I have to completely agree with what clawnz put below
I only had a tiny bit of cockatoo experience and that was when I was a lot younger than I am now. That was Eddie, my BE2, that never came home with me in the end. I went to see him every day on the way to and back from school and the store got him out for us where we could handle him for about half an hour. He was crazy and somewhat nippy but only a baby. I can imagine had I had him then I may not have understood how to cope with the behaviours he displayed as I wouldn't have known how to manage them. However, having Malibu has really opened up my eyes a bit into the don't-go-there birds and has made me feel far more comfortable handling them and understanding how they work
Malibu is quiet almost all day every day. He has toys to shred, foraging toys and cardboard boxes etc. that he loves to play in. He gets fed twice a day and eats almost everything given to him. He spends almost all day every day out of his cage too and can return to it whenever he wants to. I think, personally, that having things to do has kept him lovely and quiet. By all means, when he
does scream it is extremely loud but he isn't excessive and only has his moments. I think that my orange winged Amazon parrot, Clyde, is far worse for his screaming habits but other Amazons I have met are no-where near as loud or as frequent as he is. As I type this, Clyde is flapping his wings, bouncing up and down on his boing screaming the house down in a hormonal tantrum while I'm sat watching Malibu. Malibu is inside a cardboard box foraging for chick peas and dried fruits that are wrapped in paper
What I think helped me the most with Malibu is I had prepared my self for the worse. And probably the best thing is it turns out to be not as bad as you would think. He is cuddly, loves a good tickle under his wings and his head but he isn't a lap bird and can be fairly independent playing with his toys or sitting quietly on top of his cage. He screams, it's loud, but he's a bird and at the end of the day all birds make noise. He does it in short bursts that are ear splitting but then that's it. Excessive screaming would be a behavioural issue probably taught to a bird by getting everything it wants. Malibu makes this almost like "oi! ooi!!! oi!!" sound whenever I'm eating and if I don't give him any of my food then he will scream like a toddler throwing a paddy because they can't have something they want. He has done this less and less over time but still makes his 'oi!' sound :lol: He has a little feather damage under his wings which I think is due to the irritation of having his wings clipped (thank goodness the rescue are allowing me to let them grow out!!!) but he isn't a plucker and even if he was I know I would try my best to tackle it by seeing what was influencing it
Malibu has a disability, however is isn't noticeable to most people! He can't use his tongue properly and struggles to eat and it's almost as if he gets groggy and upset that he drops his food a lot because of it. His tongue is turned all the way upside down so the muscles are completely twisted (odd huh!?) and he clearly gets frustrated over that. That is one of the times where I won't try and handle him. He's in a 'I can do it myself!' kind of mood then. At other times, he can be easy to read. A crest up with a hiss means 'I REALLY DON'T LIKE THAT', a crest up but with nothing exciting around is usually a good warning to back off too. Puffy cheeks back towards the eyes and a clicking sound with his beak means he really wants a cuddle. I think you just have to learn from watching the bird and me, nor Jack have actually had a single bite from him. Even when he is over excited, he doesn't bite. He just has a really good time!
My friend recently house sat for me while I was in Tenerife (she's on this forum as Hernonymous but was only on for a little while) as she is an animal person and has birds too. She took loads of cute photos and videos of Malibu while she was here and regardless of being a new person he was absolutely fine with her! As long as you understand they are loud, easy to upset and very intelligent then I think most people would cope with one. I can definitely understand why people don't have them and give them in to rescues etc. but that is because most people usually see the cuddly baby cockatoo having scritches. Malibu is 18 years old, so we've gone through the stroppy teen phase luckily. As well as my friend, he has been held by Jack's younger brothers (one is 13 and the other 11 I think, terrible at remembering as he has such a large family over such a broad age range!) and Jack's step dad. Now Paul was the only person to get bitten by Malibu and that is because he didn't understand when Malibu wasn't enjoying something. He did what nobody should do, stroke their front
it serves him right! I told him not to and he got over confident because Malibu was giving him kisses and cuddles. I most certainly would never ever ever touch him on his front at all, even though I can stroke his beak and everything. Ah well, a bloody finger served the trick and he hasn't tried to touch him since. He couldn't believe how hard the actual bite was!
I can honestly say if somebody offered me another cockatoo, regardless of behavioural issues I couldn't say no. They're truly amazing and completely unique and I think any cockatoo could be worked with as long as you learn to understand what is going on in their head. When I eventually become a safe house (foster home) for the rescue I got Malibu from I know I am going to be given cockatoos. They have so many that come in it is unreal. But I think having them around is fantastic and I honestly wouldn't change them for the world
Kate (as in, Kate here on the forum but not katew) always said to me that they weren't as bad as people made them out to be and I completely agree with that too
Now I'm really sorry for rambling on, it probably wasn't remotely structured at all because I was just enjoying talking about him :lol: but here's a video from when my friend house sat Malibu. He didn't like the TV show that was on and she was forced into changing the channel, I thought it was pretty hilarious! [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bebZsjCghZM"]Malibu - YouTube[/nomedia]
I think if you were to get one and were worried about behavioural issues then I would go for an older bird in a rescue