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Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / September 2005Help/Advice please
Hi - me and my girlfriend bought our first ever Cockatiel at the weekend and admitedly had not done too much homework on keeping prior to this. We have now read a couple of books and all sorts of articles on the internet but have several questions we can not find answers to and which the pet shops also seem to be unable to answer (or just give us conflicting information!!). Here goes:- We have read that they get bored quite easily and if you are out at work during the day (as we both are) you should buy 2 otherwise it can lead to all sorts of problems? The shop we bought from does not have any more so we went to another shop last night to look for a possible partner if the above is true and were told we may have problems introducing another to join it. They then changed their mind and said it was highly unlikely they would not get on and that we should 'give it a try'!?!? The books we have read say not to let the bird out of its cage when you take it home for a few weeks as it needs to learn its home is the cage. When we get home it seems to get quite excited and runs along the bottom of the cage and climbs the cage pecking at the wires as if she is trying to get out. Should we let her out or wait 3 weeks and is this behavious normal? Also if this behaviour is normal is she actually excited to see someone or is this behaviour nervousness/intimidation? Finally we are feeding her seed and also trying some other items which we read were good for them. We have tried apple, carrot and lettuce but she does not seem to be very impressed? Sorry for all the questions and if any experinced owners can help we would be very appreciative :-) Rob. Hi. I have had my male Cockatiel for ten years without another one to keep him company. Birds are flock creatures, love to be with their flock. You are the "flock" so your bird needs to be out of the cage to be near you. They feel safer when with their "flock". Beware - cockatiels tend to fly frantically when scared, they will fly quickly, and possibly crash into screens and doors. They only want to flee what has frightened them, and at the time they are frantically flying, you will wonder what the heck is the bird flying wildly from! Keep the exterior doors closed during the day if you let your bird out of its cage. The other thing you can do is have the vet clip the flight feathers. Those are the long feathers coming out from under the wing area. Some pet stores will clip the bird's flight feathers. My bird enjoys playing in a cardboard box. He loves it when I whistle at him while he is in the box. He will answer me back with a whistle. Sugar loves to explore and does get into trouble on occasion. They are like "kids" have to watch them when they are out of their cage. When you are to leave your house, do put your bird back into its cage, for its safety and your piece of mind. Oh yes, food - feed your bird cheerios, potatoes, rice, & noodles. Mine loves pasta. Peas and lima beans are also good veggies to give your bird. Sugar has his own small plate to eat off of when we eat our meals. Nuts, without salt, are good for your bird. Too much salt can cause kidney damage. Avoid giving your bird chocolate and parsley. It is better to give your bird bottled water rather than tap water. Hope this helps you with caring for your Cockatiel. Sugar's mom > Hi - me and my girlfriend bought our first ever Cockatiel at the > weekend and admitedly had not done too much homework on keeping prior [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Rob. > Hi - me and my girlfriend bought our first ever Cockatiel at the > weekend and admitedly had not done too much homework on keeping prior [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Rob. Get him/her a friend, they are a flock creature as Roger said, you are the flock but a buddy is company, you don't want to be alone daily do you? wing clipping is a simple task, you just must not ever clip a blood feather, you can see the blood in a feather, I clip from the outer most feather then five in, start with partial shortening and let it go to see how it can still fly, you want it to still be able to fly but kinda struggle to get height, Go here http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/care/wing.html and you will see a diagram, I do not cut where they show the cut line, as I said start with trimming working your way in, we let ours out daily, I have a flight/play room and a separate sleeproom for them, get them lots of chew toys, rotate the toys every couple weeks, that way they don't get bored of them, its always something new, get them cuttlebone, mineral blocks, mine love the Pepper and Cherry shaped Beak Blocks, hemp rope, sisal rope, perches of different diameters to exercise feet properly, you should also have a couple of Polly's Pastel perches or something similar so they can rub their beak and they help to keep nails a little less sharp, don't use grit or gravel, seed husks do the same job. They can eat just about anything that you eat, I avoid salty things, every now and then a piece of potato chip, some like them others don't, DO NOT let them have Chocolate, its toxic to them as is Coffee, Nicotine, Roger said avoid Parsley, they were misled or just don't know, Curly Parsley is an excellent source of vitamins for your tiel, mine get it every couple days, its a green, and every tiel loves it, you