Dave, I just joined Parrotforums a few minutes ago and am not yet familiar with the interface, so I may stumble a bit. I have the sad duty of needing to find a good home for a much-loved Molucaan Cockatoo I've had for 35 years. I typed Moluccan Cockatoo into the search engine here and got your post. So let me begin by asking if you are still looking for a bird? If you are, I'll tell you about Chester and me. We both live in St. Petersburg, Florida. and we both love cockatoos!
My husband and I adopted Chester years back when we were just beginning to look for a cockatoo. The owner of a pet store we'd been in many times told us he was about to have a cockatoo euthanized so he could collect insurance on it. He'd purchased the bird for $350. from the quarantine facility, expecting to be able to sell it for two thousand. Back then, that's what people were paying for hand fed, young cockatoos. He'd found no buyer for this very large and not-even-tame cockatoo, so was planning to have it put down. My husband and I were so horrified by the callousness of the situation, that this bird had been wild trapped, kidnapped from his family and home, and now would be killed for not being profitable enough--well, we wrote out a check for $350 on the spot.
At the time, we had no experience with large birds. And Chester, who is quite large, had no reason at all to trust human beings, so we put him in the biggest cage we could find and gave him time to calm down and start feeling safe. He wasn't alone for long, as within a year we took in several more abandoned cockatoos.
With other birds for companionship. Chester never really became what I would call "tame." He was fine flying around the bird room to visit the other cockatoos. And he liked being spoken to by us, liked taking treats from our hands, submitted to being touched when it was necessary, but never softened into the sort of cuddly behavior we got from our other birds. And because we were getting what we wanted from our other cockies, we never pushed hard to tame Chester.
All these years later, we are in a situation where we must find a new home for Chester. I'm in my mid 70's and have been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. My husband has his own health issues, and cannot cope with taking care of me, our house and our 4 remaining birds. The other 3 are Citrons, small, tame, and we hope will easily find good homes. But Chester needs someone accustomed to Molucaans.
Sadly, St. Pete is no longer the sleepy town it once was. It's an overpopulated, bustling city. Virtually no one here keeps large parrots anymore. We've asked the only two vets that still offer bird care for help, but they had none to offer. I asked Google to show me parrot forums, which is how I came to Parrotforums today, hoping I could get some honest advice on how to find a good home for Chester. And here, I found your post.
You may already have found a bird. Or Chester may not be what you were hoping for. But if his story sparks any interest in you at all, I'd be happy to send you photos or video of him, and answer any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Bonnie Boots
