Cockatoos are extremely affectionate, their feathers
are very soft, usually with beautiful colors....on top of that, they are
very intelligent and inquisitive birds!
Cockatoos love to show off and make comical displays
with outspread wings, head bobbing, dancing and loud calls. They
are very active and curious about their environment. Happy cockatoos
spend most of their waking time performing, or examining and manipulating
their toys and other cage objects.
A single cockatoo will thrive as a your pet if you
devote time and attention to it, playing with it and sharing affections
on a regular daily basis. However, two pet cockatoos are ideal if
you are not able to devote so much time and attention as the bird
will demand. Two will help to prevent bad habits from developing
by a bored bird, such as screeching and feather plucking.
Description:
The term "cockatoo" is a Malaysian word thought to have
possibly two meanings, "pincher" or "old father".
Pincher is definitely descriptive as the cockatoos have
extremely powerful beaks, and can take apart or demolish a wooden toy
in a no time!
These birds both look and behave differently than any of
the other parrots. They mostly have a single color plumage, either white
or dark and they have "erectile crests", a mobile crest of feathers.
Their beaks are enormously powerful and they can easily demolish objects.
Cockatoos are thought to be the longest lived of all parrots
with examples cited of the greater sulphur-crested having lived over 100
years. It is difficult to determine the age of a cockatoo, however young
cockatoos will have a beak that is smooth and pale and their plumage will
be paler, while an older bird's beak will be darker and have striations
and their plumage will have a fuller coloration.
On most species, the eye iris of the female will become red
to red-brown after about two years. This helps to determine the sex of
the bird also. The eye coloration is not so pronounced on some species,
however. On these the sex must be determined by either a surgical probe,
endoscopy, which can be done by many veterinarians or by a DNA testing,
usually a blood sample or a few plucked feathers sent to be diagnosed
in a lab.
Distribution:
The cockatoos natural habitats are found over large areas
of Australia and Indonesia. They are found in three very distinct ranges,
the tropical rainforest which are wet with high temperatures, the grassy
plains, and the dry savannahs.
There are 18 species of cockatoo (including the well-know
cockatiel) and 37 sub-species, of these only a handful became well known
due to importation restrictions. Cockatoos are among those birds that
are endangered or threatened with extinction. There is an export ban on
all birds from Australia, so young birds available for public sale in
the United States today are captive bred birds.
Care and feeding:
The cockatoo's personal hygiene must include
a weekly shower or bath to get rid of its' accumulated
feather dust and keep its' plumage in good shape. A shower can be accomplished
with either a hand held shower sprayer or a hose with a fine spray head
and lukewarm water. A bath pan or ceramic dish 12"-14" (30-35
cm) can be placed on the bottom of the cage or mounted at about 39"
(1m) above the floor in an aviary. The wings should be
kept trim if you want to discourage flight and to prevent the loss of
your pet through an open window or door. The beak and claws
need to be trimmed if they are not worn down from climbing and chewing.
A variety of concrete type perches are available to help the keep nails
trim, but they should still be trimmed if they become overgrown. Cockatoos
will demolish mineral blocks, lava blocks, and other beak grooming items
in a matter of a few minutes so they won't work to keep beaks trim!
A Cockatoos' diet consisting of a basic large
hookbill seed mix with supplements of sprouted seeds and all sorts of
fruits and vegetables is generally regarded as suitable. Some examples
of supplements are apples, pears, plums, raisons, oranges, bananas, peaches,
carrots, broccoli, lettuce, chickweed, dandelions, and lots more! Do
not feed avocado as it is toxic to birds! Occasional proteins can
be offered such as cottage cheese, bits of cheese, hardboiled eggs, canned
dog food, and cooked meat bones. Stay away from highly seasoned, fatty
processed meats. Vitamins and minerals should not be necessary with a
good varied diet except in times of change or stress. If your cockatoo has a tendency to destroy
calcium blocks, as an alternative, calcium can be sprinkled on their food
about once a week.
Housing:
Your cockatoo is very social and inquisitive, so the room
you house your pet in must be a room that gets visited frequently by the
family. Place the cage at eye level in a quiet sunny area away from drafts.
A minimum size cage to house a small cockatoo in is 27"x27"x39"
(70x70x100 cm). A larger cage for larger cockatoos must be considered.
Horizontal bars are important as your cockatoo needs to climb. Keep in
mind that because of the strength of their beaks, cockatoos are able to
bend bars and pop the joints on cages. For additional security on the
cage door, a snap lock is recommended.
