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hello all i like to ask a few questions!!

i cook for my umbrella cockatoo but i never bake. what kind of pots and pans are good for the birds? any brand names?

how about toys acrilic what else is good?

any ideas for picky eaters? any recipes?

things i need to know.

thanks

nicky

hello all i like to ask a few questions!!

What kind of pots and pans are good for the birds? any brand names? I don't know of any specific name brands. The main thing is to not use any with the non-stick lining as the fumes from it can be toxic. We usually use the stainless steel or cast iron skillets, pans etc and stainless steel, aluminum, or glass baking dishes.

how about toys acrilic what else is good? Anything wooden that can be destroyed. Cockatoos love destroying things so as much wood as possible. Toys can be as cheap as taking a large thick yellow page telephone book and drilling a hole through it, suspending it from the top of the cage and let them rip it up, or hiding nuts inside cardboard boxes for foraging etc. You can make your own or buy however expensive of ones you like. Cockatoos need very strong toys, acrylic is fine as long as it is specifically for large birds, they can shatter the ones made for smaller birds. Also some will like bell toys. Just make sure it is a heavy duty bell.

any ideas for picky eaters? any recipes? Well I really like the birdy muffins for picky eaters. Using a basic corn muffin recipe and adding baby food, diced or grated veggies and fruit or even trail mix to it. (This is baking though, LOL!)

Also ours seem to be won over with the seven layer salad. We use glad bowls and make enough to last one week. How many birds you have will change the amount of bowls or size of bowls you need to use. Layer one is greens (collard, mustard, dandelion, chard etc). Layer two is green veggies (green beans, peas, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, cucumber, zucchini, etc.) Layer three is vitamin A veggies (mainly carrots and broccoli but you could add squash or sweet potato etc). Layer four is uncooked pasta (ours seem to like the colored rotini or the thinner spaghetti but most any kind would work). Layer five is cooked beans. I usually use a 15 bean mix, cook it, drain it and let it cool. Layer 6 is fruit you can use different kinds but usually we use apples and then at least one citrus type of fruit (the acid helps the rest of the salad and keeps the apple from turning brown) ours will eat oranges, tangerine, grapefruit etc. Layer six is frozen veggies (just dump a bag of frozen mixed vegetables straight over the top.

Another one that is easier is to pop a sweet potato in the microwave until softened. Add cinnamon, and a bit of orange juice. Mash it all together and serve warm but not hot.

There are tons more recipes but maybe this will help for a start.

things i need to know. Spend lots of time with your bird. Be firm but friendly to it. Let it know its boundaries. Spend both cuddle time and training time. When first getting a bird do not get set on a certain schedule but instead try to keep the number of hours spent with your bird close to the same. Do not always spend say from 7-9 with your bird but instead that many hours. This way if you are ever busy at your usual time your bird will not get as upset with a changed schedule. With a cockatoo a lot of time is needed if you want a tame friendly non-plucking bird. Also no neighbors or very understanding far away neighbors as most types of cockatoo are very loud. If you have had a cockatoo before then great you know what to expect if not go be around one for a full day to see it in all its glory and all its noise making ability as many people don't know what they are getting into!!