Should I Get A Cockatoo?
November 10, 2020
If you’ve watched any of the cockatoo videos on YouTube, you might be thinking about adding one of these wonderful birds to your menagerie. But is a cockatoo right for you?
Cockatoos can be found in the wild in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and are from the Cacatuidae family of parrots.
21 Species of cockatoos
While we are familiar with the white cockatoo and the sulphur-crested cockatoo as pets, there are in fact more than 20 species of cockatoos, including:
- Bare-eyed cockatoo
- Black palm cockatoo
- Citron cockatoo
- Sulphur-crested cockatoo
- Goffin’s cockatoo
- Major Mitchell’s cockatoo
- Moluccan cockatoo
- Rose-breasted cockatoo
- Umbrella or white cockatoo
- Slender-billed cockatoo
- Salmon-crested cockatoo
- Yellow-crested cockatoo
- Blue-eyed cockatoo
- Galah cockatoo
- Short-billed black cockatoo
- Gang gang cockatoo
The temperament of a cockatoo
Cockatoos are amazing pets. They are highly intelligent, quirky and affectionate. You can teach a cockatoo to speak, whistle and sing. They love music and can be found bopping to many a different tune.
The cockatoo’s lively and excitable nature make them a loud and noisy pet that wouldn’t fit in well with apartment dwellers. On top of that, they need room to roam around and don’t tolerate being cooped up in a cage.
Cockatoos are loved for their affectionate nature and it’s not unusual for these birds to snuggle up to you at night. However, their affection and need for attention can get obsessive at times. They are the kind of pet that are best-suited to someone who spends a lot of time at home.
Proper care and feeding of a cockatoo
Cockatoos are known for producing feather dust, which they use to preen their feathers and keep themselves groomed. To keep the feather dust to a minimum, your cockatoo will need weekly baths. Cockatoos love taking a shower. So many owners will rig up a perch in the shower for their weekly bath.
Cockatoos also need regular nail clipping to keep their claws to a comfortable length.
Cockatoos enjoy a diet of sprouting seeds and fresh fruits and vegetables. You will also want to give them a calcium block to keep them healthy.
They need a large cage and prefer to roam freely during the day. They will sleep through the night, but be prepared to be woken up with the dawn when these birds come awake again.
Cockatoos and other pets
If you have cats and dogs, a cockatoo is probably not the best choice for a housemate. Some people may have the confidence to introduce these mingled pets together, but it’s always a risk. So exercise caution and never leave pets together unattended.
The bottomline is, if you have lots of attention to give a bird, you can tolerate the loud voice that this bird is blessed with, and you spend most of your time at home, a cockatoo just might be the pet for you.