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Re: Just starting to bite
Posted by LESA Ryea on 2/16/12
On 7/11/11, Elle Mott wrote: > On 3/07/11, alexmiota wrote: >> I have a 3 year old umbrella cockatoo. When I got her 3 >> months ago she was very sweet and I could trust her. Now >> that my wife has been taking care of her during the day >> when I am at work she has taken to biting me sometimes > very >> hard. She can be a real sweetheart but then turn into a >> devil bird and I would very much like to deal with this >> problem before it gets worse. Is there anything I can do > to >> keep her from acting this way toward me. I have never been >> afraid of birds but this one now makes me uneasy. I am not >> afraid of her but have to be on my toes and watch her like >> a hawk now that she has gotten unpredictable with me > It sounds like your cockatoo has reached sexual maturity and > has bonded with your wife. The problem with parrots I find > it that for some reason they decide they like a male or a > female person and usually only that person can handle them. > I have been working with all different species of parrots > for over 25 years. I have never found parrots to be a pass > around pet like you see at Theme parks. I think for those > purposes they use very young had fed babies and as they get > alittle older they must be replaced. This probably gives > people a false perspective about the true nature of parrots. > I doubt you're going to change this behavior. We've had > parrots that came to our sanctuary as babies and from the > start decided they only wanted males to hold them or > females. You are correct on protecting yourself from the > bites of the parrot because a cockatoo can cause serous > injury with their sharp beaks. In a home environment, I > would recommend keeping flight feather cut to prevent the > parrot from flying at you and attacking. Parrots don't nip > they bite with their powerful beaks. Don't get me wrong I > love parrots for all their qualities but ultimately you have > to respect them for the wild animals that they truly are. were do you live and how much
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