Hello I bought a cockatoo about a week ago. He was fine for the first three or four days but after that he started pinching me only and then all of the sudden he bit my finger when I was putting him in his cage and almost peeled my finger nail off. Know he acts nice in the cage and begs to come out but as soon as I open the door he bites me hard. If my mother holds him he is fine and will not try to bite her, but the first days he was home he was clearly my best friend. Any suggestions?

I'd have to know more about the cockatoo before I can help you. What type of cockatoo do you have? An Umbrella, Goffin's...? Also, what is the age of the cockatoo? Was the bird previously owned by someone?

The bird is a umbrella cockatoo. He is five years old and I bought him from a parrot store. I held him yesterday and he seemed better. but he still freaked out when it was time to go back in his cage.

He may still be adjusting, but you need to be sure to protect yourself during this training process. I would not allow him on your shoulder until you have complete trust in him. A lot of trainers say that cockatoos are just not great shoulder birds and should always be kept at chest level. It's a personal choice that you can make, but to play it safe...keep the bird away from your face during training. Keep encouraging your bird to socialize with your mother, you, and all members of the family. Cockatoos can become "one-person" birds, but it always makes it a lot easier if they generally like everyone in the family. I've been training a female Umbrella Cockatoo for a few months now with a history of nasty biting, and have been pretty successful. My only regret is I didn't allow anyone else to get in on the training, so it's like training all over agan when she is with someone new. I kept her at chest level at all times and kept training very short and sweet and one I trusted her enough to allow me to take her in and out of the cage without ripping my finger off, I made the sessions longer. When she would chew on my fingers, I would turn my hand so that made her concentrate on balance and forget about my finger. You cockatoo is at an age of sexual maturity so chewing on the fingers is not allowed, even if it is playful chewing. You can distract with toys and encouarge chewing on toys with you "outside of cage time." It may be helpful to go to a different room, away from the cage for training purposes. I hope this helps...this is all kind of broad advice, but I hope it atleast answered a few of your questions.