Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / September 2003

Can I ask what sort of research you did before you got your bird? What
books do you have? There is no point in suggetsing books for you if you have
already read them. Do you have any cockatiel websites saved in your
favourites list? If so, which ones?
We can spend 10 minutes typing out a reply to your post only to find you
get upset and offended because you already know what we typed, or have
already read the books we recommend. A little more info will save our time
and your feelings.

Punctuation is your friend.  Don't be afraid to use it.

--
* Steve *

Paper is fine for cockatiels. One of mine likes chewing the edge of a page
of newspaper and sometimes I give them paper towels to shred. Small paper
bags, like a lunch bag, are fun for them too. If your bird has never seen a
paper bag, it may be frightened of it at first. Put it at a distance from
the bird so he can inspect it and make sure it's not going to eat him or
anything, and let him explore it on his own.

As far as food - greens are good for your bird, especially dark greens.
Iceburg lettuce has no nutritional value, but green leaf lettuce or romaine
lettuce is good for your bird. Also see if it will take broccoli or other
greens like kale or cabbage. Mine really like the tops of celery stalks,
even though I'm fairly sure the celery and leaves don't do anything for
them. It keeps things interesting, I guess. You can try other fruits and
vegetables too, just cut them up small enough to make it easy for your bird
to eat. If they don't eat the food within a few hours, throw it away so it
doesn't spoil.

You can also try cooked pasta or cooked rice. Both can be a bit messy. Mine
get rice stuck to the sides of their beaks and then shake their heads,
flinging it everywhere, heh. They also have fun with spaghetti noodles.

Cereals are also good. Stick to something healthier though, and not
sugar-coated stuff. Corn flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios or plain Cheerios are
good ones to try.

Some people like to give their birds a bit of cooked chicken or cooked egg,
though I've never tried it. Peanuts are okay too, just get the unsalted
type.

If your bird is young, you're lucky. They're more likely to try new things,
so offer your bird a wide variety of foods. Even if he or she doesn't like
it at first, keep trying. Sometimes my bird will try food if I'm offering it
to him from my hand, and one of my birds likes to try things off my plate.
Sometimes to get him to eat something, I'll eat a piece and then offer him a
piece. (Don't offer food from your mouth though, because your saliva isn't
good for your bird) Junk food is just about as bad for them as it is for
you. Don't let them have things that are too salty or sugery.

DO NOT DO NOT give your bird avocado or chocolate. It can make your bird
very sick and lead to death.

How old is your bird? If it's fairly young, you may have trouble telling if
it's a male or female. With grey cockatiels, females will have bars of color
under their tails, but young males can have this too. Females will also have
color bars under their wings. You could always take your bird to a vet and
get a DNA test too.

If you want more information on foods and what is good to feed them, try
these websites too:
http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/nutrition.html
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/recipes.html - There's a good recipe here
you might want to try
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/ - The rest of the site has a lot of good
general information that might answer some more of your questions