Help with parent reared second hand MSC

Hi Guys

I've had Elvis for about a year and a half now, we got him when he was just turning 3 from a family who didn't have time for him. He's just about 4 1/2 now. He's generally a good boy, but when he doesn't get his way he starts attacking anyone near by.

I have tried just about everything. He use to cuddle up to me and be a good lad, but now wants nothing to do with me since I had to take him to the vet, he only wants my husband's attention, and he gets it in small sessions, prob about 10 minute cuddles each, but when husband puts him back on his stand or tells him no the biting starts. We've tried time outs, we've tried a spray bottle when he strikes at the cage or us, but its just getting to be to much.

He's in good condition over all, has loads of toys and loads of time out of the cage. He eats all sorts of foods, fresh - pellets - seeds and cooked foods. He just can't seem to get past the biting.

Husband is at the point where he just wants him gone, I can't blame him - I am tired of being bitten too. I'm with him more than 6 hours a day for out of cage play time, but he has no interest in me. I've ignored him when he bites so its not a game, but husband tends to shout at him and wont take it that shouting etc can be what's causing the issue. I think it is, but I think neither of them have changed in the last year, they are unlikely to change in the next year, so it may be best to send him to someone who has the patience to deal with him.

I feel bad, and I don't know what else to do. I am trying everything I can find and read, and he has improved, just not enough for everyone in the house to be happy.

Any advice, or is it time to find him a new home?

hello and welcome,not sure what an msc? is,sorry for seeming a bit ignorant. cockatoo,conure?

if they're anything like greys,they can be a bit tempermental. was elvis like this last year? as spring is coming up,it could be hormones,or maybe he's approaching that age of sexual maturity? shouting certainly wont help,my partner is much the same,nor will spraying help,it will only stress elvis more. do you think he gets enough sleep? would he drink a warm drink like a herbal tea to help calm him,it might just help what happened when you took him to the vets,was it recently? if you had to hold him or something while the vet did a procedure,it could be thst he's taking it out on you : (

Hi Blacksheep and welcome to the forum

Cockatoos are a nightmare sometimes and can change very quickly and without warning. The problem is that Too's bond with their partner and it is forever, they stay with their mate for life.

Sometimes we don't realise that by letting them out too much they don't want to go back into the cage again, Jules mentioned about spraying. That is never a good idea as all it does is make them aggresssive or terrified very much like if I bullied you, at first you may back off but then you will snap and go for the kill, so to speak. Shouting again does nothing but make them worse.

Apart from the vet have you changed anything, moved anything , ie: new cage, new area, new toys or new people in the house.?

Something has changed him. It is a case of thinking back and searching your mind to see if there is anything that you can think of that has changed, something small and perhaps very silly in your mind.

Has he lost anyone or anything close to him ?

Too's are very strange birds and take a lot of understanding.
When he attacks is there anyone else in the room? he could be telling you that he is yours and doesn't want anyone else near you. Rupert, one of our brollies hates diane with a vengence, He will go to anyone else but hates Diane because she is, in his mind, a threat.
One thing is that as you were the one that took him to the vet, he may be classing you as the baddie because he may not of liked there or was stressed up there and holds you responsible

Moving him on unfortunately will probably cause him more stress and cause him more problems. I understand how hard it is but he needs a good home and a lot of understanding.

Medium Sulphur Crested

The vet was origonally a year ago, he was itching something rotten so took him in, they knocked him out to do samples - had him microchipped at the same time. He had Aspergillis on his skin, though thankfully not internally. He was back in again just after christmas for a checkup, he did get groped a bit then which he took exception to, so I imagine he's not pleased with me for that.

He was worse last year to be honest. I think it was his first "breeding season" and he did loose the plot a bit.

We've taken his massive play stand away, it was taller than me and every time he gets above me he acts like a little jerk. Now that its gone he's again been better, but he's been more clingy to husband, though less of a jerk to me.

We've been trying to get the house in a better state for my mother to come visit, I know I am stressed so I imagine he will be as well. He's not keen on change, so I do like to change his stuff around more and he's gotten better with it.

Other than that, I can't think of a lot. I've been off ill a lot recently, so he is getting more time out of cage, and he's a gem when husband isn't around, its just when he is around Elvis is glued to him, and if he's told no he goes postal lol.

