So, I inherited (and I will explain inherited in a minute) an umbrella cockatoo from a stranger off the internet, for free. She said she purchased her from a lady only the day prior, and the lady was desperate to rehome her for reasons that had to do with the husband - made him sound like he was basically going to kill the too, more or less, if she didn't get rid of it. The lady who purchased her, had to rehome her less than 24 hours later because her daughter ended up being severely allergic to her, unfortunately. And clearly the bird was in a state, so she just wanted her to find a loving home, hence why she gave her to me free. When I received her, she was very timid and shy, but she clung to me right away, let me pick her up and cuddled me for what felt like ever. Her feathers were very dirty and just generally unkempt looking, her tail feathers were completely matted to one side, so I'm almost wondering if she was kept in a cage too small for her. The truth is, we don't know anything about her previous whereabouts, only that based on how she looked and her demeanor, she was either neglected and/or abused. And I do question how much she was passed around. She appears to be in her teens to possibly early 20s. She took about a week to warm up to our household, and ever since then we've experienced some serious behavioral issues. When we first got her, she hid in her cage and wouldn't come out. She also acted like she had never seen a toy before and was deathly afraid of them. It took more than 2 and a half weeks for her to understand what they were for, and a few more weeks before she would actually chew them and play with them. Before that, she just stared at them and touched them, just curiously. She would not let anyone near her after that first day of clinging to me, so we just let her be while she warmed up. She didn't want anyone near her and would not allow anyone to handle her at all. She knows step up, but she won't let anyone pick her up, even still. She ended up choosing my sister as her mate, which escalated the behavior, but because my sister isn't her main caretaker we were able to break that successfully. Then she chose my other sister as her mate, lol which again we successfully broke. But even after, we can't seem to stabilize her. We've had her a few months now, and some things have gotten better, but others are still an issue. We had a big issue with her biting and attacking randomly without warning - basically she'd send mixed signals, acting as though she wanted pets, and then suddenly turning on you in a second with no viable trigger, she does this pretty consistently. She still does this, but the biting has been reduced to warning bites, or near-bites, like lunges, so in a way it has improved. When she gets this way, she goes back in the cage for a time out. There is also screaming, all the time, that has actually gotten worse. Lately she's been wrecking her cage, chewing all her perches up, ripping her food and water dishes down, just utterly destroying her space. She also doesn't understand how to bathe herself, it's the most sad, awkward thing I've ever seen. I can't get her into the shower or even near a sink, she is deathly afraid of the bathroom and running water. I've tried misting her lightly with a squirt bottle but quickly realized she was also deathly afraid of that too, so I wonder if someone used water negatively with her? I think this is much of her frustration, she's unable to properly bathe.
The screaming is so bad now, that my family is making me foster her out until I can get into an apartment that allows pets. It's not the normal too screams that we've been seeing the last while that we've had her, it's constant, and nothing seems to appease her. I'm really committed to rehabbing her and KEEPING her. I love her and I can't give up on her. I can only imagine the kind of life she had before me, and I really don't want to keep shaking up her existence, I want to give her the consistent home she so deserves.
I don't really know what I'm doing wrong. She had virtually the entire day that was her out of cage time, and a jungle gym for her to spend time on during that. We've reduced her out of cage time due to increased incidents. I can't really get her to eat anything beyond her food and grapes, which I use as treats. She won't eat any veggies or other fruits. She is very picky, she tried blueberries once, I thought she liked them but then never touched them again, and did the same with bananas and strawberries. She wouldn't even try mango, kiwi, pineapple, apple, raspberries, or watermelon.
She doesn't like peanuts so that isn't an issue for us.
Any suggestions anyone might have, I'm desperate to keep my too.
The screaming is so bad now, that my family is making me foster her out until I can get into an apartment that allows pets. It's not the normal too screams that we've been seeing the last while that we've had her, it's constant, and nothing seems to appease her. I'm really committed to rehabbing her and KEEPING her. I love her and I can't give up on her. I can only imagine the kind of life she had before me, and I really don't want to keep shaking up her existence, I want to give her the consistent home she so deserves.
I don't really know what I'm doing wrong. She had virtually the entire day that was her out of cage time, and a jungle gym for her to spend time on during that. We've reduced her out of cage time due to increased incidents. I can't really get her to eat anything beyond her food and grapes, which I use as treats. She won't eat any veggies or other fruits. She is very picky, she tried blueberries once, I thought she liked them but then never touched them again, and did the same with bananas and strawberries. She wouldn't even try mango, kiwi, pineapple, apple, raspberries, or watermelon.
She doesn't like peanuts so that isn't an issue for us.
Any suggestions anyone might have, I'm desperate to keep my too.
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