What’s it like, having a cockatoo as a pet? As with anything, there are positive and negative points to being the owner of a beautiful cockatoo.

Positive sides of cockatoo ownership

Of course you can already guess the positive sides of having a cockatoo as a pet! After all, you are on this website because you like cockatoos.

The up side to keeping a cockatoo, is that you will have a beautiful, intelligent and loving pet. There is always something funny going on in a house where a cockatoo lives. If you keep your cockatoo happy and healthy, you will have an amazing pet for a very long time.

Negative side of cockatoo ownership

The downside to having a cockatoo as a pet should not be underestimated. For some people these points do not matter, for others they are dealbreakers to keeping their cockatoo pet:

A cockatoo screams very loud ( up to 130 dB)

A cockatoo spreads white dust from his feathers

A cockatoo makes a lot of mess in your house

A cockatoo will destroy anything if it has the opportunity

A cockatoo needs a lot of daily attention

A cockatoo is costly in care

Medical care for your cockatoo is expensive

A good cage takes up a lot of space in the house

A cockatoo can live up to 80 years, who will take care of it when he outlives you?

A cute baby cockatoo can grow up to be a biting, feather plucking, screaming big cockatoo

A cockatoo can get aggressive to certain family members

A cockatoo can bite, even take a piece out of your ear or lip.

A cockatoo can start pulling his own feathers, making him ugly and unhappy

A cockatoo can be compared to a child that will never grow up: it will need attention, will make a mess, cannot be left alone for too long, cannot go unsupervised into the house, will become very unhappy if not cared for correctly and can grow up to be something you never expected or hoped.

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When you have the means to take proper care of a cockatoo and you can handle the mess and financial effects, cockatoos make amazing and wonderful pets.