-=> Quoting Fran Warwick to Rich Veraa <=-
 RV> If she's like any of the Moluccans I've known, she _won't_ get used to
 RV> being alone.  If she doesn't get enough attention, she'll just pine
 RV> and start feather-plucking.
 FW> Rich, I can't remember seeing a feather picked Mollucan...Umbrella,
 FW> yes. However, I do believe that even Cockatoos can learn to entertain
 FW> themselves for part of the day. Unfortunately, most people I have known
 FW> want to be with the bird constantly...at first. Then as time goes on
 FW> they change the schedule and the bird becomes frustrated. This is not
 FW> just a Cockatoo problem, either.
 FW> Boomer, my little Lesser Sulfer Crested knows that night time is her
 FW> time. She hears the car door and starts her quacking and doesn't quit
 FW> until she is out.
 FW> Suggie, my Grey, just gets pissed off and throws his food or water
 FW> dish.
To date, my baby moluccan - officially now named "Doofus." enjoys herself
(yep, got her sexed!) playing inside her cage, and on her playgym for a
good part of the day. She keeps herself entertained without calling for
me to entertain her much of the time. But I DO give her a significant
amount of attention throughout the day, talking to her while she's playing,
swinging her back and forth on the cage door, allowing her to climb up on
me for some close-up scratching, and stuff like that.
But there are also significant numbers of hours when she is alone in the
front room, and seems to be just as content to be alone as she is when
I'm there with her. She's out of the cage for a total of at least 3 hours
a day, although it's not consectutive. There are times when I can't be
in the room with her and she has to go back inside the cage. She seems
to accept this without much of an argument. I've hung plenty of toys in
the cage for her and on the playgym and she's happily destroying them
when I can't entertain her.
She's hardly even screamed, except when I'm playing Neil Diamond tapes. She
seems to have a "thing" for "Cherry Cherry" and lets loose anytime that's
playing. I have not yet figured out if she likes the song or hates it. :)
She ruffles her feathers and erects her crest, flaps her wings and lets
loose in a rythmic scream, but doesn't fluff out as she would in a
threatened mode.
She's just a feathered music-critic, I guess...
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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