hi guys! i am new to this forum. i have wanted a parrot for a long time, did lots of research, decided that altho i ADORE the toos i couldnt deal w/ their demands, and had decided on a grey. in search of the "right" bird, i ran into a baby goffins too..i had not researched this bird, and believed all the breeder had to say..ok you can beat me up, ... i did not know that going to a breeder was bad. all you read, even birdtalk suggests going to a breeder. I didnt know that parrot rescues existed. after reading this site i am throughly terrified..I still havent seen much about goffins tho. are they susceptible to the same behaviors? i love my new baby..only had him 4 days now, but i do not want to watch him destroy himself as he matures. i feel like as much as i thought i prepared i have made a horrible mistake. I am home most of the day, and i can give him one on one time, and i know not to overdo it. he has a nice big cage, lots of toys..fresh food. these are the things i learned. i knew that some birds plucked from stress or mistreatment. i didnt think it would be a prob, as i love my babies and would never mistreat them. i read birds for idiots..my parrot, my friend lots of birdtalk..but noone ever said how unsuited toos were to captivity. I am so afraid now to love this baby, and have to endure the heartache i have been reading on this site. any goffin specific advice?

Lots of us bought birds before we knew they could be adopted. No one is going to beat you up for making a mistake almost all of us have made.

Not everyone can make a good home for these birds, but if you're willing to do your best, spend some money when necessary, and keep learning, you can create a home for this G2 where he will be well-cared for and loved, which is a good thing!

How old is this G2? What kind of supplies (cage size, toys, food) do you currently have for your G2?

at the top of the page...there is a search feature. If you type in Goffins there you will find a wealth of knowladge~ should keep you busy for a few days

Please know that not all birds will self distruct. With careful attention to diet, lifestyle and advance planning things should be O.K. Your on the right track being here...reading and asking questions so try and relax a tad.

in response to Scouts question: Right now he has minimal toy...i am going shopping when hubby gets paid on the first <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" /> but he does hav 2 foot toys, a rawhide and leather hanging toy and a rope hanging toy, he plays a lot! he has a large cage..not sure of the exact dimensions but it could house a large too, at least i thought so before reading this forum, not quite macaw size. He is 4 mos. old and such a sweet baby. I went to bed in tears after reading all the too behavior probs. i am NOT prepared to handle that. i had NO idea. it sounds like all toos mutilate, just a matter of time. but i saw nothing on Goffins. I am going to check out the link you guys gave me this morning. Last night i was thinking maybe i should sell him now before i get too attached and get a nice grey! But then who would get him, and would they be able to deal w/ his issues? The good news is he is a healthy baby so i gues we have some good years ahead of us. Will keep u posted.
oh yeah, the breeder told me that the goffins did not have the neediness of the larger toos!! :rolleyes:

I have a umbrella cockatoo and I also bought her before I knew about rescues...this board has been a blessing to me...I read everyday and have asked questions and I have learned so much...welcome...Linda

I have an eight year old goffins named Daffy. I bought him when he was 14 weeks old and not weaned. He is the love and joy of my life, let me tell you. My little guy is my baby and I swear without him a few years ago, I wouldn't be here. He does have his problems though. At two he pulled some feathers but quit until early last year when he was almost 7. He is still plucking and looks pretty raggedy but he doesn't mutilate. Plucking I have learned to deal with, mutilating would break me. Every few months he wears a collar for awile when he gets really bad.

Still, he is my love! He loves to play with cat balls and pill bottles I fill with little things that make noise. He also will play with a rubber band forever, he can flip it and he likes to fetch it and bring it to me to flip.

I've been a member for a long time and people here have helped me through the good and bad with all my birds, but most especially Daffy. If you search some of my posts, maybe that will give you an idea of what living with a baby goffins is like. Best wishes to you.

I do not believe this to be true most of us got the birds this way. The key is to stop it in the beginning. Get them to a vet right away. Although Nikki’s feathers are not perfect does not make me love him any less. You are on the right track on learning all you can. Nikki gives me very much joy I in turn give him the best live he can have with being taken from his home.

