This is Molly the Big Pinker Stinker, I mean the Moluccan's story.
I wanted to write as much of Moly's story as I know down, as well as offer a warning to everyone who wants a cocaktoo. They are NOT recomended for small children or for the novice bird person! They are loud, messy, loud, demanding, loud, and destructive. Yes, they are so sweet and there is nothing like seeing those liquid eyes sarting adoringly at you as they snuggle in, BUT............ they are also THE most common bird in rescue and foster homes! There is a reason for this! They have the potential to bite (and their bite is reputed to be the worst of all the birds in the pet trade, although my YCA would give a 'too bite a run for it's money!), they love to chew and they don't care if it's your Great Grandmother's priceless antique dresser or if it's the latest toy that you made them. They can etch glass with their screams (a happy cocatoo is a screaming one), and they demand your attention.
Molly's faveourite new game is to throw food at the walls and see if we can leave a stain, so we have invested in a lot of plastic to protect the walls from her attemps at decorating, heh heh heh!
A lot of 'toos have problems with socialization, and don't know how to entertain themselves. They expect and demand that we, their servants, do it for them. Some don't know how to play by themselves.
Molly is a typical M2 in that she's loud, she loves to play, she's loud, she eats like a pig, she's loud, she loves to chew things, and did I mention that she's loud?
Molly is 7 years old as of 2002, (we don't know her exact hatch date)and she is a Moluccan Cockatoo. She is a feather plucker/shreder/chewer/shearer and has follicle damage from the plucking. She will always be partialy bald, but we love her anyway! She has no flight or tail feathers because she has chewed them off so she can't fly, and I wonder if she even knows how.
Unfortuenately this is common in the bigger cockatoos, and it has many causes ranging from boredom, illness, PBFD, abuse, all the way to dietary reason and food allergies.
She has a bum leg and we don't know exactly what happened to her, but I do know that this happened in her first home. Her right leg sits at an odd angle to her body, and at first it was thought to be because of splay leg, but it has since been proven to be the legacy of abuse.
She has full use of he leg as it is, and loves nothing more than to hang from her right foot (her bad side) and scream bloody murder at her toys!
She has lived a hard life in her short 7 years on earth, her 1st home was verbaly, emotionally, and physicaly abusive to her for the 4 years that she was with them, and she now has a bad leg and follicle damage as a legacy of that.
Her second home was much better, but she fell in love with the pre-teen daughter of my friend/mentor, who was unable to take care of Molly properly, through no fault of her own. This is not to say that Molly was not well cared for, because I could not ask for a better home for ANY bird, but Molly and her chosen human were not happy, and Molly started to pluck even harder.
She is in her 3rd and last home here with us, where she lives with my Blue and Gold Macaw Luna, Drew the TAG, Higgason the Dusky Pionus and his mate, Bud E. Burd the Killer Yellow Crowned Amazon, Beeker the Goofy Goffins Cockatoo, and Sunny Byrd, the Brain Damaged Sun Conure as well as my breeding stock of cockatiels, Quakers, Patagonian Conures, and more.
While I love living with 2 cockatoos, I do NOT recomend them for everyone. I have included 2 links that you need to check out if you are concidering adding a cockatoo to your family. Both are pretty close to reality, and I highly recomend checking them out before you decide to adopt a 'too.
The Way OUt
Our Front Page
Want A Cockatoo Of Your Own? Go Here First!
Still Want A 'Too? Go Here!
This Is BadBad Frances, What A Scream She Is!
And This Is What BadBad Frances Did!
