Age of Sexual Maturity in Cockatoo
Chase Kimball
My Bare-eyed Cockatoo has been kind of antsy and aggressive lately, and I am
wondering if perhaps he(?) is reaching sexual maturity or maybe it is a
hormonal surge of some sort. He is about 18 months old. When do small
cockatoos reach sexual maturity?
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+Chase Kimball (ch...@aros.net), nom de plum "Lord Brancaster" +
+ +
+My heart in hiding stirred for a bird, the achieve of, the mastery+
+of the thing! "The Windhover" Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. +
+ +
+Visit my home page at http://www.aros.net/~chase to view the +
+virtual gallery of fantasy art of Jesse Allen, and the home site +
+of the Wasatch Avian Education Society. +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ian Kerfoot
I recall hearing somewhere that macaws hit puberty
about age six. Therefore, it seems unlikely that it
would be less than 3 for a cockatoo. Since your bird
is just 18 months old, this wouldn't seem to be it.
The juvenile "terrible twos" is more like it.
Ian Kerfoot
Joan Napolitano
Chase wrote:
"My Bare-eyed Cockatoo has been kind of antsy and aggressive lately, and
I am wondering if perhaps he(?) is reaching sexual maturity or maybe it
is a
hormonal surge of some sort. He is about 18 months old. When do small
cockatoos reach sexual maturity?"
Many parrots go throw a "nippy" or biting phase which usually means they
are not babies anymore and like teenagers are dealing with growing up.
This usually occurs from about 10 months of age to about 14 months of age.
Your cockatoo may be going through some teenage "angst".
However, any change in a bird's behavior (could the aggression come from
a painful injury or medical condition (gout, for instance) that you may
have not noticed? ) I would get the bird checked out by an avian vet. He
is too young to be exhibiting sexual behavior. Umbrella cockatoos reach
sexual maturity about 5-6 years of age, the bare-eyed being smaller may
reach it sooner but not at 18 months.
regards,
Joan
--
Cherane Pefley, Certified Avian Specialist
In article <50qjv8$t...@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com> Joan Napolitano
wrote:
>Date: 7 Sep 1996 01:43:04 GMT
>From: DDQ...@prodigy.com (Joan Napolitano)
>Newsgroups: rec.pets.birds
>Subject: Re: Age of Sexual Maturity in Cockatoo
>
>Chase wrote:
>
>"My Bare-eyed Cockatoo has been kind of antsy and aggressive
lately, and
>I am wondering if perhaps he(?) is reaching sexual maturity or
maybe it
>is a
>hormonal surge of some sort. He is about 18 months old. When do
small
>cockatoos reach sexual maturity?"
>
Hi, to qualify myself....I have breed six pair of these creature
since 1990, and have one pair left as my breeders.
Your baby is just that, a baby! It is nipping either from fear,
hunger or illness. No hormones yet...
At four years of age your baby will start to demonstrat behavour
for mating.
Two ways a bird can show stress of sorts, biting and screaming. I
would have some cultures taken by a Qualifeid avian vet.
Give a scratch to that baby of yours and look around for something
that could be causing fear in him.
Cherane
Chase Kimball
In article <510lk5$e...@news-e2b.gnn.com>, Cpe...@gnn.com says...
I probably wasn't as clear as I could have been in my original post. Curly
is not really acting up that badly, he just refuses to cuddle right now, and
is a little feisty when I try to cuddle with him. He carries on like he is
being tortured when I clip his wings, and I believe if he was in any kind of
pain He would have a fit when he was petted, etc. When I uncover his cage
inthe morning he leans forward for scratching and preening, but after a few
seconds of that wants to get out of the cage and on my shoulder. If I try
to hold him in my arms he struggles to get to my shoulder.
Since I don't let him on my shoulder until I am good and
ready, that is why I thought maybe it was a
hormonal/dominance issues. Coincidentally, I called a friend of mine who
works at my avian vets and asked her to harrass me until I made an
appointment for both of my parrots. I am 99% sure both are fine, but they
need their yearly checkups. I would have made an appointment on the spot,
but I always leave my calendar at the office.
Figaro
He carries on like he is
>being tortured when I clip his wings, and I believe if he was in any kind of
>pain He would have a fit when he was petted, etc.
I have an Umbrella who does this too. She trys to attack the scissors whenever I try to clip her wings,
and screams like I am just killing her. I'm always very careful and have never cut a blood feather or
cut her at all. I've actually found that if I pet her and then clip her wings while she isn't looking, she
never even notices, but that only lasts for one feather. She does this when I clip her nails too. I think
it's just a quirk of hers. Figaro
Nathan Schulman
ph...@onramp.net (Figaro) wrote:
When our Moluccan was young and clumsy, he broke a number of blood
feathers at various times. We didn't have trouble with bleeding, but
we did clean up the area with hydrogen peroxide. He screamed whenever
the peroxide was applied, although there should not have been any
sensation in his feathers. And for several years afterwards he
screamed whenever he saw the brown peroxide bottle.
tar...@getnet.com
ph...@onramp.net (Figaro) wrote:
> He carries on like he is
>>being tortured when I clip his wings, and I believe if he was in any kind of
>>pain He would have a fit when he was petted, etc.