A Too is a Too no matter what. Just try and be careful and not spoil him as this will be what he expects for the rest of his captive life.
Try and be positive and that will rub off on him. Remember that for now you chose him and getting rid of him and getting another bird is what we are fighting against. I know if I had known about toos before I bought him I would not have him today. But having him is one of the blessings in life and reading about birds on this site has helped immensely. Also if you give him rawhide make sure its made in the US as foreign mfrs put all sorts of harmful stuff into the end product.
Good luck and remember that we are here for you
Harvey

hey guys, thanks for the replies, and dont worry, i am not getting rid of my baby. i just said that is what popped into my head after reading all the horror stories, but then i also said i realized that i could not know where he would end upand i do love him quite a lot already. i got a parrot w/ every intention of taking the best care of him i can, and i will. it is unsettling that in all of my research and all the books i read say go to a breeder! how are people to know any better? My baby doesnt have any emotional probs right now and hopefully i can prevent any from coming up. time will tell.thank you guys again for the support.

Sunni, My mom tookin a goffins 10 years ago, she is so sweet, she belonged to my cousin for several years and with him getting divorsed and all hhis long hours decided that my mom would be the best place for her. My mom new nothing about birds didnt even know what a goffins was. Sassy bird has never ever picked a feather. My mom does not do all the right things, but she will. She uses scented candles cooks with teflon uses lysol.... ugggg BUT Sassy bird does not pick she does not scream all the time and she is not terribley needy. So you see, not all toos pick. Some will and some wont. I have read that no matter how good you take care of one sometimes its just gonna happen. Im gonna be making some bird toys this weekend hopefully. We have finally gotr the tools unpacked. woo oo. I would be more than happy to share a home made toy. Ill call you when they are done okie dokie. I know how hard it is to be able to get it all togather all at once. Yikes.

sodapop, thank you so much! the goffin success story really helps! and i would love a hand made toy even more i would love to know how you make em!!! sounds like lots of fun. Okay i know this is dumb, but i hate to cook, but i LOVE to cook for my birds!! if not for the birds my kids would live on take out and frozen dinners! (this is the only forum i can admit that!) so i guess in a way, the birds keep us healthy!!

<img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" /> while i am sitting here, Omelet is in my lap..innocently nibbling the keyboard, he just figured out how to remove the rubber pegs on the bottom, i took it and put it back and gave him his toy, he oh so sweetly edged his way back over and FLASH had it again! too smart!!

you know sometimes i see the healthiest animals in homes that dont have a clue about proper care..horses, dogs, iguanas, and birds! makes u wonder if too much "education" is really a good thing...just thinking...

I don't think it has so much to do with education but I do believe that our stressing over our birds is picked up by them. People who "don't really care" don't really stress about it and the birds may sense this. JMHO

Thats strange sunni I was sorta thinking the same thing. When I didnt know what the heck I was supposed to be doing with soda pop, everything was cool. Once I started seing all the potentially threatning things I was doing and threw out all my candles cleaning products etc etc I started examining his feathers constantally two to three baths a week very healthy foods only and pulled his seeds..... now he is chewing his tail feathers. I do believe he can feel me stressing over him like charlie said. So my advice is quietly stress. lol. I am an obsessor and I really am obsessing over soda pop.
About the toys there are some really cool links on making bird safe toys. Make sure that any wood you use is bird safe wood.
Frugal parrot has some step by step instrutions. If ya got a drill, and a nice untreated pine two by four, you have a potential bird toy. I just went to home depot and bought a couple packages of "shims" drill holes thru the middle string it on a chain or sisal rope or polly rope, there ya go. Also soda pop loves tounge depressers. I give him a hand ful and he makes toth picks. At the dollor tree in monks corner, you can get a bag of cloths pins the kind with out the metal and those make wonderful tooth picks. LOL

Sunni I think you and Omelet will have many wonderful years together. I love giving and making toys for all my birds. It doesn't have to cost an arm and leg to make toys.Our family doctor whom we have used for yrs always asked me how all of my birds were doing. He had always wanted a bird but not too large of a bird. This was before I even knew about My Toos. But I did help him with researching what would be best for him and his wife. They went to a bird rescue and ended up adopting a Goffin. This is one of the most spoiled little birds (I love it) They absolutely adore her. She is a little noisey as he says though. "she has something to say" lol. He was constantly asking me about good toys for her. One day on a visit to his office I said you know those tounge depressors you use are great toys for your little girl. Ha Ha that was the best advice I ever gave, I now have an endless free supply of tongue depressors for all of my birds.

DocT

Oh I almost forgot, Walmart has big bags of army men for 88 cents..... Wonderful chew toys. Although Im sorry to say, the head is the first to go.LOL