How long out should he have a night? I am going to be getting him a smaller play stand, he is very hightest - but use to live on the stand when not using it to fly onto my head. I think if I get him a new stand, limit his time out more and move him to a less "I can hide behind mom" place, he may be better behaved? Most of the dog attacks happen when I am in the kitchen and husband is watching him, which I have banned as he's eaten my mouse cord, so whenever mom is out of the room, son is in the safety of his happy house lol.

I don't think moving him on would make him happier, but we need to find a way to co-exsist.

Would it help if husband had NOTHING to do with him? I'll keep him in line, feed him, sort him out in general, I get home from work a few hours before husband so Elvis can play out then, and before husband gets home he can be put away. He's got a massive cage and is always entertained, he's always busy. At the moment the only real deterant for him is time outs. He knows when he's done wrong and will go straight to his corner perch after closing the door on himself, but he also starts to let himself out after half an hour lol.

All your help is awesome, I'd love to hear more thoughts on this

Elvis does generally get 12 hours sleep BTW, we put him to bed at 8, get him up at 8 for breakfast and a wash if he's being co-opertive, and his light comes on at 9 - 1930, then he has "getting ready for bed" where he'll have something to snack on, send himself to bed, and I'll cover him after he's said his goodnights. Sometimes we'll stay downstairs, but do try to keep quite so he can sleep (and because we love hearing him snore and talk in his sleep lol) I am out at work from 9 to 1530, then normally he's out from 1600 to 1930, then we start all over again.

He use to get really moody after an hour out, we spent the last year slowly building up the time he's out for, I think that may be a part of the problem too, whenever he gets moody and sends himself for a time out he goes straight to sleep. Think he needs periodical naps like a baby lol.

Will try a warm drink before bed too! I've put a little cup by his Sleepy Perch for breakfast, maybe put some warm camomile tea in it for bedtime? He'll happily drink out of my cup, off a spoon - sooo handy when he had to take liquid antibiotics, but not tried him with a bowl of tea on his own lol.

ah a cockatoo,thankyou

well it does sound like you're doing everything right for him,i do think you need to get him a playstand again though,if elvis has nothing else to do maybe he's getting bored?

i do think he sees you as a threat,he or maybe she? is protecting your husband as you say he's good for you when he's not around. try and switch his light off an hour or two before he goes to bed (is it an avian lamp,you know, aspecial one,can tthink of name),i did read reducing day light hours can help if it's a hormonal problem
i wouldn't advise your husband ignores him completely,it could make him worse. if you do the 'good' stuff,be the good guy and offer him treats,ask him to step up and work with him while your husband is out,then get your husband to take elvis to bed if he's not already taken himself,let him be the bad guy for a few weeks,see how it goes i hope it does work out for you all xxx

Something certainly seems to have changed and he is taking it out on your husband.
Try moving his cage and giving him things that he hasn't had before, it may be a shock to him to start with but their is certainly a reason why he is doing what he is doing.

Jules mentions light, Arcadia lights are very good and of course as you know, parrots can see the full spctrum of colours so in other words a blackbird to us is either black(male) or brown(female) but to another bird they will see them in a completely different colour so the light may do him some good.

I am not sure about reducing the daylight hours, birds eat small amounts of food during the day but don't eat when it's dark so to reduce the daylight hours I feel would do them more harm than good.
Remember that parrots bond for life with their mate in the wild. In captivity they do a similar thing and bond but probably don't understand why we are not giving them the same and we have a partner as well.
Try giving him a few squares of an old tee shirt or jeans (cut them into squares/strips and hang them in his cage, try putting a few drops of lavander oil on the cloth and see if that calms him down a bit.

Bob

Hi Jules! Yup, a cocky cockatoo lol <3 He has an arcadia light from Midland (where else! )

I have moved him, he screamed all night the first night until we went to bed, even after covering him, but last night and today he's back to normal. Anytime I change anything he throws a fit, but the fits are shorter and shorter each time

Will post some photos of his new area in a bit, after he's had play time lol - and when I find my phone I misplace it more than he misplaces his dinosaurs!

I am going to be making him a new stand I think, slot together style so when he's inside it can stack up behind his cage neatly, I've just regained so much space in my house I have no idea where I'd put another massive stand! Think I am going to make a basic slot together square frame with some cross supports, then string toys and ladders all over to fill it out, then he can chew any bit of it he likes and I can just cut a new piece to slot in, he loves to chew!

