# Salty, the Cockatoo



## vStiles (Jul 4, 2020)

Just a snap of our Cocky, Salty.  He's 29 this year. We rescued him just about a year ago.

 I don't know what you all know about these birds, but they're not like other parrots.  These guys have the capacity + intelligence of a 5 year old child. They have a life expectancy of anywhere from 60 to 80+ years.   Very loud sometimes, and they will bite when pissed off.
  They are flock birds, so they are very social and just want to be with you the entire time you're home / around.

Total comedy show most days, though. Has a huge vocabulary.  Not just a mimic bird, they actually know what / when / why they're saying what they are.  I never would imagine and exotic wild animal could love a human, but Salty, w/out question, loves the wife to death.  They pick you, however.  You don't just decide to get a cockatoo and go buy one.  They HAVE to pick you.   You have to have multiple visits with the bird before you take one home.
If they don't like you, they most likely never will.   And that's the sad part. 

Most cocky's have a rehome average of 10-12 times. And that ends up with the bird not trusting people.   People don't educate themselves and have no idea why their bird is always screaming and always attacks them.  Not a cage bird AT ALL.  They have to be out and socializing, very unhealthy for them to just be in a cage 24/7. 

Anyway, sorry for the book.  Just thought I'd show him off


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## Jeff G (Jul 4, 2020)

Salty sounds like a character. Nice shot.


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## Mike Drone (Jul 4, 2020)

How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]


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## vStiles (Jul 4, 2020)

Jeff G said:


> Salty sounds like a character. Nice shot.



He certainly is, no question about that.  He'll test your patience + have you on the floor laughing in the same minute.   He will also go from giving you kisses to biting in the same minute as well - given something freaks him, or hormonal season, or y'know.... it'sTuesday lol.


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## vStiles (Jul 4, 2020)

Mike Drone said:


> How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]



I was on the deck shooting birds, she came out with him to say hi.  In a quick instance like this, they way they perch on your fingers you can clamp with your thumb.  As long as you don't release the thumb, they can't go anywhere

They make harnesses for parrots, so you can safely take them outside.  We belong to a group for Cockatoos on FB, and it's quite regular for folks to basically have a dog, but it's a Cocky.  Supermarket, walks, the beach, etc.  
The harness allows you, like an extra long dog leash, to set how far you allow them to go.

We also have an outside cage for him of we're going to be outside for a while.  Some folks let their birds free fly around, not a lot, but there's a few.  Personally, we'd never even risk that, and most parrot owners don't  Way too many things can go very wrong.  He'd last *maybe* a day if he flew away in the winter here.


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## Soocom1 (Jul 4, 2020)

vStiles said:


> Jeff G said:
> 
> 
> > Salty sounds like a character. Nice shot.
> ...


Does he play Fizzbin? 


Nice shot!


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## Winona (Jul 4, 2020)

Glad you’ve done your research. They are so fun, but definitely need a lot of interaction. He’s cute!


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## vStiles (Jul 5, 2020)

Soocom1 said:


> Does he play Fizzbin?
> 
> 
> Nice shot!



I had to google that lol.  Might be something to try.  We do have 'smart' toys that he plays with ( fit the piece in the right slot ) but he likes ripping up paper + wood pieces.   He's not really into toys if he can't destroy them haha.


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## vStiles (Jul 5, 2020)

Winona said:


> Glad you’ve done your research. They are so fun, but definitely need a lot of interaction. He’s cute!



We did loads and loads of research + education before we even got him. 

I have my own drywall / tape / paint company and Salty was in a home I did a big job for.  My client's mom owned Salty but she had fallen gravely ill, so the daughter was homing him.  With her mom, her young son and her self business, she just didnt have time for him.

We got to know each other quite well, and she knows we are animal people ( 4 dogs, 7 cats, 2 budgies, and 4 fish tanks )  she asked if we'd be interested in making Salty a family member.

