Have no clue what to do with bad mood swings

[Brody]

We just recently got our parrot, 2 days ago but he's friendly except when we play with him he gets too excited. The bird is 19 years old and is a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, the critically endangered birds. Now my parents did breed some pretty nasty Cockatiels and Umbrella Cockatoo's so when Penny(was already his name) bit my Mom after my Mom denied him from climbing up on her she was pretty used to the bites. Nobody is afraid of being bit, Penny has already jumped on my little brother and he just spun really slowly and said "help me get Penny off", Penny doesn't do that with my Dad, me or my little sister. We think that Penny has really bad mood swings but I want to make sure Im going down the correct road to ensure that this bad habit of always wanting to get on people is stopped, or at least downed down a bit. Penny did jump onto my brother but my brother didn't stop him from climbing, only protected his neck and face by lifting his shirt up and sat down, he never was bitten so we are beginning to think that he just really wants to be up on you. The owners we got him from only had him for a week, and they said they got him from a rescue place somewhere in PA, he is close banded so we was bred in captivity, is there anyway we could fix this bad habit of wanting to be on people and maybe stop him from biting if he is doing it purposely?

 

[Flboy]

:11:G, when I first saw the title, I thought you were talking about my wife! I am of no help there either!

 

[Scott]

Mood swings are typical with many cockatoos. I have Citrons, a close cousin of the Lesser Sulphur and have observed two different bird in a two minute period! Their normal state is inquisitive and often craving attention, but they can do serious damage with a powerful beak. Please safeguard yourselves, particularly if Penny has shoulder privileges. Positive reinforcement for good behavior is crucial! Providing a comfortable cage/playpen with challenging toys may reduce the desire to be a "Velcro" bird.

If you are experienced with parrots and believe the mood swings are abnormal, an avian vet check with lab analysis would be advisable.

 

[Brody]

We don't allow Penny to have shoulder privileges, we try and keep him off of our hand also because nobody really took good care of him so his nails are sharp, writing this he is on my lap just looking at my wanting me to pet his wings. When anybody else approaches though he goes on alert mode, I hope this is just because he's still new to everyone in the family and because I just spent more time with him then the others. Huge Victorian Top cage for big parrots this is his cage and he has 13 toys in his cage of his with plenty of perches, he also likes to eat eggroll's which we found out after he stole my brothers food out of his hand lol, any thing I can do to start learning how to train him? Do I give him peanuts when he tries to get on my hand but I deny him from stepping up so that he learns he cant always go on other people?

 

[Iholm5]

From my knowledge peanuts are generally a bad idea for 'toos as they have been linked to aggression. In training him the best advice I can offer is patience and confidence, as every cockatoo I have met including my own zeroes in on people who are apprehensive about them. I've been bit frequently (now much more rarely) but I think what makes a good parrot owner is the one with the proper reaction for when the inevitable bite happens, IE maintaining composure and administering proper punishment (though I hate that word) in the form of a time-out or something similar.

Make sure Penny is aware of what you will and will not tolerate in terms of stepping up. Tiki knows after a year and a half with us what does and does not constitute properly stepping up or being cage aggressive, and we still maintain a loving and close relationship with him. Best of luck!

 

[Siobhan]

'Toos want to spend all their time with their humans. That's why he's always wanting to step up. If it were up to my 'too, I'd take him everywhere with me 24 hours a day. You have to make his cage a place he wants to be, too. I saw that you have lots of toys for him, but maybe they're not the type of toys he prefers. Are they similar? Has he shown a preference for any one kind? Is he at all interested in food bribes?