Its day 3 since the move - I moved him Monday, he screamed the entire time we were downstairs so we lifted one half of his cover so he could watch telly, that shut him up but he didn't sleep. Last night he whined a bit and pulled the cover open the slightest bit, then went right to bed anyway lol. Hopefully tonight he'll sleep as per normal.

Yesterday I left everything as it was, except swivelled the sofa around so he can see us clearly. Today I've added the two new toys I've got for him and added in some old favorites. I've started feeding him at the closer side to us, he likes to eat and watch us for some reason *shrugs* he seems alright over all. Begging for cuddles constantly, I've given him cuddles 50% of the time he asks, I don't want him thinking he can command me around lol.

He came out for a little play, flew two loops around downstairs (we took out a wall ages ago so we have one massive room - which he loves now that he's worked out how to fly. Let me tell you - people teaching birds to fly is NOT easy!! He use to live in a 10x10 room, he's now got easily twice that and then some as the back room is much larger than the front!) then tucked himself away to have a look at his new toys, including the Indistructabell and moon shapped wooden chew we got last time we were at Midland.

Fingers crossed this is the way forward?

Any ideas how to stop the night time screech? He only does it if he's displeased at not watching telly with us, or if he's in a mood in general - like if I moved his cage that day lol. He'll stop if I lift part of the cover so he can see, but I know he's not sleeping properly when I do that!

Thanks so much guys!

excuse spelling - firefox has packed in, but if I close it it will eat my post, and I can't navigate away to paste it into office LOL sorry

Can he have whole branches of Lavender if I grow some? I use to grow it, but everything died last summer :/ Will see about growing some inside so its bug etc free.

elvis looks great,love his quiff

if he's more settled just being half covered,then i'd be tempted to try that,dim your lights if possible or switch a lamp on while you watch tv,until bed time. he may not sleep but he'll be resting. i know of people who use night lights too.

it does sound like you've made progress with elvis,i would ignore his screeches and give him lots of praise and a treat for being good (which you probably already do)

i'm not sure about the lavender branches,i bet bob will know.

ps your spelling is perfect

haha he loves the camera:

(back when the avian bulb was in the main light lol)

(before his cage moved away from my chair lol)

Winged Wisdom have it on the safe list:

Quote :

PARTIAL LIST OF EDIBLE FLOWERS USED IN FLOWER REMEDIES

Flowers Aloe Vera Flower, Basil, Blackberry, Bleeding Heart, Borage, Calendula, California Wild Rose, Chamomile, Chrysanthemum, Corn, Dandelion, Dill Flower, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Garlic, Hibiscus, Iris, Lavender, Milkweed, Mullein, Nasturtium (pictured), Peppermint, Pomegranate, Red Clover, Rosemary, Sage, Sunflower, Violet, Yarrow, Yerba Santa.

May grow him some Chamomile as well! I know he LOVES Dandelion leaves and things. May be worth looking into as something to play with?

Right now he's in the dome of his cage watching Being Human with me lol, nice and silent.

he is gorgeous,perfect feathers

mmm yes perhaps make some kind of toy from dandelion leaves

damn have i missed being human again? grrrr lol

Erg, his tail is so ratty though! The bottom cm or so is all shredded - he wont keep them in the flipping cage, he'll stand on the cage side and fan them out then dance back and forth - bashes them beyond help lol! He's so funny!

I record it and watch it with him later he's such a TV fan - although he won't watch the new Americanized Torchwood - my mate thinks its because of the accents, but as I am American I doubt its it he doesn't like anything with over the top background music unless people are dancing to it. "Running, during music?? NO! *screams until it goes away*" lol!

Put the Bollywood channel on though and you can have an afternoon off, he'll sit and watch it for HOURS, singing and dancing along lol! He loves cartoon movies as well - Finding Nemo, Rio, etc. He's a good little lad when he wants to be LOL.

