On 01-0996, BRANDON BENTLEY wrote to ALL:
Hi Brandon,
I'm sure you'll get many replies to this message ... just in case FIDO has 
gifted me with the only copy of your message to escape, here is my response 
...
 BB> I also have a question...  Our cockatoo doesn't spend a long time
 BB> preening himself like our other birds do (He's preening right now
 BB> just to prove me wrong), and he doesn't seem to be very good at it.
 BB> He turned 1 year old this Christmas, so we were thinking that maybe
 BB> birds don't get good preening habits until they get older.  Does
 BB> anyone know if this is true?
I don't know much about Cockatoos, but 'specialize' in African Greys.  I have 
3 adults and one 6 week old chick that I am hand raising.  All 4 preen ... 
tho the chick not as often (she just got feathers ~ last week!).
From my observation a bored bird will preen more ... So will a healthy bird.  
A sick bird will look disheveled and won't seem to care.
 BB> Also, is he probably going to get a better sense of balance and stop
 BB> breaking tail and wing feathers as he gets older?  Whenever new
 BB> feathers grow in that are longer than the ones he has, he breaks
 BB> them immediately!
Ohh good one.  When I got Zonker my pet African Grey, she could not perch 
reliably.  Got her only weeks old -- barely weaned.  I didn't expect such 
awkwardness!  We would laugh when 'she' would fall and stagger.  In fact, she 
picked up this laugh and now mimics it!  This changed within the first year.  
As time moved on, she became more and more adept at climbing, hanging upside 
down by one foot.  It's been a long time since I've seen her fall  tho she 
has become 'stuck' in her hooded (side mounted) cage food dish.  She 
panicked, squawked, freed herself and hasn't played in it since ... heh.
Be thankful your bird is having fun (al beit breaking feathers).  Much better 
than some of the older birds I've seen in the pet stores where they eat, 
sleep and just sit there.
If you have any antics your feather breaking bird has ... please share 'em.  
We all need to laugh more, eh?
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 * Freddie 1.2.5 *
--- DB B2300sl/002493
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