2 months of visits first, but he fell in love with Shelly ( wife ) on first visit.  Now, you couldn't seperate them if you wanted to.  She always wanted a big bird, and we made sure we knew everything we could before we brought him home.

Can not picture him w/out us.  We regularly update / send pics to my client.  She's beyond happy she got him a good home, and we are so in love with him.

Perfectly worked out for us all.

*Again, sorry for the novel lol


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## terri (Jul 5, 2020)

He is beautiful!   I love birds - when I was growing up my mother always had at least one parakeet/budgie around.   She worked with them daily so they were very social, tame, and chatterboxes.   

I'd love to have a large bird, but have concerns about my cats.  How do all your cats act around Salty?


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## Space Face (Jul 5, 2020)

Salty is a good name for a cockatoo.  They do all seem a bit salty.


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## vStiles (Jul 5, 2020)

terri said:


> He is beautiful!   I love birds - when I was growing up my mother always had at least one parakeet/budgie around.   She worked with them daily so they were very social, tame, and chatterboxes.
> 
> I'd love to have a large bird, but have concerns about my cats.  How do all your cats act around Salty?



Thank you .  Our youngest cats are 15, so that might be a factor right from the start.  However, they don't have / care / want anything to do with him.  
His cage is beside my desk, the cat food area is behind that : they routinely go across my desk, by the cage to get to the back.  That's the most interaction they have with him.  

Every now and then, on his outings, completely supervised, a few of the cats won't move if he comes up to them.  He will start preening them if they don't move.  We never let it go for long though, never know who might say " ok, enough" first.    They'd be in big trouble if he bit, and he'd be in major trouble if they scratched him.  But really, they don't care to interact.

_One_ of the pups is a different story.  The girls have never cared about him.  Our oldest, first couple days, really really really wanted to get a sniff in, after that  - meh.
  The other, younger boy has 8 of 10 signs for autism in dogs ( yea, didn't know until we started researching his weird behaviour when he was younger ).  He's not 100% cool with Salty.  He's loud, and he takes up Mommy time lol.    He's a mouth dog, so.... he wants more than a sniff of Salty LOL.  Just have to pay attention to where Salty is and where the dog is when Salty's floor roaming.   Really, other than that, zero issues.


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## vStiles (Jul 5, 2020)

Mike Drone said:


> How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]



I found a shot I had that shows the thumb clamp method.  Simple, but it anchors them, and they know it.  Only problem, if they WANT to fly away ( scared ) and can't, your forearm might take a few hits until you get him away from whatever it is.


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## Mike Drone (Jul 5, 2020)

vStiles said:


> Mike Drone said:
> 
> 
> > How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]
> ...



Aah, so they can fly away.  Scary thought.  You do have a beautiful bird. =]


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## vStiles (Jul 6, 2020)

Mike Drone said:


> Aah, so they can fly away. Scary thought. You do have a beautiful bird. =]



Yes, it's very possible they could get away from you.  I'm always on edge when she brings him outside w/out the harness.  But, w/out the harness, he usually keeps himself pretty close to mom, so that's a plus.   And thank you, we think he's a pretty good looking birdie as well


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## K9Kirk (Jul 6, 2020)

Beautiful bird. Saw one on you tube acting up and throwing a fit, very funny birds.


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## Photo Lady (Jul 6, 2020)

vStiles said:


> Mike Drone said:
> 
> 
> > How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]
> ...





vStiles said:


> Mike Drone said:
> 
> 
> > How do you keep him from flying away?  Nice photo =]
> ...


Beautiful Salty.. and everything you explained is right on the money... they bond and when you do too "Don't break their heart... I have a umbrella cockatoo..African gray and cockatiels


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## vStiles (Jul 7, 2020)

K9Kirk said:


> Beautiful bird. Saw one on you tube acting up and throwing a fit, very funny birds.



Oh yea lol.  Throwing a fit is a regular thing haha. Salty has most of his at bed time.  During their hormonal season they get a little testy easily and daily fits are common.  See it a lot on the FB groups.