A suitable indoor aviary should be 39"x39"x78"
(100x100x200 cm). Perches should be 1" (26-30 mm) for a small cockatoo
and 1 1/2" to 2" (35-45 mm) for a larger cockatoo. Branches
from fruit trees are excellent and provide varying widths for foot exercises
as well as roughness for beak and nail trimming. Food and water dishes
need to be ceramic or stainless steel.
An outdoor or breeding aviary needs to have
a protected shelter that can be heated and cooled where necessary and
have a sand floor. An attached flight cage should be 78"x117"x78"
(2x3x2 m) for small cockatoos, and of course bigger for larger cockatoos.
One third of the flight cage should be covered. Equip the flight cage
with a perch at each end. A climbing branch and a bird bath are nice additions
too.
Maintenance:
The basic cage care includes daily cleaning
of the water and food dishes and wiping off the feather dust from the
bars and perches. Twice weekly change the bottom trays and replace the
soiled litter. Weekly you should wash all the perches and dirty toys and
monthly you should clean the entire cage. A total hosing down and disinfecting
of an aviary and flight should be done twice a year, replacing anything
that needs to be freshened, such as old dishes, toys, perches, and the
sand on the floor.
Social Behaviors:
In the wild, all cockatoo species live together in flocks, some
species may flock in groups of only 8-10 birds while others species will
flock in the thousands.
Because of their need to socialize, cockatoos are generally
best kept in pairs. They also do fine with another bird of similar size
for companionship. The main reason for pairing is so that they do not
become so dependent on their keeper and their keepers time. The drawback
to keeping a pair is that the noise will be much greater. Cockatoos love
to play and will keep it up all day, but part of their play includes loud
calls, which in some cases can turn into long earsplitting shrieks. Cockatoos and other pets such as dogs and cats
may or may not develop a friendly relationship with each other. This is
generally a "wait and see" situation. Other small animals such
as rodents and small birds are best kept away from a cockatoo. If they
fall prey to the cockatoo's beak, it can be fatal. Cockatoos with babies or small children, never
leave them unattended! Cockatoos can get very jealous of babies and small
children!They child could get attacked by the cockatoo's beak or sharp
claws so you should always be on your guard. Cockatoos and older
children will often do fine, again it's a "wait and see"
situation. You won't know until the relationship unfolds over time
Handling/Training:
The cockatoo is highly intelligent and their ability to repeat
some words or sounds can be accomplished with repeated training, but this
is not the cockatoo's strength. Their outstanding ability comes from being
great performers! This is demonstrated by such antics as dancing, playing
tug-of-war, climbing, and shaking. They will use "tools", various
objects and toys to play and perform with, such as roller skating. They
are very inventive and if toys are not provided they will use what is
at hand, often that takes the form of their food dishes and perches.
To be able to handle and train your cockatoo depends first
on trust, so go slowly and be consistent. Taming proceeds in steps, start
with cage taming where you can approach your cockatoo's cage without it
jumping off it's perch and heading to an opposite corner. You overcome
this by talking to your pet with soothing words and slow gentle movements
until it gets accustomed to you. Next is hand taming, where your cockatoo
will climb on your hand and allow you to carry it around. You can accomplish
this by offering it treats from outside the cage until it is comfortable
with your hand. As your cockatoo becomes comfortable with taking treats
from your hand, you then open the cage door and repeat the same process
but now you are reaching into it's cage with the treat. Once you've earned
it's trust, your cockatoo will begin climbing on your hand and allowing
you to pet him.
Other training, such as tricks and imitating speech will
take patience and repeated efforts. A handfed baby will not need much
taming and can often be handled right away, as it is use to human attention. For an extensive parrot training system that potentially turns your bird into a fun, loving companion as well as learning lots of cool trickls, try Chet Womach's Parrot Training Course. Remember that taming and training a bird takes patience, never 'punish'
your pet! This only serves to destroy the trust you've spent so much time
building.
Activities:
Exercise and play are important activities for the physical
well being and psychological health of all cockatoos. They are extraordinarily
playful and will play all day long with only short breaks for rest. Getting
out of the cage onto a playpen with lots of climbing branches is also
very important for the emotional well being of your pet. These activities
help deter distress and prevent the problems of screeching and feather
picking. Provide your parrot with lots of activities in the form of large
link chains, bird ladders, parrot swings, ropes, fresh branches for gnawing
and chewing, and rotate new bird toys on a regular basis.