can wrap it around toys, weave it thru the cage bars, or whatever, there are a ton of websites out there for you with a ton of info, here's mine http://www.velocity.net/~journeyman348/ Go to the recipe page and make the Yummie Birdy Bread, this is a daily treat for mine, they go nuts when they see us coming with it, they devour it, the other recipes are great too but they yummie is by far my birds favorite, enjoy your tiel, feed them proper and lots of love, an occasional vet check-up(twice a year) and you have a friend for anywhere from 10, 12, 15, 20, 25 yrs, you just don't know, the lighter colored tiels are more prone to sickness from some reason, Good Luck with your new friend. TRC > Get him/her a friend, they are a flock creature as Roger said, you are the > flock but a buddy is company, you don't want to be alone daily do you? [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > TRC Hi, I wasn't the original poster on this, but I wanted to thank you for the websites and the tips. It looks like some very useful info for us newbies. Sarah > Hi, I wasn't the original poster on this, but I wanted to thank you for the > websites and the tips. It looks like some very useful info for us newbies. > > Sarah Your welcome, :-) TRC yes clipping the flight feathers is easy,if you can get someone to show you the one time,its pretty easy to figure what not to cut,because if you cut the blood feathers too high up,the feather will bleed. The 3 cocketeils i had all had their flight feather cut when they were babies,so they would walk around the house,and my favourite one,would even climb the stairs,each stair individually,to go upstairs to find me ! Be careful when you are closing doors also,especially sliding ones,as they can get clipped between the doors.That happened once,with someone else in the house,who was not used to having birds in the house...and thank goodness it was only a small injury,as the birds would occasionally sit on the sliding rail as its more comfortable for them than sittin on the ground....I would always check before closing a door(and if they are able to fly[wings unclipped],i found that they love to sit on top of doors),as they sometimes are in the way. Have fun and good luck with your bird! Thanks for the info. Re your comment on them eating a lot, we have been a bit worried that ours is eating too much! When we are there she is almost constantly eating and we were wondering if you should limit the amount of food in the cage at all? We currently have a mixed seed bowl, a hanging mixed seed bar, another bowl with apple and cheerios and then a millet spray all of which she seems to love! I dont want her to get ill through over eating or anything and am just wondering if we are over doing it a bit (the old kid in a sweetshop syndrome!?!). > Thanks for the info. Re your comment on them eating a lot, we have > been a bit worried that ours is eating too much! When we are there she [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > wondering if we are over doing it a bit (the old kid in a sweetshop > syndrome!?!). Hi there Rob, I was told by the vet as i recall, that it is fine,they are growing babies and need the food! And they will eat normally when they are adults ... It sounds like you are taking good care of them.There is a very simple recipe tho [its even yummier] for making your own hanging seed bells/bars etc,if you want to or have the time even,as the ones you buy often contain glue to keep the seeds together,but no harm done.The recipe can be gotten by asking breeders of budgies or cocketeils or anyone who knows a lot about birds if you wanted to bother,they will surely tell you[and for other things as well].I have forgotten it,as i dont make them nowadays,as i give them many other things,like you do. I personally try to vary their diet as much as possible too from day to day,and i get all the seeds from wholesalers/grains stores as i mentioned,who have a wide range,so that i can use the basic mix and add 2 other seeds or mixes to it,different seed sprays,tonic seed mix, etc,each day differently,and other things,and not too much sunflower seed etc but no cheerios as it contains msg and other chemicals etc. The grain store i get mine from specialise in bird seeds alone,and they tell me things i never hear from anywhere else and they know alot about it,and those cocketeils and my present budgies love it and i always get comments that my birds look so healthy. I cant remember if cocketeils eat bread,but my budgies do. good luck Rob asked: > We have read that they get bored quite easily and if you are out at > work during the day (as we both are) you should buy 2 otherwise it can > lead to all sorts of problems? No --NO! Stay with the one. He will tame more quickly, but you must take him out of his cage every day. If you expect to be gone or out more than your workday for extended vacations, etc., then perhaps you would do better with two, but they will bond with each other. > The shop we bought from does not have any more so we went to another > shop last night to look for a possible partner if the above is true and > were told we may have problems introducing another to join it. Depends on the age of your fist bird. If it's a baby they should get on well in a few days. > The books we have read say not to let the bird out of its cage when you > take it home for a few weeks A few weeks is really a long time. It really depends on your bird. If the bird is calm when you approach the cage and is not terrified of you, you can just open the door and let him come out on his own. Don't chase him about the room though. If he takes off and crashes, offer a finger perch, or a wooden perch, for him to climb upon and bring him slowly back to where you want him. Don't move quickly or your bird will panic! Also check out your house for trouble spots: make sure nothing is cooking on the stove, no open containers, no open doors and or windows. > Finally we are feeding her seed and also trying some other items which > we read were good for them. We have tried apple, carrot and lettuce > but she does not seem to be very impressed? 