Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    You might want to go to a pet store in your area and really check
    out the cockatoos.  They are like having a small child.  They love
    attention and if they don't get what they feel is enough attention 
    they are the type of birds that will let you know.  They like most 
    larger birds can be very loud if they choose.  I would also sugest 
    finding a Bird vet in your area before you get your bird and discuss 
    the cost factors, Birds dont really cost much more that the food and
    toys unless they get sick, if they get sick you need to be prepared
    to pay for blood tests and cultures.  As for toes and wings my birds 
    get their toes and wings done by my sister in law but before she was
    doing it it cost about $5 for toes and $5 for wings (this was about two
    years ago).  I hope this helps.
    
    Donna

    Umbrellas are NICE! But....like all realy large parrots, certainly 
    in the long run, not really suiteble as pets.
    I keep my birds in aviaries and since they are all captive bred and 
    very tame bring one, in turn, in the house for about an hour every 
    evening. I can handle them with full confidence as they all love being
    handled. They have fun for as long as it lasts when inside but are 
    most happy in their aviaries and they all dive for their partner when
    it's time to go "home". 
    
    - All captive-bred cockatoos are expensive
    - Umbrellas are, like all other large white-cockatoos, "dusty" to 
      the extend of being near intolerable in normal living quarters.
    - No young cockatoo should be caged solo. The present day knowledge
      about parrots makes this unethical.
    - Any parrot this size will need a HUGE cage, especially cockatoos.
      4 x 4 x 6 ft is the minimum a pair will need and a single
      specimen obviously is not content with half that but needs about the
      same.
    - Hand-fed babies may seem attractive but should be shunned as they are
      "imprinted" on humans. Any young cockatoo will tame readily and
      parent-raised birds (at least partially!) are more bird-social
      and less inclined to become "screamers".
    
    So unless you are prepared to buy two and spend another grand on
    essential gear, forget about a big cockatoo. Rose cokatoos make far
    better pets, perhaps check these out.
    Why not choose a Pionus? They are handsome and bright too. A pair of
    these will make great pets, are easier to handle, need less space, far
    less dusty, make about 10% of the noise and you don't need to sell your
    car to pay for them.
    
    Btw, all white cockatoos are breeding quite freely over here
    (Netherlands) and p.e. GSC's cost about 1K$, captive bred, part. 
    parent raised.
    My pair is hitting it off nicely and I expect they'll be ready for a
    brood block next spring.
    
    Good luck,
    
    Peter 

    
    > Firstly, I live in an apartment and am primarily home at night.  Is
    > this an unsuitable environment for the bird?
    
    YES.  I ADORE my umbrella cockatoo and my citron, but they really do
    not make good pets.  They are LOUD.  If you get an umbrella 'too, I can
    guarantee that you will be evicted from your apartment.  They are as
    demanding as a young child, and really need to be kept only by people
    who are home for a greater part of the day (unless, like Mr. Bosman,
    you keep them in breeding pairs in an aviary).
    
    There are birds that are better suited for apartments.  Pionus,
    cockatiels, parrotlets, senegals, meyer's, some african grays, perhaps
    a patagonian conure (inclined to be cuddly like a cockatoo, but far
    less noisy than a cockatoo and less noise than other conures) - all of
    these would be better choices.
    
    >If I get a baby, and spend necessary time with it, will it be friendly
    >when I bring other people into my home, or would I have to take the
    >bird into another room, not take it out in front of many others?
    
    Most cockatoos that I know are gluttons for affection and will adjust
    readily to other people, especially if you take the time to socialize
    them.
    
    >What wouldn't someone like about the umbrellas?  Are they too loud,
    >anything?
    
    Loud.  VERY LOUD.  Tend to chew and be highly destructive they can eat
    hundreds of dollars of drapes, furniture, woodwork, books, in mere
    moments of laxity in supervision.  The are extremely demanding, and if
    they do not have sufficient attention, may feather pick, scream, or
    self-mutilate.  Messy.  VERY MESSY.  Large amounts of dust, bird seed,
    etc.
    
    I cannot recommend an umbrella cockatoo as a first bird.  A rosebreast,
    goffins, or a bare-eyed would be an easier choice for an apartment and
    a first bird, but any of the parrots I listed above would be better
    still.
    
    
    						/Rita
    
    
    

    I can vouch for  the Pionus.  I have a White Capped Pionus and he is
    very sweet, exceptionally tame , quiet, and not too messy.  They are
    just large enough that they feel like "big" birds, but still small
    enough to handle easily.  
    
