Dexter

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damien.jensen
damien.jensen's picture
Dexter

Hi,
Just a quick story about our Major Mitchell,

My Missus has wanted a Major Mitchell for a couple of years now and not long ago we finally bought one. Not knowing much about birds at all myself (and to be honest I was more of a dog person) I decided to do some research on them on the internet and talk to some breeders. Basically everybody said DON'T get a Major Mitchell and everybody recommended to get either a Eccy or African Grey. After a couple of weeks of research I spoke to my Missus and said maybe we should look at another bird. I tried to convince her to buy an Eccy because like allot of people on here they are raved about but she really didn't want a bar of it . She had had White Cockies before and really wanted this Major Mitchell . I was like NOOOOOOOO !! we are going to end up with this big, really aggressive noisy bird with a destructo beak that destroys everything in sight (A summary of allot of reviews I had read) . So after getting a license and finding out I dont really wear the pants in our house we picked up Dexter (we named him that because we thought he would draw blood) . He is a 4 yr old hand tamed (debatable) cocky . Anyway since we have had him he has been the most entertaining coolest bad -ass pet ever. I love him to bits. He is nothing like what people write about these birds on the net or tell you. The previous Owner didn't spend a whole lot of time with him but now he seems to love the attention. He is the worlds biggest show off and when I come home he does this crazy dance swivelling his head from side to side then he hangs up side down on the top of his cage showing off his crest. When I go up to him he pokes the top of his head through the bars for a pat, If you don't scratch just the right area he lets you know by reducing the amount of skin on your finger (everyone is needy in there own way) . He will do anything for attention and if you ignore him for too long he starts this evil tribal dance on his log, each staged movement ends with taping his beak on the cage . When he's out you can pat him all day long and make him bob his head, Although I will be honest you do have to pay him a fair amount of almonds otherwise you can lose a couple of shirt buttons or an ear. The previous owner had taught him to speak a couple of sentences. Unfortunately one of them isn't very nice. He says "what ya doing", "hello" and " F__ off". In a effort to minimise the later we spent a couple of weeks teaching him how to wolf whistle which he has finally picked up but after he does this wolf whistle there is a short pause then a "F___ Off" . I laugh but my gf wants him to cut down on the swearing (any tips from here would be good). The swearing gets really bad at night when you are putting the cover on his cage. You always hear how noisy cockies are but he is actually pretty good. The only time he has screeched and been really agressive is when he first saw our Newfoundland Dog (id scream too if I was his size seeing a 70 kilo dog trying to slobber on me)
I guess what I am trying to say with this story is don't go off general opinion when it comes to animals because they are great ones in every breed. Sometimes it just takes longer to find one that suits your family. Even though they are the most beautiful of our native birds,in some circles Major Mitchells have a really bad reputation and are often recommended as not being the most suitable as pets. I don't know if I have a freak one but I wouldn't swap Dexter for any bird in the world.

birdie
birdie's picture

Hi dexter .....what a hilarious story!
he sounds like the best kind of pet to have LOL. Although I am not a fan of caged birds, I do not mind if they can get out and if they are given the right kind of attention and love.
If you get a chance and if he starts to develop a friendship with your Newfoundland ...it'd be great to see some photos. (I have visions here of a major mitchell horse riding on a NF !!)

Sounds like he has come to a great home, though if he wants to stay then he had better learn who's boss and wash his mouth out LMAO

Thanks for sharing such a fun story with us :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

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