'Tiels take forever to become comfortable with new stuff. Keep offering the foods. And DO try Cheerios!! Good luck! n > Rob asked: > > We have read that they get bored quite easily and if you are out at [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > more than your workday for extended vacations, etc., then perhaps you > would do better with two, but they will bond with each other. I have four pair of tiels that are bonded to each other, they are also bonded to me, all of them, I have to hold them by pairs seperatly away from the others just to give them all attention, its pretty cool, if I go into the flight room they all land on my shoulders, my head, then here comes another kicking somebody off, its like they do a,.. its my turn, no its my turn, no its my turn, finally though if I stay in the room, my cinnamon(Willow)he is the head honcho, if he lands on my shoulder there isnt anyone else allowed on me, they are so loving and comical. What a great pet(friend)..... TRC > I have four pair of tiels that are bonded to each other, they are also > bonded to me, all of them, > > TRC Hi. Could you tell me please, Are they housed together or separately? Did you breed them? Or purchase them together? I know at least two people who were NOT successful bonding with a cockatiel pair -- just two birds, left alone for many hours during the week and on weekends. I have a 13 yr old male and in January I bought a baby. The baby wants to play with the older bird, but Penny just keeps moving away. Both are bonded to me, but I have to take them out one a a time as Penny takes flight when Gabby (younger bird) comes anywhere near him. I was really disappointed. n Hi again all, Thanks for all the responses and assistance here it really is appreciated. She seems to be doing well and happy in her new home. We have bought her a new cage already as we felt the original one was not large enough and this one says it is big enough for 3 cockatiels so she has plenty of room and extra for another bird if we decide to add one. She still doesnt seem to pleased with apple, carrot or lettuce etc but we bought a hanging nut bar thing and she has not stopped eating it since! We will probably let her out for he first time next week and if all goes well then start letting her out daily, although we are a bit worried about hw to get her back in the cage should she decide she does not want to go! I am not comfortable clipping her wings myself and to be honest do not want to subject her to such an ordeal even with someone who knows what they are doing. One last question on baths/showers...........how many of you spray your cockatiels with water and/or give them bath boxes? We have not yet but have again read that they love it so are happy to give it a gobut just do not want to over do it!?!?! For overall information try this web site: http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww21ev.htm For specific information regarding getting a second bird, try here: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/questions.html#question3 Good luck! Oh, BTW, if your bird is eating well, he's comfortable in his surroundings. n Thanks again. When you say that you know of people not successful in bonding pairs, do you mean that they just would not mix and kept apart or that they would fight etc? > Thanks again. When you say that you know of people not successful in > bonding pairs, do you mean that they just would not mix and kept apart > or that they would fight etc? Sorry if that was confusing. I meant that in two cases with two different couples, they each purchased 2 tiels, kept them housed together, and did take them out, but only occasionally. The birds bonded to one another and not the owner, and with one couple, one of their birds became quite aggressive, attacking its owner whenever he came near the cage or the other bird. (I imagine this was a male/female pair protecting their territory.) These owners gave them up after less than two years. The other couple still has theirs, but the birds are not bonded to them. My own birds are very different ages - one is 13 and one is less than a year. The baby wants to be friends with the older bird, but the older bird is not interested in becoming friends. Both are bonded to me, but I have been taking them out at different times. I suppose the key is how much and how often you handle them. n OK thanks again, looks like its all going to be a case of seeing how we go then. yes you have to handle them alot,whether they are a single bird or a pair or they will be fearful of you and maybe aggressive if they feel threatened somehow.And yes cocketeils are flock birds,and they do actually need a friend or mate that is the same species as they are. opps the above post was a reply to the below.And what i meant to say was yes you have to handle them alot,whether they are a single bird or a pair for them to bond to you or they will be slightly fearful of you or more and maybe aggressive if they feel threatened somehow in a worst case. robsp...