I left him up for an hour after light out - so 9ish, whenever Being Human ended lol, then he did his BEDTIME NOW PLEASE squeaks, so I covered him up - silence, sweet screamless silence lol. He seems to be taking to the new changes quick, though he was unimpressed that tonights cooked meal was toast as I don't feel very well, it surely didn't stop him from eating all the crusts! Silly thing

He's muttering along to Master Chef at the moment - I'm muttering that if this dude came into my house and expected food he'd be fighting Elvis for it LOL

That is him asking for cuddles BTW, he'll come up and make awww AWWWWW sounds and rub his own head and neck to show you where you should rub lol

the top one was me ignoring him, so he has one foot through a wing and the other foot in his fringe lol I couldn't ignore him much longer after that Back in the days where he'd sit on my lap or lay against my chest for a snuggle!

We have two Umbrella Cockatoos as you know, they are better watchdogs than anything else. As soon as I let the dogs out they kick off screaming. It doesn't matter what time of night it is.
They are always aware of predators and of course tell everyone else,
The thing with Cockatoos is that they need company and want to be part of the family although they can bond with one person more so than other parrots.

It looks like you are doing all the right things but of course as you are finding out things can change in a second and from being Mr nice guy and the next Mr Evil

They are also very highly strung creatures and sometimes like a little child being afarid of the dark they get a little scared when you are out of sight and they then start to scream.

They love company and want to be with you all the time so it is just a case of trying to get them to trust, Normally Cockatoos are passed from pillar to post because of the type of bird they are and just want and probably need a lot of reassurance

he is the only way I know if someone knocks on the door these days - I use to know about knocking because the dog barked, but now rely on Elvis to bark if someones there LOL. He's very good at it

Erg, tell me about it! We were having a nice quiet night until Husband popped down to tell me something about the phone system, then it was screeeeeaaammmville - only for a few seconds though, so still an improvement, he doesn't appreciate the door being opened when he can't see, but he wouldn't let me leave the cover up tonight, he started pulling it shut himself lol.

Hopefully he'll get to trust me again. I intend to have him for the rest of our lives, but only if we can all live happily together! Its looking like that is a possibility again *touch wood!* just need to keep him on a short lead lol!

You probably do this but you mentioned that when hubby came in the door he screamed. That is his defence system.

Try and make sure that he knows when you are approaching the door or anywhere near him if he can't see you.

Just call out whatever ie: hi Elvis it's only me or as I say whatever you want but always let him know as anyone approaching will spook him and if he is easily scared he may not be getting the proper amount of sleep he needs and of course if he doesn't get enough sleep he will become agitated and bad tempered. You may well think he is asleep but he might be on edge and not having a proper sleep.

I am sure that he will start to get that trust again with you and hopefully a happy ending.

Oh Yes as for Lavander yes you can give him the whole branch

I told him "tis just your dad, daft bird" and he made kissy noises lol. Husband still wont speak to Elvis but he will come around, will explain to him that he needs a hello and goodbye or he has no idea whats going on - the other day he left for work, Elvis said nothing to him so he said nothing to Elvis, about 2 minutes later the Bird-a-Phone started ringing. And ringing. And ringing. I ended up going downstairs and giving him a second breakfast, so hopefully we've all learned he still needs a byebye even if he doesn't say it first lol. I always tell him when I come and go - especially when he's covered, even if its a "just me, pidgypie, letting doggie out then back to bed" at 3am, all I ever get back is a sleepy kissy noise and a buhbuhbuhbye lol, but I remember once after he just got use to the cover Tippit and I came down, went to kitchen and back, and he FREAKED as he didn't hear us come in the normal door, but heard us in the kitchen, probably thought we were being invaded, but boy can that little lad belt it out! Burglars beware, you'll go deaf!

It took Tippit (our dog - though Elvis thinks she is HIS dog and is very upset if you take her out and don't inform him on when she will be back, where she will be going, and how long she will be gone ) about 3 years to fully trust us, but she was nearly beaten and starved to death, Elvis was over loved and ruled his house with an iron wing lol, quite different but both will require a long time.

