Karen Manuel - 2007-12-28
My husband and I are the proud owner of an umbrella cockatoo that was given to us when she was just three weeks old. No feathers and she was so ugly but now she is absolutely gorgeous. Her name is Peanut. I am like the others I wouldn't trade her for all the money someone would want to give me for her, but then that is somethng I do not have to fret about as she is not perfect. Her little legs and claws are twisted so she doesn't perch but this small deformity doesn't stop her from roaming her cage. I hand fed her until she was about 14 months old and thought that I was going to have to do this until I was 90. Finally she started eating her food that I put in the cage, thank GOD. We are retired so she is rarely alone, but has Amazons for company. By the way she has been talking since she was about 5 months old, not always real plain but plain enough to understand, and she loves to make noises but has little interest in toys. She enjoys being out of her cage and loves attention. She is really a wonderful pet. The three Amazons are also very enlightening. They all talk.

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LENKA - 2007-11-24
Hi again, from Lenka and Dinosaurous. I think that I am so lucky because I seem to fall more in love with my little Dino everyday! He is such an angel and I can't imagine not having him. He plays all the time. He talks all the time. He sings and dances when he gets in the mood (to party). I keep looking into new toys for him to destroy and satisfy his urge to constantly chew. He seems to be very happy. Right now though, we are going through a stage where he likes to try and stick food into his wing feathers (unsuccessfully, hahah), though putting them through some damage! (They don't look their best now). Once in a while he manages to stick a (food) pellet in his baby feathers, though. I always find it when I snuggle him before sleep, and I laugh at him and tell him he's so funny. It's almost like he understands. Anyway, my love for him will never end, he is my real angel!

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Bonnie Cook - 2007-10-29
We have a 9 year old citron cockatoo that we inherited from a cousin. Toulouse (female) is a very sweet bird. She is one of two birds in this family -- we also have an african grey. Toulouse is quiet except when it is time for the lights to be off for her to go to sleep (thankfully we go to bed about the same time so that isn't a problem). The move between owners I believe was stressful for her -- citrons don't like change because of how they bond with their owners. Thankfully she developed a good bond with my partner. She is out of her cage most of the day since I work from home. She won't come to me -- in fact I think she tolerates me. Still, she is a joy to have and an absolutely beautiful bird. As I mentioned she has bonded with my partner and allows her to hold her, pet her, etc. We have had her now about a month and a half and are hoping that she continues to grow comfortable in her new home. It has been a huge change for her. We also had to change her diet since the previous owner feed her mostly seeds and she came to us overweight.

Citrons are great birds. They need a lot of STRUCTURED attention. If you can do that I would highly recommend this breed over any other cockatoo breed. If not, steer away from cockatoos.

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Nancy - 2007-09-06
I adopted an Umbrella Cockatoo 6 weeks ago. She is the most lovable bird I've ever had. She wont talk yet, but can now step up and is outside of her cage for most of the day. She was found on a backyard shepherds hook (mine) and unbelieveably, my daugher works for an avian specialist. We tried to find her owner but nothing. Great for me because its too late now Calypso is MINE! She is not afraid of my Black Lab, or our cats, or the rabbits, chinchillas, cockatiels and my daughters Eclectus Parrot.......no wonder she found her way here!! We just love her. I will always keep her wings clipped as shes never getting away from me!

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I.C. - 2007-09-05
These birds often have serious behavior problems including self-mutilation and aggression relating to pair-bonding with their owners. They can have a 180% personality shift when they reach maturity at 8 or 9 years of age. They live upwards of 80 years. They are extremely destructive of furniture, walls, windows, etc and their normal vocalizations are damaging to the human ear. I love my bird, but it is like having a pet monkey. These are extremely socially complex animals and are potentially dangerous. They can cause serious injury to their owners and to themselves. I highly recommend www.mytoos.com as an information resource for cockatoo owners.

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gabrielle - 2007-09-02
Pepito, a Tampa photographer, decided to buy one of these Citron birds. He or she was about 6 weeks old. We are currently feeding him via squeezing liquid food down the throat - what a job that has been. We found out he might need to be fed for the next 6 months. I've actually gotten very attached to him now and he sits with me daily as I try getting paperwork done in the studio. On top of my regular paperwork, he creates another huge pile of paperwork by shredding up documents, orders and everything else you can imagine. In addition he thinks my shoulder is now the place to sleep. He tries plucking my eyebrows and climbing up to top of my head by using my reading glasses as his private ladder. Once on top he's gets ahold of my hair (very long hair) and he slides up and down until he's so tangled up I can hardly get him back out of my hair. It takes Pepito pulling him off of me to get him back in line. I actually love this bird, but had no idea what a full time job he actually could be. He isn't a bird - he truly thinks he's a real person and demands real attention. Now I am thinking of taking him on trips with me making sure he's always got company. I've never wanted kids...I think I might have one now. Although Pepito bought him and is the real owner, I feel like I'm his mother. Pepe, yes, that's his name, loves to kiss and there's no hope for me wearing lipstick anymore - it's gone once he gets ahold of me. He kisses endlessly and it's a hopeless case...he's only 10 weeks old - can you imagine the future?!

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Hailee - 2007-09-01
I used to have a Goffin Cockatoo named Tequila. He was a great pet and was really smart. He loved to sing and dance and was very affectionate. He would give me kisses all the time and would always answer when I talked to him. I think he knew a lot more words than he would actually say because once in a while when I was in the other room I would hear him say things that he's never said before. Unfortunately, he died about a year ago when he was only nine years old. I don't know what was wrong with him. His death was really sudden. I wasn't home at the time, but my dad said he just fell off of his perch. My dad picked him up when he fell off and Tequila died while my dad held him. He died really young but at least he had a peaceful death.

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mandy - 2007-08-14
I am considering adopting an Umbrella Cockatoo. I saw somewhere that they are very costly to have. I have two Senegal Parrots and I make most of their toys as they love to chew.

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Frank - 2007-07-17
My wife and I just adopted Dee-Dee from a friend. She is 2 years old. We have had her for just a week but we have all adapted to each other very quickly. She loves the attention we all give her, including our three year old daughter. She has never tried to bite any of us since day one. We are obviously all still getting to know each other but she is really showing her willingness to cuddle. My wife works from home so Dee-Dee is never alone. She has had a good apetite, loves to come out of her cage and stand on the perch adjacent to the roof of the cage. We are having problems getting her to step up onto our shoulder or hands, but we are working with her. The one thing that we have noticed, and I have read so much about how they like to play with toys and chew them up. We have spent about $100 in toys and she hasn't touched any of them. We went to a person that works in a pet store that owns a Cockatoo and she pointed out some toys that her bird loves. We purchased them and Dee-Dee pays no attention to them at all. We hope this is just a timing thing and as she gets more comfortable she will start enjoying her toys more. But for the week we have had her, she has already made a loving impact on us all.

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Wyatt caccia - 2007-05-09
hi, i dont hove a cockatoo but i think they are really cool. even though they bite, scream, pluck feathers, send people to the E.R., and hate everybody but there owners, they probably make a good pet for the right person. the reason im saying this is because people who neglected there cockatoo get horrible bites and the bird becomes miserable. if you want a cockatoo you should visit mytoos.com first for some info on keeping one of these amazing parrots

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