[Mossybird]

Latley I have been pondering the idea of getting Sunny a cage budy,
First off, we need to know what sex Sunny is before I even attempt to talk my parents into it.
My mom is all for it. She fell in love with parrots as soon as we got Sunny and I can tell she really wants to get another one.
I talked to her about it and she said " Im not the one you need to convince."
I tried talking to my dad about it at dinner and it didnt go too well. He hates getting more pets. To him they are just more money to waste. For the past two weeks I have been able to spend a lot of time with Sunny. Tomarrow I have to go back to school, so he will be alone for a good 6 hours. I thought about it and I think it would be good for Sunny if he has some company. I have been doing research on getting a second cockatiel, and it seems that's just what Sunny needs. I read that once a cockatiel is tamed, they will stay tamed even if you get a cage mate for them.
I guess I just need some good pointers about getting a second bird. Like what are the benefits for Sunny and how it will affect him in a positive way.
I need all of the pointers I can get--Im gonna have to confront my dad about it sometime, as he is the "ruler" of the house-hold...

 

[Bea]

I got Bailee really soon after getting Cookie because i felt bad for her. Because of space, my tiels have to be in my bedroom, so i didn't like her being alone up there. For the longest time i really didn't think that Cookie liked Bailee at all. They never seemed to interact. But then one day i tried to just get Cookie out for a cuddle, and as i walked out of the room Bailee and Cookie just called and called to each other. That showed me just how much they need each others companionship.

 

[Laura]

Getting Sunny a friend is a great idea it is so funny to watch them interact together or in the case of some of mine not interact together I have 4 of them and they have all kept there tameness they prefer to be with me then with each other, good luck trying to convince your dad my husband Ian is like that sometimes with do we have to get another animal but I just go out and do it anyway....lol
How old is Sunny what mutation is he?

 

[xxxSpikexxx]

I only have Spike, so I would not know about how 2 tiels are. Iam sure you would have to quarantine the new bird too. Good luck convincing your Dad. Mabey your Mom will help convince him too There are lots of people here with more than one, so Iam sure you will get some better info soon. Here is a link that may help http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/behavior/secondbird.html

 

[Mossybird]

I think Sunny is about two years old and he is a pearl. My mom first bought him from a pet shop. Amazingly, Sunny is very healthy. I am thinking that if we do get another bird it would stay in my room or the computer room.
I dont know how Sunny would react to a new bird. I have seen him trying to talk to birds outside our window before...
Thanks a bunch for the link, Spike. Very informative.

 

[Laura]

Has Sunny kept all his/her pearls, most males lose there Pearls as they molt so at two I would think if Sunny has all pearls then Sunny would be a female

 

[allen]

you beat me to the punch again laurago

 

[Bea]

I just went and looked at the pics you posted a few days ago, and if those are of Sunny now, as a two year old, then Sunny is a girl.

 

[Tiki]

Laura is right.

I agree, a second bird would be wonderful for Sunny.

 

[Aly]

Yup..get a second! I am so glad I did!

 

[Mossybird]

I tried talking to my mom again and she just ignored me. She just dosnt like to take advice from a teen- even if I know more about cockatiels then her. I think Sunny is a girl too. Im almost positive now that Sunny is a girl.
Another problem has arisen. I just realized that Sunnys cage is too small! I never really realized it before. I measured it and it is 16 and a half inches wide and 22 inches tall. I think that is way too small for one cockatiel. Its gonna be hard to tell them this being that they dont like spending large amounts of money on animals and that I am a "kid" and they dont listen to me or take me seriously. If you guys have any good advice or links for some good 2 bird cages, let me know. Whats your opinon on Sunny's cage. Is it too small?? Heres a picture:

It may look ok, but it seems very small in person.

 

[Bea]

I think if that's all you can have then it would do, but not for two if you hope to get a friend. She certainly has a lot of fun looking toys to keep her happy! Maybe you could save up money yourself to buy her a new cage.

 

[xxxSpikexxx]

I think if you can get her a bigger cage than that would be best. This cage is nice http://www.qualitydiscountcages.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A11&cat=11 size wise but expensive
Give Sunny lots of time out of her cage and she should be fine, until you can get a new one

 

[Aly]

Don't feel bad. I didn't have huge cages for mine either before I joined these forums. I'm glad you are learning all you can to help her and care for her. Comparing her to the cage, the size is borderline too small but as Bea said, if that's all you have just make sure she's out alot. The thing with small cages is they can start to look very scruffy since they bump their tails into the cage alot (more often then they do anyway). That's acctually the size of my travel cage/emergency cage. I'm happy with the size of the ones I have now-got three of them in total- under $80 US each from petsmart. I looked online for the link and I can't find it but if you go the the cage set up thread you'll see them there. Save up and see what you can do. Either way, two tiels can't go in there.

 

[Tiki]

I would try to save up enough for a new cage. Then once you get Sunny a new one, you can clean up the old one and sell it, and maybe you can buy another tiel with the money.