need help with my Cockatoo

[ljgriff67]

I recently added a 2 year old Goffin Cockatoo to our family. I love this bird and she (Angel) loves me. She acts as if we have been together since birth. She can't wait for me to come home so I can play with her. She cuddles up on the couch with me and loves to receive all the affection she can get from me. She is quite simply AWESOME!!!

Now the problem is,,, Angel is only like this with me, she goes after my wife and kids and won't let any of them near her. She even tries to get them as they walk past her cage and when I allow her out of the cage she will run after them and try and attack them. She has bitten my wife on several occassions and has bitten the kids feet. I don't know what to do. My wife was excited when I brought Angel home but now she wants me to find her a new home. I don't want to get rid of her because I really do love this bird and I feel a bond with her already but I can't risk injury to any member of the family either.

I am asking if anyone out there has ever had this problem and if so how did you deal with it? She is a sweet and loveable bird and I want her to be like that with everyone. How can I make this happen???

I would appreciate any and all the advice I can get.

Thank You,
Larry

 

[Mare Miller]

I will tell you, having gone through this before with an umbrella cockatoo, that you are going to get a lot of advice on having your wife be the one to feed, and tend to the bird's needs. Tabby will, hopefully, eventually tolerate your wife, in my case it was my husband at risk.

Sounds like Tabby has chosen you as her mate. I have, also, recently , added a female goffin to our family. She prefers my husband but loves me when he isn't around.

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Spiritbird]

Get your wife a bird.

 

[ljgriff67]

Spiritbird, thanks for the advice but I did get my wife a bird, she has the Electus Parrot and a Lovebird. I have no problem with either of them.

Mare Miller, thank you very much for your help. My wife does try to connect with Angel, (i'm sorry but I did call her Tabby when I first posted this but the Electus is named Tabby, my Goffin is Angel. I made a mistake) and she will not let her even put her hand in the cage to change her water. Angel is very mean to her, it is quite unbelievable the way she treats my wife. I thought maybe Angel just didn't like females because of the way she acts with my wife and 13yr old daughter and my 22yr old daughter but just this afternoon my mother-in-law came over and Angel loved her to death. I can't figure it out.

 

[ljgriff67]

Do you think she could actually think of me as her mate??? Could that be why she treats my wife so mean? Angel really gets jealous when I hold and kiss my wife in front of her. If she weren't so mean this would probably be funny.

 

[TortoiseLady17]

The reason our U2's previouse owners rehomed him was because he loved the guy and would chase the lady around the house calling her bad and trying to bite her. He would love on anyone else that came in the house except for her. I am not sure what to do to fix it. Our amazon loves my husband but tries to attack me if I come near her. She will lung at me and try to bite me through the cage. I talk to her when I go by but don't try to hold her or push her to like me.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

[ljgriff67]

Does she still lunge at you??? How do you deal with it?

 

[friedsoup]

Ok dad time to man up when Angel show aggression to anyone in the flock it's up to you to repirmand her and put her in time out, while babying the person she showed aggression towards ( you can not do this sometimes but every time) she must know that aggression in any form takes you away from her and that only by tolerating other people can she get your attentions.

 

[ljgriff67]

Friedsoup, Have you done this yourself? How would I actually do this myself? I do tell her "bad Angel" when she does this and I put her back in her cage but it seems to do nothing to curb her actions.

 

[Spiritbird]

Here is a link to one of the better avian behaviorist. She does specialize in cockatoos.

https://companionparrotonline.com/Member_Articles.html

It is easy to spoil a cockatoo because they love to be touched and loved. In the classes I have been to that could be a mistake. Here is a short read on the subject. http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/2007-october/cockatoo-behavior-issues.aspx

 

[ljgriff67]

Thank you Spiritbird, I think that link you sent me will be very helpful. My wife is reading it now and hopefully she will get something out of it.

 

[Aims]

Hi and welcome.
I can't offer you any advice regarding your problem but it looks like Spiritbird has that covered. Good luck with it all.