Hey everyone!
I have been trying to adopt a beautiful female 1 year old Greater Sulphur Crested Too and I am pretty sure I will be getting her soon! yay She is ultra friendly and loves people - almost everyone!
I have been reading up lots about them but wanted to ask any too owners out there for some info...

I think she would be perfect to take to the SPCA program around the retirement homes and hospitals. Not only would it be great for them but also for her socialization.

I want to know about training though...
How do you teach a Too right from wrong?
Commands...
How do you keep one socialized but still keep them independent and happy with their own company?
What happens at maturity - I have heard too's can get aggressive? Will this mean I will need to get her a partner?
I know Too's are noisy and scream, I know they are like a two year old child for the rest of your life... I looked after her for 2 1/2 weeks while the owner was away but I just wanted to find out more information about the finer points....

Hi Candace. So your thinking about adopting a too, they are beautiful birds. I have 2 toos of my own, a U2 and a M2 and would have a houseful of toos if I didn't think my husband would commit me to the funny farm.

Your adopting the too? May I ask why she is losing her current home? Such a young age to be losing their home, so I'm just curious. You've watched her before in the past, so you already have somewhat of an idea of her demeanor.

Is your soul reason for adopting her to take her to the retirement homes? Would you still keep her at your home if she wasn't fit for going to the retirement homes? The reason I ask, is because she still has a lot of maturing she will go through. Anyone could hold my U2 Rico when he was around 1 year and younger. He is now 3 1/2 and only a handful of people can hold him, and that's only in certain situations. Now Rocky, my M2, I believe most people could now approach and hold him. Would I trust him at a retirement home on an elderly person? No way, but each too is different and each one has their own personality.

A lot of your larger toos start going through sexual maturity around 2 or 3, that's when they start and it goes on for years. Find out when their mating season is, and when you find out, start paying close attention to her. Now I have two males and you are talking about a female, but my U2 I have to keep a close and cautious eye on at these times. Most of the time I can tell through his body language, the scary times are when I can't read it in the body language. Toos are lovely, intricate, beautiful creatures which is why I have a special passion for them and their well being.

If she's socialized now I highly suggest you continue to keep her that way. If you have the opportunity to keep her involved in socialized programs, I would take advantage of those situations as much as possible, 3 times a week at least if you can. It is so extremely important to implement this socialization at a young age and if she's that way now, if I were you, I would keep her that way. This may very well lay her foundation for years to come.

I apologize about the length of this post but I'm trying give you what I have to offer. As far as teaching them right from wrong, that will be something you can implement daily and should. I work a lot with positive reinforcement which also helps in developing independence amoung all of my birds. Do you currently own a bird? Do you have past experience with birds? If so, may I ask what kind? I think I'm going to leave this here for now until I hear back from you. I hope you don't mind all the questions, it will just better help me understand your situation.

i think it's really wonderful that you are attempting to adopt rather than buy. there are so many homeless toos out there. if you haven't already, i would give mytoos.com a thorough reading before you adopt. also, there are excellent message boards there full of knowledgeable and experienced cockatoo people.

good luck! i really admire cockatoos, but i could never own one myself!

Hello Lara and Flock!

Her current owner should never have bought her. I originally wanted to buy her but he bought her before I did. I sell parrot products and he came to me to buy some things for her about 3 months later. I found out then that she was not being looked after correctly and stimulated enough. He had a lot of questions about basic care which worried me a lot considering he had her for months already.
About a week later he called me and asked for me to bird sit her while he went away on business to Asia. I delightfully took the opportunity but when she arrived to me I almost cried at the state she was in!
Her sweet nature was still intact but her physical state was shocking... He had used human medicine of some sort on her when she ripped a blood feather out by mistake as a result half her feathers were blue!
She was underweight and apparently didn't eat veges or much seed... He was feeding her baby bird mix and fruit solely!
I promptly bought her good seed, honey bells, cuttle fish, veges, fruit and a variety of toys (she came in a cat carrier with no toys).
I built her a huge play stand made out of wood and gave her bottle brush and fruit tree to demolish.
Her wings needed trimming and her claws were razor sharp (probably from having no wood in her cage at home). I had all this done and her wormed.
I had her out of the cage & FlightSuit trained for 8-10 hours a day.
By the time she left me two weeks later when he collected her she was a different bird and he didn't even recognise her! I wrote him a list of do's and do not do's along with anything I could think of. I told him to get on the net and research her needs + get onto a forum with other too owners.
He has still done none of this and since going home she has become a screamer. I told him too's scream for different reasons and all too's scream sometimes out of pure joy!
The reason behind this is he doesn't come home till 9/10pm at night and his wife who is home during the day doesn't let her out of the cage! No wonder she is upset!
I think because of her beautiful nature taking her on the SPCA program would be great for her social stimulation. If I do get her she will be a pet and part of our family.
I have 2 Rainbow Lorikeets and 2 Cockatiels.
He has as much as told me she is a status symbol to him- not the right reason to have a bird! Now his wife is complaining about the noise I am making a move to buy her off him so that she can have the life she deserves.

I think everyone should read mytoos.com before buying a Cockatoo. That is why it has been 6 months of heartbreak to watch her in a family that doesn't have her best interests at heart.
She will be a part of our family for as long as she lives if I get her

Candace it sounds like you will be able to give her a very enriching home. I hope it all works out.

Candace, I agree with Karen. I believe you can give this too a fantastic home. The explanation and detail you went through with her while watching her shows your concern and care. That had to break your heart to see her come to you like that and have to return her. Great approach though on all you did to help advise him of proper care in returning her.

So when are you bringing her home? Is it a for sure?

Thank you for your compliment it means a lot! I was so sad to give her back and my partner was devestated too (he suggested we move ). But I had to hope he may change with some educating... unfortunately this hasn't happened and now I have told him that he is not fit to own her and needs to give her up.
Nothing is in stone yet... he will be calling me in a couple of days with his decision. I think though I will get her as his wife is now complaining about her making too much noise :-)

Good luck candace I hope everything works out for you and this too...Is this Too a true greater ? a Cacatua galerita ?

God bless you for taking this bird! Rehoming can be a challenge but very rewarding.
I have had great success with clicker training Cleo. She caught on quickly. She still hates a perch or my hand, (insert stubborn Zon here) but not as badly as before clicker training.
I was amazed at how well it works. It forms a nice bridge between the pet and the owner.
Mark