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Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation"
Posted by Jolene on 6/23/06

On 6/23/06, Leigh wrote:
> Thanks so much for the advice ms. Jolene.
> I have one question... How do I go about not "overhandeling"? How can I get the
> bird to play happily and quietly in their cage?
> Thanks again and thank you for the congrats. Me and my fiancee are thrilled to
> get her -in like 10 wks.
> -Leigh

The best way I can describe it is to not respond to his every call...much in the
same way you begin to cautiously let an infant self-soothe while in their crib.

Also, U2s are the "velco" birds, so if you want to hold and cuddle them all day -
they'll let ya! Resist the urge for long cuddle sessions or very frequent
handling unless you're prepared to provide the same level of handling without fail
for the life of the bird. My Jack gets about 2 hours of actual handling total per
day.

Also, and this is just a curiosity I've discovered with Jack: with as expensive as
parrot toys can be, Jack's absolute equal to crack cocaine seems to be a lint
roller he can throw around on my wood floors. I don't know what it is about the
lint roller, but he goes crazy when he even sees it. He'll flop onto his back and
fight with it, screaming. He'll fly around the room with it, throw it against the
wall, and when he's run out of stuff to do...he'll bring it to me so I can hide it
in plain sight while he watches and he can find it and bring it back to me.

I've always kept one by the door to us efor myself and when I moved his cage
closer to the front door and he saw me rolling it over my clothes he flipped. It
was by chance that I discovered it is his favorite toy.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Umbrella Cockatoo Worries, 6/21/06, by Leigh.
• Re: Umbrella Cockatoo Worries, 6/21/06, by Leann.
• Re: Umbrella Cockatoo Worries, LONG, 6/21/06, by Elizabeth.
• Re: No More Worries about My Umbrella! Yay!, 6/22/06, by Leigh.
• Re: No More Worries about My Umbrella! Yay!, 6/22/06, by Elizabeth.
• Re: No More Worries about My Umbrella! Yay!, 6/22/06, by Question for Elizabeth.
• Re: No More Worries about My Umbrella! Yay!, 6/22/06, by Elizabeth.
• Re: No More Worries about My Umbrella! Yay!, 6/22/06, by answer for Liz.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/22/06, by Elizabeth.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by astute observer.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by Alison.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by Jolene.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by Leigh.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by Elizabeth.
• Re: Umbrella Cockatoo /Good Luck Leigh, 6/23/06, by Jim.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/23/06, by Jolene.
• Re: Elizabeths' Cockatoo "situation", 6/25/06, by Leigh.