@dsl.pipex.com wrote: > Thanks again. When you say that you know of people not successful in > bonding pairs, do you mean that they just would not mix and kept apart > or that they would fight etc? Sorry if that was confusing. I meant that in two cases with two different couples, they each purchased 2 tiels, kept them housed together, and did take them out, but only occasionally. The birds bonded to one another and not the owner, and with one couple, one of their birds became quite aggressive, attacking its owner whenever he came near the cage or the other bird. (I imagine this was a male/female pair protecting their territory.) These owners gave them up after less than two years. The other couple still has theirs, but the birds are not bonded to them. My own birds are very different ages - one is 13 and one is less than a year. The baby wants to be friends with the older bird, but the older bird is not interested in becoming friends. Both are bonded to me, but I have been taking them out at different times. I suppose the key is how much and how often you handle them. n hi rob, Well i had 3 cocketeils...until someone stole them !!! I bought them all at about the same time,vaguely,and they all bonded with each other and to me,as someone else has also mentioned in their experience.And it was great,they had a huge amount of fun in the cage and outside when i took them out.They would also follow me around the house and walk all over me.There was no friction between the birds at all,as far as i recall. I let them out since the day i brought them home.And i would also make sure the lid of the toilet was down,as i know smaller birds can easily fall in,but i was not sure if cocketeils could do the same. And they ate an enormous amount when they are young.I also used to buy the seeds from a wholesaler/grain store,rather than a pet shop,as generally the seeds you get at pet shops or the supermarket can be a couple of years old,containing less nutrition than fresher seed,and it was a lot cheaper! And you can find other seeds and seed mixes that are not available at the supermarket or pet store,which the birds love and are very healthy for them. I also used to get some seed sprays(seed still on the stems,or whatever you call it) from certain farms that sell it.I found those by going to a bird club.And i used to feed them other things too..... I just thought i would mention the seed ..... > Hi again all, > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > have again read that they love it so are happy to give it a gobut just > do not want to over do it!?!?! > > I have four pair of tiels that are bonded to each other, they are also > > bonded to me, all of them, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Are they housed together or separately? Did you breed them? Or > purchase them together? Together as pairs with other pairs as well, I have a sleep room with large sleep cages, 4 pair per cage or 8 birds that are not paired, 13 cages and a tower of five more that are for breeding. > I know at least two people who were NOT successful bonding with a > cockatiel pair -- just two birds, left alone for many hours during the > week and on weekends. Lots of patience, we have a 6 yr old pair that were breeders and left in a cage, no toys, nothing just a skinny perch and food/water dish with previous owner, they will retire with us(happily), you could not hold them or nothing, stick your hand in the cage and forget it, grab them and get bit, but with three/four months of constantly taking them out and giving attention they can now be held without biting, they still kinda dont want to be held but they will tolerate you and not bite, you can kiss them too, PATIENCE and LOVE is the key with tiels............ :-) > I have a 13 yr old male and in January I bought a baby. The baby wants > to play with the older bird, but Penny just keeps moving away. Both are > bonded to me, but I have to take them out one a a time as Penny takes > flight when Gabby (younger bird) comes anywhere near him. > > I was really disappointed. That could be tough, 13, he is King around your place and the baby is a tresspasser, I would try this,.. Clip Penny's wings so when he flys he has to land right away or else he will go to the floor, you dont want him to have the freedom of getting away at will, he must be able to be caught without a hassle, if not, thats when you will start to have behavioral problems with him(specially now with the new guy) , when you do that get them out and have treats for them but give the new guy 80% of your attention, you need to make Penny come to you to see what the fuss is all about, when she comes or acts like she wants to come, get her and put him by the baby with you and spoil them both. Lots of time and screwing around with them will most likely get some results, again the key here is Patience. I would also..(if you have seperate sleep cages), put them side by side in different cages with the perches set to where they have to perch by each other but on seperate perches and cages, pennys perch should be just a bit higher(dominating thing) also the cages should be just far enough apart so ther is no beak touching. Cover them and, nite nite time. TRC Tiels R Cool -- Thanks for the info and for sharing your experience with your 'tiels. n |
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