    Good luck with your research and in reaching a decision.
    
    Jeanne
    

    I agree with previous noters.  Certain Cockatoos are notoriously 
    NOISY! Especially the Molluccan & Umbrellas.  I have a Molluccan at
    home and had I known then what I know now,  I would have never have
    gotten her.  I really love her dearly, but she can be a real pain in
    the ear.  Plus, she is VERY distructive with that beak of hers.  I 
    can't begin to list the things that she had destroyed. And she is so
    quick!  You have to monitor her constantly.  It's like having a two
    year old.
    
    Mine was a wild-caught bird and I got her when she just got off quaran-
    tine out in Calif.  She was really wild then, but it only took me
    5 weeks to tame her and she quickly became puppy friendly.  She wants
    my undivided attention and isn't happy unless she is riding on my
    shoulder.  She will not be content playing on her cage - even if I
    am in the room.  If she sees me she wants to be on me.  If I leave
    the room for just a moment, she immediately climbs off her cage and
    onto the floor and commences to chew the first thing that she 
    encounters, loves furniture and any wood product.  I can't tell you
    the damage she did when she got out of her cage one day!
    
    I do have her on a schedule and she is much quieter than before -
    however she is still so hard to please.  Umbrella's and citrons
    are much the same.  THink twice.  
    
    A nice bird is a Yellow-fronted Amazon or a Panama Amazon.  If you
    like talking birds, or an African Grey.  However the amazons can
    be noisy at times.  I have a yellow-front that is a real great bird
    and rarely makes any noise, however talks up a storm when he's not
    singing.  There was a great article on amazons in either BirdTALK
    OR Cage Bird Magazine a month or so ago.  It listed most of the
    amazon varieties and their traits.  The Yellow-front and Panama
    got extremely high ratings.  I have a nice little African Grey
    baby (10 mos. old) that is very quite and just starting to talk.
    
    Pricing on an Umbrella is around $900. - $1K if you shop around
    to various breeders.  I know of a couple if you decide on one.
    
    Best of luck!
    Denise.
    
    PIONUS are great little birds and are quiet, but they don't have
    talking abilities.  Depends on what you're after.  My advise is
    look for an independent bird.  What you will find is that most
    birds that are of an independent nature, are not cuddlers.  And
    I suggest that with your schedule, you look for the independence.
    
    Try to stay away from conures, with the exception of Maroon Belly's
    they are sweet birds.  Conures as a whole are very noisy!  

    I can vouch for the friendliness of Denise's Moluccan cockatoo,
    mentioned above in .5....she flew or jumped onto my shoulder at
    Denise's house when I had my back turned.  I froze, never having
    had such a huge bird that close to my face (conures being the 
    largest to that point).  She didn't attack me--she was just 
    cockatoo-curious.  I now have an umbrella 'too that I got last
    year at the age of 10 weeks.  It took me 12 additional weeks to
    wean her! (Yes, it is really a "she" based on feather sexing.)
    My 'too's name is Boo.  I had had the benefit of Sally Blanchard's
    excellent articles on bird behaviour as published in Bird Talk
    magazine, so I put into effect an early training schedule of when
    she could come out.  She doesn't scream nearly as much as I have
    heard reported from others, which I attribute to implementing
    Ms. Blanchard's suggestions in the article having to do with not
    spoiling your hand-fed baby.  A would **never** have her in an
    apartment.  We are in an old farmhouse in an area separated from
    other houses, but when she decides to join the Amazon chorus at
    sunset, some days I fully expect the police to arrive to see who
    is being murdered.  I did not do good work on socializing her,
    so she is a one person bird, which I now regret.  I do not recommend
    a big cockatoo for a first bird either.  The Rose-Breasted (Galahs)
    are wonderful, but extremely expensive around here, if you can 
    find them for sale.  I have only heard good things about the 
    bare-eyed (Little Corella) as well, but again they can be difficult
    to find, but are less expensive, usually.  If you can find a hand-fed
    Goffins, then you have a smaller bird, but they still have an amazingly
    loud scream when they put their minds to it!  To add to Denise's 
    suggestions about Amazons, consider a Tucuman.  They are being
    successfully captive-bred at several locations in the U.S. They
    are very gentle and quite compared to some of the other Amazons.
    Re: pionus--two of my young hand-fed white-caps have amazed me with
    their talking ability, which surpasses any of my conures, and the
    pionus picked it up on their own!  /Linda