When a new toy is introduced, your cockatoo will approach
it warily.The bird will examine with caution and observe it from all sides.
Once it has done this, it will accept and play with it for hours. Cockatoos
that have flight feathers will fly if out of their cage. If you have a
flight aviary, your cockatoo will love to fly between perches widely spaced
apart. A cockatoo that is clipped cannot fly so it cannot use a flight
aviary. It will take about a year for it's feathers to grow back.
Breeding/Reproduction:
The best success in breeding cockatoos in captivity started
with the greater sulphur-crested, lesser sulphur-crested, and the rose-breasted
cockatoos, though several others are now also being breed successfully.
Pet cockatoos have a very difficult time getting used to a mate so are
very hard to use for attempts at breeding. Establishing any harmonious
cockatoo pair can be difficult. It is best to have several young birds
together and let them pair naturally.
Most cockatoo species are easily sexed. The lesser sulphur-crested,
greater sulphur-crested, umbrella, Goffin's, rose-breasted and Philippine
cockatoos have a red-brown, brown, or chestnut-brown iris in the female
after about two years of age. The moluccan is basically the same except
the female iris is dark brown so it can be difficult to distinguish from
the slightly darker iris of the male. Both sexes of the bare-eyed cockatoo
have the dark iris, but the male is a larger bird and the female has more
feathering around the eye than the male. Sometimes with the bare-eyed
and the moluccan you can only be certain if you have them sexed by either
a surgical probe, endoscopy, a DNA test, or a chromosonal analysis.
Place the cockatoo's square nesting box, or a round hollowed
out tree trunk of the same approximate size, high in the aviary. On the
bottom of the nest box, put a 4" (10 cm) layer of soft bedding such
as wood shavings. The nesting box for a small cockatoo should be 10"-12"
(25-30 cm) wide x 23"-31" (60-80 cm) high, with a hole size
of 4" (10-12 cm). For a medium cockatoo it should be 12"-14"
(30-35 cm) wide x 31"-39" (80-100 cm) high, with a hole size
of 4"-5" (10-12 cm). For the larger cockatoos it should be 14"-18"
(35-45 cm) wide x 47"-59" (120-150 cm) high with a hole size
of 5"-6" (12-15 cm).
The cockatoo female will lay between 2 to 3 eggs. Brooding,
depending on which species, is between 25 to 30 days. The young are naked
and blind when hatched and don't open their eyes for several weeks. Hatchlings
take between 60 and 100 days to become fully plumed and at that time they
will begin to explore outside of the nest. However they will still be
dependent for another two to three weeks before ready leave the nest for
good.
Because the cockatoos are threatened with extinction, successful
breeding is helping to preserve the species and reduce the number of wild
caught birds. There are no breeding regulations in the United States,
Canada, or the United Kingdom, though other countries might have restrictions
and you should consult with the authorities in your country before undertaking
breeding.
Potential Problems:
A cockatoo that is well cared for will seldom become ill.
Though it is often difficult to determine illness, some visible signs
of illness can be plumage that is lusterless, ruffled, or has
bare spots. Other signs may be having no appetite, sneezing, discharge
from the nostrils, slit eyes instead of round, the bird sleeps a lot resting
on both feet instead of having one foot tucked up, develops movements
of neurotic screaming, begins feather plucking, and any change in the
feces. Some of the common illnesses your cockatoo could
contract are parasites, intestinal inflammation, coccidiosis, respiratory
ailments, feather picking, and parrot fever also known as psittacosis
which is not common but is contagious to humans and can be dangerous.
Isolate the bird in a hospital cage with an infrared lamp
placed about 23" (60 cm) distance from the cage. If it does not perk
within 24 hours, the ailing parrot should be taken to a avian veterinarian
for diagnosis and treatment.
Behavior problems usually stem from something missing in the bird's environment. Cockatoos are particularly vulnerable to feather plucking because of their intense need for socializtion. Boredom, lack of trust, lack of interaction with other birds or people can lead to problems like biting, feather plucking, and screaming. Try to develop a bond of trust and spend time with your bird to help avoid these problems. We have also had good success with Chet Womach's Parrot Training Course. He offers free 3-day introductory course so you can try it out before you buy anything.
Availability:
Several cockatoo species are readily available in the pet
industry and you should be able to get one from a pet store. There are
many handfed babies becoming increasingly available.