>I have an Umbrella who does this too. She trys to attack the scissors whenever I try to clip her wings,
>and screams like I am just killing her. I'm always very careful and have never cut a blood feather or
>cut her at all. I've actually found that if I pet her and then clip her wings while she isn't looking, she
>never even notices, but that only lasts for one feather. She does this when I clip her nails too. I think
>it's just a quirk of hers. Figaro
I would recommend toweling your bird before performing these grooming
procedures. Trying to clip a feather or nail while the bird is unrestrained,
and obviously opposed to it, could easily result in a tradgedy which could
otherwise have been prevented. Accidents can happen no matter how careful you
think you're being.
Check out my website for info on grooming. Although this info is specific to
greys, toweling the bird is also discussed.
----
Mary Arnold
Sparky's home page is the place to go,
If you want information on the grey Congo.
http://www.getnet.com/~tarnold/sparky.html
Robert Michal
In message <51p2ca$m...@news.getnet.com> - tar...@getnet.comWed, 18 Sep 1996
14:54:22 GMT writes:
:>I would recommend toweling your bird before performing these grooming
:>procedures. Trying to clip a feather or nail while the bird is unrestrained,
:>and obviously opposed to it, could easily result in a tradgedy which could
:>otherwise have been prevented. Accidents can happen no matter how careful you
:>think you're being.
After the last visit to the vet when his assistant toweled my Moluccan, he is
deathly affraid of any towel that comes near him. Even the vet knew that this
bird didn't need toweling.
Even once when he got a wing caught in his old cage and had to be unconscious
for xrays, the vet did not towel the bird. The xrays showed no damage by the
way.
Unless it is an emergency, if the bird is opposed to a grooming procedure,
then the grooming procedure can wait!
My Moluccan will sit there and hold a foot out for it to be clipped and filed
and then hold out the other one. He only lets out a little wimper when his
toenail is cut short for a blood sample during his checkup. When I was
clipping his wings he would hold them out for servicing as well. I no longer
clip his wings as he makes no attempt to fly inside or outside even when
frightened by the likes of the neighbor's Rotty. He just fluffs up, raises his
crest feathers and barks back at the dog. That plus the love that is felt when
this creature wraps all those feathers around me when giving me a hug.
But just get a towel near him now and he screams like he is about to die. The
answer is not to towel the bird, but to make grooming a pleasant special time
with the bird. Talk softly to the bird and tell it exactly what you are doing.
The bird won't understand but the soft voice will be soothing. Begin by just
holding the feet and rubbing them, then introduce the nail clippers and file
without using them. Let the bird get used to feeling these devices while
cuddling and talking to the bird. It doesn't take long for the bird to
associate grooming with pleasant cuddling.
Hand fed Cockatoos with owners that love them use their beak as a third foot
and not for defense so there is no need to towel the bird as it won't bite.
Even when the assistant toweled him he made no attempt to bite, he just
screamed bloody murder.
I would never towel any Cockatoo unless I was playing peek-a-boo which is a
game that I can no longer play and my vet assures me that he will never be
toweled at his office again.
Now maybe you think I am being un-realistic, but that has been my experience
with all the Cockatoos I have ever had. In my opinion, toweling a Cockatoo is
a carry over from groomers that towel Amazon parrots to keep from being bitten
by the bird.
My two cents.
Robert Michal
rmi...@phoenix.net
Rebecca Blake
Robert Michal (rmi...@phoenix.net) wrote:
: My Moluccan will sit there and hold a foot out for it to be clipped and
: filed and then hold out the other one. He only lets out a little wimper
: when his toenail is cut short for a blood sample during his checkup.
: When I was clipping his wings he would hold them out for servicing as
: well. I no longer clip his wings as he makes no attempt to fly inside
: or outside even when frightened by the likes of the neighbor's Rotty.
: He just fluffs up, raises his crest feathers and barks back at the dog.
: That plus the love that is felt when this creature wraps all those
: feathers around me when giving me a hug.
: But just get a towel near him now and he screams like he is about to
: die. The answer is not to towel the bird, but to make grooming a
: pleasant special time with the bird. Talk softly to the bird and tell
: it exactly what you are doing. The bird won't understand but the soft
: voice will be soothing. Begin by just holding the feet and rubbing
: them, then introduce the nail clippers and file without using them. Let
: the bird get used to feeling these devices while cuddling and talking
: to the bird. It doesn't take long for the bird to associate grooming
: with pleasant cuddling.
: Now maybe you think I am being un-realistic, but that has been my
: experience with all the Cockatoos I have ever had. In my opinion,
: toweling a Cockatoo is a carry over from groomers that towel Amazon
: parrots to keep from being bitten by the bird.
From my experience with my Umbrella Head, I agree with what you'd written.
Roscoe has also learned to allow me to clip wing feathers and nails
without resisting or needing to be toweled. And you're right on about
making it a pleasant experience for the bird. I make sure that Roscoe
knows how special he is for being a good boy when I groom him. But if
either I or the Vet try to towel him, he freaks out like he's about to
die.
MFB...@aol.com
I agree. My moluccan, Loki, would hold his feet and wings out too