I think husband is frustrated because he knows how intelligent Elvis is, so assumes Elvis should just KNOW things - like not to shout at the TV, not to bite people etc, not to chew cables. He's smart, but he's still a baby at the end of the day and always will do daft things, we just need to keep a better eye on him and expect the daftness to come LOL

Will get some Lavender and Chamomile seeds tomorrow and give them a go! Would rather get plants pre-grown, but they'll likely be sprayed with all sorts of nasty things. Anyway, he's barking at me and chanting byebye - so its bed for me so he can get some sleep! I'm still not sure he sleeps enough. He does seem to sleep at night when we're not home, and I know he naps in the morning while I am at work - I watch him on a webcam when he's not feeding Tippit or petting her through the cage, playing with toys or chewing things, he's napping. He's more cat than bird, play for an hour or two, nap for 30-60 minutes, then start again. Could this be because he is still quite young? he's only 4 and a bit after all. We use to leave the TV on for him in the morning (yay CBBc, the free parrot sitter!) but found he was grouchy when I got home, so stopped doing that so he can nap away when he wants. We've rigged up a parrot friendly switch for his light, once we get it sorted so he can pull it, he'll be able to turn his light on and off for naps as well - the pull switch is just so damn stiff right now I can hardly pull it! We're working on it though! It will still be on a timer though, so he wont be able to turn it on at 4am etc, only between 9am and 8pm. I imagine he'll spend the first three days turning it on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off then forget all about it lol

Just a couple of points i have picked up on

At 4 he is just reaching maturity so will be strating to take control so long as you let him, You need to be the boss over him without going over the top.

He also needs rest and sometimes like you and I he just wants to chill out so sometimes leaving the tv or radio on just stresses them up, a bit like you and I
We think sometimes that we are doing the right thing for the bird but maybe we are doing the oposite

You have already taken on board that he needs to know who is around so we need to talk to them when we approach them, that is so important

They need 12 hours sleep a day, not all at once but 12 hours in 24 hours and of course like us if they don't get the sleep they get moody and bad tempered

bob wrote:

At 4 he is just reaching maturity so will be strating to take control so long as you let him, You need to be the boss over him without going over the top.

He tried this last night - called me over about ten times, I only went over for 5 of them, but every time I went over after a missed visit he'd try striking at the cage, I got tired of it by go 5 and I turned my back on him after saying No and waited for him to "apologize" (which he taught us, is him going to his far corner and making awww awwwww awwwwww sad sounds, then coming over and putting his head on the bars and looking pathetic lol) and after that he was a gem and didn't strike at anything again, even after missed calls lol

bob wrote:

He also needs rest and sometimes like you and I he just wants to chill out so sometimes leaving the tv or radio on just stresses them up, a bit like you and I
We think sometimes that we are doing the right thing for the bird but maybe we are doing the oposite

I'll leave it off in the future, or maybe put something less exciting on for him? I don't like him watching the news and he screams at soaps like East Enders every time they have a row lol. Maybe I'll get him a nice nature DVD lol I don't know, probably leave it off, he can watch the fish now, so he seems happier!

bob wrote:

You have already taken on board that he needs to know who is around so we need to talk to them when we approach them, that is so important

Husband even spoke to him this morning before going out more a laugh at him being daft, but its close! He's been very chatty this morning - I got up late, so took the morning off so he can have some un-schedualed out time and breakfast with me, he seems happier with breakfast, but I figured it would be nice to keep him on his toes every now and then. He's got about half an hour left, then I will head to work for a few hours and he can have his post-breakfast nap lol

bob wrote:

They need 12 hours sleep a day, not all at once but 12 hours in 24 hours and of course like us if they don't get the sleep they get moody and bad tempered

Ahh good! I don't think he'd ever sleep 12 hours straight! Even late at night you can hear him playing lol. I use to leave the webcam on my tablet so if he screamed at night I would know, but the random playing with his bell and rattle balls kept waking me up He does nap often, and when he's grouchy I do close him in and tell him he needs a nap, which he is always happy to have lol. I always thought they'd sleep 12h straight from what other bird people told me, and he was an odd one out! this makes sense now!

this is his new play area, and my untidy fish tank:

He can't actually get to the tank top easily, its a two foot hop, but it will be getting cleared off today anyway because it needs dusting and sorting. Its not a small cage btw, its a massive tank lol, its 6.5 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot - without the water I could comfortably sleep in it lol he loves watching the fish, but they are all catfish so don't do a lot. It will have some big clown loaches in it eventually when the water sorts itself out, they will be nice and active for him! Even in my smaller (well, its only 5 foot long..) tank you'd think there were no fish right now - I can't see a single one, although there are around 30-40 in there lol. Not very entertaining during the day, but when the parrot light goes out he can see them quite well with just the blue light on, and will watch the big plecs push eachother around for food!

awww he really does seem highly strung doesn't he? maybe there were arguments and stuff in his other home,and that's why he now doesnt like programmes like easenders

you're husband does need to carry on speaking to elvis,like you said,don't just wait for elvis to speak first. how else can he learn if you don't tell him stuff lol. he is just like a toddler and still learning,and you wouldn't ignore a small child wheh he was learning to speak would you?

