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Posted by rjet4u on Thu, 04/12/2007 - 23:19 :: Cockatoos
My wife and I recently purchased a 5-year-old umbrella cockatoo named Casper at a pet store. Initially, we were told that Casper did not get along with men. However, during our two visits to the pet store, Casper would come to the door of her cage and let me put my hand out without incident. Casper would then climb on my hand then up my arm then on my shoulder and just hang out. Casper would even cuddle to me. Just to make sure that Casper would get along with me, we went back to the pet store a second time and Casper responded the same way towards me, totally loving and no aggressive behaviour. My wife and I then decided to purchase Casper and bring her home.

Once home, we set up Casper's cage and tansfered Casper to her new home. My wife and I then went out to purchase some toys and bird food. Upon our arrival back, I got Casper out of her cage. She immediately went to my shoulder however, this time, she bit the side of my face several times. I guess I freaked out and got her off of me and she then flew to the dining room table. My wife had to pick her up and place her back in the cage. Several hours later, I went to try to make amens with Casper and as I was holding her in my hand, she went on the attack again this time biting my arm. Both attacks drew blood and now I am not sure what to do.

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
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Posted by cockatoorescue on Fri, 09/07/2007 - 07:07.
Since this post is quite old, I don't know if you'll ever see it, but I hope so!
First of all, don't ever put her on your shoulder! This tells them that they're dominant and they will "fight" (bite, scream) to stay that way. When she bites (it's hard, I know) just let her. Don't react or pull away. Not even an "ouch" because that can be misinterpreted as a reward. Usually the bird will stop in a couple days of using this technique. If not, use the "active ignoring" method where you don't react to the bite. Just say "no" in a stern voice and stare her right in the eye. Don't break eye contact until SHE looks away, then take her straight to her cage without another word. Leave the room for 10 minutes, then come back and try it again. Usually within just a few "timeout" sessions, they get the idea, but sometimes the bird is stubborn.
In this case I recommend treats. Usually I'm against treat training but sometimes it's the only way to start. This time you get some treats (fruit is best so it's healthy and wont make her fat) and keep feeding her a small treat every 2 or 3 minutes. The moment she bites, set her on the floor and no more treats. Wait 10 minutes and try it again. She'll learn not to bite this way because she really wants those treats!

It also can be hormones. If this is the case (which is likely since she's 5) there's nothing you can do to completely eliminate it until she's out of the puberty stage but you should still keep training her so she knows what to do when she's back to normal.
Has she chosen your wife as her mate? If your wife is her favorite person, she will attack you because she's jealous and your wife is her "territory" so she will want to defend it. In this case, your wife has to be the one saying "NO" or doing the treat training because she doesn't care about approval from you yet.
Good luck and check out www.cockatootrainer.com for other tips for them
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