole. I had to buy time with Gus... he had to be here long enough to understand that his home bouncing was over and that way he could settle into himself and feel like was safely at home... and he is. Gus will never leave here... this is his home and he knows it.
Now Gabby... Gabby's history is much harder to piece together. A couple years ago a woman stopped by my friends house and offered her the rattiest looking most insane umbrella anyone had ever seen. My friend (not knowing me at the time), turned the bird down saying that she couldn't do anything for Gabby. The lady spent the next two years trying like hell to fix Gabby... she finally found a vet to prescrobe Halodol... Gabby grew her feathers back calmed down a bit (Halodol is a powerful drugand I NEVER use it on a bird)... She went to my friend again and offered her the bird (with the prescription for Halodol)... my friend took the bird, and then called me. Gabby had developed a strange physical headbobbing twitch from years of Halodol, she was the most uneven cockatoo I'd ever seen. I can tell you from experience of knowing birds that Gabby's first owner killed her with love and kindness... adored her and turned her into a screamer, then did what most morons do when they have a screaming bird and no idea how to deal with it... they sprayed her with water whenevr she screamed. She eventually found herslef going from home to home until a kind hearted but misguided woman thought she could fix Gabby with love and patience (you need love and patience to fix a bird, but those two things alone are rarely enough)... That was the woman her eventually put her on halodol and then gave up when she couldn't get her to stop screaming and gave her to my friend. I will be honest and tell you that for the first several months I wondered on and off if it wouldn5 be kinder to put her down (I have never had a bird euthanized, but Gabby was just impossible at times. I weaned her off the halodol as safely but quickly as I could. She went back to shredding her feathers, but I let that slide because with Gabby I had to see her behavoir without the drugs so I could figure out where to start. She showed signs of being immensly confused and sexually frustrated. She had no concept she was a bird, and showed all the classic signs of being handfed, weaned and socialized by someone who was not experienced and didn't know how to do it properly. I tried all sorts of things with Gabby to no avail. She went downhill VERY quickly. I finally realized that the answer might be in lettingGabby remember that she was a bird... I tried, but she could"t remember ever being a bird (poor socialization by whoever bred her)... Anyway I finally put her by herself ina 6' by 12' out door aviary accross from my breeding pair of Umbrellas during their off season. I srrounded Gabby by as many (non tame) birds as possible and I made myself scarce to her. She started learning to make normal cockatoo display sounds (rather than screaming), she learned to eat a variety of foods from watching the other flock members, she started to play with toys and she grew enough wing feathers to truely learn to fly. I started spending more time with her and I found that she was always pleased to see me, and I would share treats with her and eventually she moved inside during certain days to spend time with myself and some of the sane and tame babies I was feeding at the time. Gabby is now nearly fully featheered, and pretty preditable... she still screams on occasion, but she has re learned to take baths with a sparay bottle and her and Gus' cages a side by side... they kiss and play through the bars and in the morning I let them out of the play gyms together... you would never believe what they were like when they first came here, and there isn't a day that goes by that I am not surprised myself at how different they are. They have become beloved flock members here and have both rediscovered what it means to be a bird, and to have a home that accepts you and will love you forever no matter what. I have a lot of birds here that are neither breeders nor pets, but just birds that needed to be allowed to live and have the best without risk of being thrown away. Gus and Gabby are like this, abnd if they wanted to breed I may let them, but for now I feel they and the world are better off if they are left as a happy pair of friends... the world really doesn't need more Umbrellas... although I do love them
