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Post by siobhan on May 19, 2015 15:50:10 GMT -5
I just can't get over how well-behaved Rocky is. He doesn't bite. He occasionally nibbles, but I think he's trying to keep or gain his balance when he does that, as it's usually when we're standing up or walking with him on an arm. He yells a little, but after the first couple of days, never at full volume (and we've heard full volume, which is roughly equivalent to the tornado siren at close range). He understands "no" and if you say "no," he stops doing whatever it is. He let me stretch out his wing to show his daddy the yellow feathers on the underside without the least objection. I can reach into his cage to pet his head or do things and that's fine. I kiss him on the beak and that's fine. This morning, he had to stay in his cage because his daddy was taking grandpa to the doctor and Mommy had to get ready for work and he didn't yell or complain. He sat on his sleeping perch and played quietly with a toy. I kissed him goodbye through the bars. He didn't holler when I left. Clyde and Jade were shrieking from their room enough for everybody.
Is this normal parrot behavior? Because you know I was trained by Quakers and an affectionate parrot who just wants to hang out and doesn't boss me around and make me bleed is an entirely new experience. It makes me nervous, like he's plotting mayhem and lulling me into a false sense of security. That's what a Quaker would do. Gary, ask Ralph if he and Rocky went to the same Gentleman Parrot School.
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Post by cnyguy on May 19, 2015 20:20:46 GMT -5
Gary, ask Ralph if he and Rocky went to the same Gentleman Parrot School. I'll ask him tomorrow.  I suppose that the sweet disposition attributed to 'Toos in general may be at the foundation of Rocky's conduct, but there seems to be more to it than only that.  |
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Post by siobhan on May 19, 2015 21:04:04 GMT -5
Rocky HAS begun a couple of renovation projects on the front door and another door frame, but I think he just wants to feel he's had a claw in the interior decoration, such as it is.
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Post by aaron on May 20, 2015 9:53:44 GMT -5
Several cockatoos I've handled at the nearby parrot stores have been absurdly sweet. Like heart-wrenching-how-can-I-leave-this-bird-at-the-parrot-store sweet. I always wonder what it will be like when they are in a home setting, whether they would get more demanding and less reasonable... Perhaps not? They can be unbelievably sweet.
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Post by siobhan on May 20, 2015 11:53:17 GMT -5
Rocky has been with us four weeks as of last Sunday and is just as sweet as ever, if not more so. Hubby rubs noses with him (well, nose to beak). I kiss him on his beak and he tips up his head to make it easier. He makes this sweet little sounds (like a baby cooing) when he's snuggling. He does yell a little in the morning and at night and once in a while adds a third session, but so do the other parrots. He wants us within sight if we're home, but he understands the difference between leaving the room and leaving the house (keys, purse, etc.) and doesn't yell about that. I suppose it's possible for a cockatoo to be demanding and difficult and chompy, but I think a lot depends on the individual 'too and the humans. We have extensive parrot experience, obviously, and we don't mistreat him but we also know when to nip a behavior in the bud and redirect his attention gently. He's still very nervous about noises and sudden movement, poor baby, so I can't imagine how awful he's been treated.
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Post by easttex on May 20, 2015 13:42:34 GMT -5
Allie is very jumpy about sudden things, after six plus years with me. As far as I know she was neglected but not outright abused in her first home. I don't know if it is more genetics or environment with her, but I don't expect it to change much. I hope Rocky will gain confidence, but it might be hard to overcome his earlier experiences, if that is what it was. I'm just saying don't fault yourself if it doesn't seem to happen any time soon. |
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Post by siobhan on May 20, 2015 14:52:44 GMT -5
He was absolutely terrified of us moving things at first. Move a stool, complete freak out. Set up TV trays (yes, that's how we eat dinner, LOL) and he'd freak out. Carry a guitar from point A to point B, which is a very regular occurrence, freak out. He's finally adjusted to the TV trays and barely even noticed last night. So I have hopes that he'll calm down about other things soon. I had a dog when I was a child who had been abused as a puppy -- they hit him with a stick. We got him when he was still very young and had him the rest of his life and never once hit him with anything at all, yet he still flinched and cowered if you picked up something that reminded him of a stick. We couldn't pick up fallen twigs in the yard before mowing without terrifying him. Somebody had to take him out of sight and distract him.
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Post by cnyguy on May 20, 2015 20:21:55 GMT -5
This morning, I asked Ralph if he knew Rocky, and he nodded his head. Then I asked if he and Rocky went to Gentleman Parrot School together, and Ralph just shrugged. I suspect that he wants me to believe that gentlemanly behavior comes naturally and it's not necessary to go to school to learn it. Rocky's renovation projects may be his way of showing that, gentleman or not, he's still a parrot, and needs to behave like one, at least once in a while.  |
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Post by siobhan on May 20, 2015 22:11:26 GMT -5
I'll go ask Rocky if he knows Ralph. Perhaps they didn't have to go to Gentleman Parrot School, but were in the same club or something. You know, one of those clubs where the parrots gather round to smoke expensive cigars and discuss how the Exchange is doing. LOL Usually they wear ascots.
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Post by siobhan on May 20, 2015 22:23:48 GMT -5
Rocky said "aaaaaahhhhh" so I assume that means yes, he knows Ralph. Rocky went to bed at 8 but doesn't go to sleep until we go to bed. Yet he insists on having his cage covered early and of course, we obey.
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Post by cnyguy on May 21, 2015 20:03:34 GMT -5
I'll go ask Rocky if he knows Ralph. Perhaps they didn't have to go to Gentleman Parrot School, but were in the same club or something. You know, one of those clubs where the parrots gather round to smoke expensive cigars and discuss how the Exchange is doing. LOL Usually they wear ascots. That sounds right for two gentleman parrots like Rocky and Ralph. And maybe they partake of a little glass of Cointreau or Drambuie, which might account for Ralph's interest in the cordial glass in the cupboard. |
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Post by biteybird on May 22, 2015 2:20:55 GMT -5
I can kind of picture both of them in those English 'smoking jackets'...  |
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Post by siobhan on May 22, 2015 9:39:47 GMT -5
Someone who is talented with Photo Shop should fix up a picture of Rocky and Ralph in their smoking jackets and ascots.
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I suppose that the sweet disposition attributed to 'Toos in general may be at the foundation of Rocky's conduct, but there seems to be more to it than only that. 
