new Too and possible issues

[volvobirds]

I'll try and give all the history we have on this bird.

we adopted a female U2, Sopfie, who is 8 yrs old on 2/25. initially, she did fine, but has shown some aggressive tendencies. she is also very cage aggressive, but will allow you to pet her feet and some scratches, as long as you keep an eye on how she is acting. she also does a rather raspy squawk, if you could call it that. but usually she is kind of quiet.

we were told by the rescue we adopted her from that Sopfie was given up due to the owners getting divorced. she was ping-ponged between the wife and husband during the divorce, but the wife finally gave her to the husband due to the fact that she couldn't stand her! then the husband had to give Sopfie up due to the fact that he got a job transfer that required lots of travel.

we realize several things that could be going on with Sopfie, but we need some extra help in how to help her. we figure these things are issues right now:
1. its the hormal time for Toos.
2. new home, people, schedule, foods, noises and birds.
3. shes trying to find her place in this new flock and is unsure.

we sit in the chair by her cage and talk to her. sometimes that gets positive results, sometimes not. she is very defensive when she is out on the door of her cage, but we figure that may be a fear thing, as all here is new. she also chased my daughter(19) up into a chair. Sopfie was in full charge mode, ie wings out, crest up and hopping like a bunny. I was able to pick her up with a towel, she immediately calmed down.

is there anything else we can do to help this bird? Sopfie is here for the long run and we are willing to take the time to work with her, but we are kind of at a loss as what else to do. any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!

[KimBear]

Chances are that some of these problems will get better on their own as Sophie settles in, but there's also a possibility that she wouldn't just get better on her own because she may not know how to behave appropriately. How she was trained in the past would be the variable here. You may just want to assume she knows very little and take steps to teach her "from scratch" how a parrot is supposed to be.

Keep working on the sitting-by-her cage approach but try to keep the lessons as successful as possible by minimizing any chances she has to misbehave. Since you know she gets defensive when she's on the cage door, for example, don't let her hang out there for now. Keep her either in the cage or on a playgym where she is less likely to become a problem. Use food treats and praise to keep reinforcing calm and friendly behavior. Inappropriate behavior is best responded to with as little drama and emotion as possible. Harsh corrections can push some cockatoos into overload and make them very angry.

If you are able to towel her without her getting too upset, then you may be able to use that as an effective means of gaining control, but if it increases any aggressive behavior in her, it would be better to limit the toweling. Teach her to step up on command, using a stick if you'd rather not offer your hand up for potential sacrifice. She may need to learn about sticks first, so that would be a good training goal. Anything you can teach her that gets her to focus on you and doing things for you should be helpful.

Whenever you're doing anything with her, training or just hanging out, if she shows any sign that she's about had it and is going to act up, end the session and calmly walk away. It's always better to end things on a good note than to have to react when things go wrong. By carefully studying her body language, you'll have an easier time knowing when she's about to cross the line. In general, if you can predict a behavior, you will have an easier time controlling it. If you are too late and she goes into full-blown nasty mode, be as calm as possible, reacting very little with your voice or eyes, and just put her away. She can learn that only when she's nice does anyone pay any attention to her.

It may be necessary to keep Sophie in a controlled environment (in her cage or on a playstand she can't easily get off of) when other people are around, especially those she has shown a tendancy to bully, like your daughter. Once a cockatoo learns they can push someone around, they tend to take advantage of it.

See how things go over the next few weeks and things don't get any better, consider doing a phone consult.

[volvobirds]

Kim, the training from scratch sounds good, in fact Mark(BF) and I had discussed this previously. she shows signs when she begins to go into overload, but they are very subtle. its like I can look at her and tell that its time to give her a break or a bite is in the offing.

we figure its realistically going to take about a month for her to really settle in to this new environment, that right now shes operating in a sort of " protect myself-fear based" type behavior.

we will continue to talk to her, alot of times I even sit on the floor by her cage to talk to her and Sopfie comes down in her cage to watch me.

we will start stick training her in about a week. does that sound like a good idea, to wait for an interval to give her more time to settle in or should we begin now? I just worry about overwhelming her with all the changes she is facing now, then adding something else on top of it.

what about clicker training? I have done some training with my Macaw, but he prefers scratches to food and is easy. we also have a M2, she spoiled us as she is a very easygoing Too, nothing shakes her.

we'll give it our best. we're not giving up on Sopfie. Thanks Kim!

[KimBear]

You can start the stick training whenever you feel she'll be receptive to it. I'd at least start by carrying a stick around in your hand when you walk by her cage so she can get used to seeing it with you.

Clicker training can be used with praise and petting, not just with food. The idea is to combine the click with whatever reinforcer you're using, whether it's food or praise, and to deliver both within seconds of the specific behavior you're working on. Each parrot has his or her own motivators, so find what Sophie seems to respond to best.

[volvobirds]

well, heres an update on Sopfie.

we found out shes a music freak. she hears music and starts bopping around like mad! so we got her a radio for by her cage. it has made a big difference, believe it or not. shes calmer, not quite so antsy, doesn't get the crest all flared up and such. plus, she blows off alot of energy bopping around in her cage like that.

we also found out she is afraid of the stick. we tried just walking past her cage and around the house with it, she shrinks back in the rear of her cage and shivers like mad. totally freaked out by it, so we had to give it up after 2 days so we didn't set her back from the progress shes made. we aren't sure if someone might have hit at her or her cage before with a stick or something like it. we want to foster trust but all the stick did for her unfortunately was scare her half to death.

also, the cage aggression has let up some. she will let us give scratches and play with her feet without her lunging. before if we would have tried this, she would have struck like a snake, shes that fast.

Mark(BF) had her out last night. she let him scratch her and play with her toys with her. he said he could tell if she started to get overloaded and just backed off for a bit to let her calm down. shes being much calmer, and given time it should get better. shes gonna be a doll!

we still might be calling you in the future if we have any problems Kim. thanks for the help you have given us so far!

[KimBear]

You're welcome, and I'm glad to hear things are starting to look up.

It's not uncommon for parrots to get freaked out by sticks, and that often includes brooms and mops, too, which can make cleaning up around them quite an event! Since stick training is a pretty important skill for most birds, it is a good idea to work on it eventually, once a bird has gained some more confidence overall.

There are different things you can do to ease into this sort of training for birds that tend to be afraid of long pointy things, so if you need some help later, just let me know.

In the meantime, enjoy this time of "discovery" with your cockatoo!