Hi Tina,
Here is Dr. Tully’s response:
It sounds from the information that you provided that you and your veterinarian have done an excellent job in trying to find out what the problem is through appropriate diagnostic testing and husbandry oversight. You may want to see if there may be a behavioral issue involved if no medical, dietary, or environmental cause can be found. Just make sure there is nothing placed on the skin such as soap in the shower or anything, but water applied to the skin or feathers.
Hi Tina,
From a behavior point of view, Cockatoos can actually get over stimulated and this can trigger hormonal issues. Being out all of the time can actually be a hormone trigger, especially if the bird is allowed to roam the house. Make sure he has some structure – let him out at certain times and only to play with toys. Exploring the house can mimic looking for a mate or nesting site.
When you handle him, do you pet him on the body, hug him or snuggle him? It is very important to limit the amount of petting with cockatoos. While it is wonderful to snuggle with them, we are actually causing problems because this is only something a mate is allowed to do, and this leads to breeding. We can’t be their mate, so we have to be a flock companion. This means all petting needs to be limited to only his head and neck. The same goes for outings if others are allowed to touch him. No touching below his neck and no cuddling. Find a different activity such as teaching him some tricks. Dr. Lamb will be presenting a webinar on this very soon.
Shower time can also be triggering his hormones. Maybe limit that activity or stop for a while. Cockatoos should not be soaked down regularly. They are a powder down species, which means they have a powder that protects their feathers and also their skin. With the oil gland species, water runs off the bird and it doesn’t affect them to get soaked. But with cockatoos, a light mist is generally best and limit a soaking bath to maybe once a month.
Also, if he eats a lot of fresh foods, it can help to limit those to a few times a week. An abundance of fresh foods can be another hormone trigger. You also mentioned feeding a chop mix. It’s important to only feed this as no more than 20% of his diet. While the trend is to feed it as a main diet, there is zero science in this. It is known that fresh foods lose their nutrients from the moment they are harvested. Nutrients also vary based on how and where they are grown. There is no way to know how balanced or nutritious a chop mix is, regardless of what many bird owners post online. Pellets or an equally balanced, formulated diet should be 80% of his diet. This is based on science and studies and is the advice given by Avian Vets and nutritionists. You might try our foraging diets along with his pellets. Our Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes and Pellet-Berries are formulated the same as pellets, but they are not ground up. They can be fed along with or instead of pellets.
Try these changes and see if there is any improvement over the next few months. Nothing will happen overnight. If his hormones, skin and feather balance are off, he needs time with this new routine for everything to reset.
Thank you for viewing the webinar,
Brenda