They can get over stimulated quickly as well, if you're playing.  That can turn into sweet, dancing birdie into Raptor Birdie without any real warning.   The longer you own and spend time w/ your bird, the better and easier it gets to read them.  You can pretty much tell : " Oh.. Crazy Bird's been activated"  and you can start changing the energy to calm them down.



Photo Lady said:


> Beautiful Salty.. and everything you explained is right on the money... they bond and when you do too "Don't break their heart... I have a umbrella cockatoo..African gray and cockatiels



Ohhh   your Gray is quite beautiful as well    That's the next one / holding out for.  There's a licenced woman in town here who breeds certain birds and African Gray's are one of them.  We're going to do a few home renos I think first, because we'd like to rearrange things so maybe Salty has his own room / build a huge aviary that we can walk into.   If the latter is the case, we will be working things so we can get Gray + he'll have his own big aviary.

  We've had a chance to take on other birds. We recently fostered a sweet little 8 year old Sulfur Crested, Max, for about 2 months before we got him a guaranteed, long term home. And he went to the perfect home for him and them, worked out awesome.
 But yea, as far as owning any more big birds, we're waiting until we can get the Gray.


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## Photo Lady (Jul 7, 2020)

vStiles said:


> K9Kirk said:
> 
> 
> > Beautiful bird. Saw one on you tube acting up and throwing a fit, very funny birds.
> ...


 thank you so much.....
I love all my birds but my Mr Cash.. is the best of my best.. he talks perfect English in sentences.. asks for cookies etc etc.. of course I just give him a tiny piece.. An Aviary sounds wonderful...… if I ever move down to florida I would turn the room with the screened-in porch into an Aviary.. for now they are all in the office with me..


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## limr (Jul 7, 2020)

vStiles said:


> terri said:
> 
> 
> > He is beautiful!   I love birds - when I was growing up my mother always had at least one parakeet/budgie around.   She worked with them daily so they were very social, tame, and chatterboxes.
> ...



Terri asked the exact question I was going to ask! I didn't grow up with birds, but I've had a few budgies and have always wanted larger birds, too. I just love them and their dinosaur feet  But I also have 2 cats and I worry about introducing a bird. 

Thanks for all of this really great info! Now we need more pictures


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## terri (Jul 8, 2020)

Definitely more Salty pictures!


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## vStiles (Jul 8, 2020)

Jeff G said:


> Salty sounds like a character. Nice shot.



I didn't see this for some reason earlier, I'm sorry for the non reply.  As you can see from my way too much talking that he certainly does live up to his name lol


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## vStiles (Jul 8, 2020)

Actually doing some pic stuff this afternoon, and I will definitely post more of Salty when they're done


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## vStiles (Jul 10, 2020)

#4 and #8    The love these two have for each other is something I never thought I would see.  As soon her truck comes around the corner, Salty starts dancing and singing, swinging around the cage ; just LOVES mommy.  He took to her the first day she met him, she fell in love on that first visit.

I think if something were to ever happen to Salty, she'd be the same as if it were one of the pups.  They are inseparable and it warms my heart to see them with each other.  

#9  Usual bed time antics lol.  He knows when it's bed time, so that's when it's time to start acting up.    He's quite comical at bed time sometimes.

He's definitely a very unique part of our home, and we can't imagine life without him.


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## stapo49 (Jul 14, 2020)

Here are a couple I spotted on my walk around the lake yesterday. They were having a great old time getting the pine seeds out of the tree.


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## vStiles (Jul 14, 2020)

I believe those are Corella ( spelling might be wrong ) Cockatoos .  These type are very, very sweet and cuddly.  If we ever get another Cockatoo, it'll be a Goffin for sure. 

A lot of the folks on the FB Cockatoo page we belong to, are from Australia and regularly post images of the flocks of Too's that visit their yard.


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