Well they had two teenage girls, so I imagine it was noisy lol. They did warn me that he liked to get in the middle of it and shout at them both lol. I think he just needs a chill pill sometimes LMAO poor thing. We tend not to watch those sorts of shows anyway. He loves Live from the Apollo though, he often laughs before the crowd does

He's been a bit better about it today, they've been laughing over silly things, and laughing because the other one is laughing lol.

Elvis and I once got stuck in a loop, he heard something on TV though his cage cover and giggled, I was so tired I giggled about him giggling, which made him giggle which made me giggle, which.... yeah, it was about 40 minutes before I could breath LMAO I was soooooo tired everything was hilarious LOL

Still suffering with Bedtime since the new cage position. Its now lights out at 8, cage cover on at 9, at 915 I lift one end up so he can watch tv, 10 he actually goes to bed, 8am(ish) he gets uncovered, he eats half of breakfast, throws half at dog, naps tol 9am, shouts at the light (he's always done that though, just one RAWRRRRRR) then naps til 10, feeds the dog some more, plays, then alternates feeding dog, playing, playing with dog through cage by shouting her around, then I come home and he has a play out, then decides to go back in on his own after an hour and plays until 8pm and it allllll starts again LOL

is it just the cage position,because as you describe it,elvis sounds ok with his routine so far? could you try the same routine with the cag back where it was?

is your husband spending more time with him,doing more with him? he will get there,it will just take time

I don't think so, although he's not keen on coming out with it where it is. He is actually better then he was if you let him watch TV. he kicked off tonight because husband switched it off lol

He's sat with him tonight and all was well until about 30 minutes ago when the TV went out, then the screaming started, but at least he's sat it through instead of letting Elvis chase him off upstairs lol

are you all in the same room like we are? i'm just wondering if you could all go to bed at the same time? i know it's early at 8.30,but would that help? you could watch tv in bed and take a drink up with you would that help if he knew you were all going to bed and not just him?

i know it's a bit contradictory to say leave elvis up till later as then he'd be grumpy the next morning. grrr it's hard to find a happy medium

i work three evenings,and on one of those i dont get home until about ten,so jasper ends up being disturbed,so then he wants to come out. i let him watch me wash any pots then we have a cup of tea,then it's off to bed. i switch the tv off first,then put jasper to bed,then the lights go off,after i wish him sweet dreams.i dont hear him then until early next morning

Yeah, all in the same room since we took the wall down LOL. I like to go watch TV upstairs, but there you to lol.

He's going to bed around 930-1000 at the moment, but he gets to go back to sleep once I leave for work anyway, so he's alright lol If we go straight up there isn't a peep out of him, I think he just wants to watch TV LOL

he does love his telly could you leave it on while you're out? put him a childrens channel on,until you get home.

i think things will work,let him know it's time for bed by turning off the tv,lights out then you all go up

Yeah I think he's just going to go to bed when we go up, then he can nap during the day, and if he starts being cranky we'll just go to bed and turn the TV off on him and make him deal with it LOL

it's all trial and error and what works for you all,especially elvis. if he can nap during the day then better still

Last night was an absolute nightmare. No matter what husband did he just kept screaming. Silence as soon as I came down, but then started up again no matter what we did.

What a weird little bird.

they are strange birdies aren't they? i really don't know what else to suggest.it could be his age of course as bob said earlier,maybe he'll stop as soon as he started

Very strange lol. I think he's going through "that special time in a birds life" lol. Maybe I need to give him a "The Peoples and The Bees" chat?

I am looking into the "poor plushy" method in case he gets any ideas of shagging my head again! I'd rather him take it out on a stuffed toy LOL

good luck

So far we have some progress. He's totally covered and silent, even with me in the room, but no TV on and he saw husband leave earlier. He's always good for his mum