[Blaze9]

Hey,

I recently received a cockatiel from my dads friend, who is moving up north where its bitterly cold. He said that it's too cold for Him *my bird* there. I'm very happy to have received him, but I have no clue on how to maintain his health. All that I really know, is the bird is around 5-6 years old, so teaching it to talk will be hard. I've been reading around, and got a site with foods it can eat. I went to my supermarket, bought a bag of Cockatiel food *seeds and such* and also some fruit/vegies. All items came from this site : http://www.cockatielcottage.net/tablefoods.html
Lots of other sites have almost the same list, so I think those foods are good, but I also want suggestions from experienced people like you guys =P.

Now, He also came with a cage, its in a shape of a house, with two pointed roofs, one being larger than the other. The Height of the small roof is about 18-20 inches. The taller roof is 25-27 inches tall . The width is 19 inches, and the side is 15 inches. I think the cage is a nice size for my parrot, which is less than 7-8 inches long from beak to tail.

I also wanted to know if the wings are clipped or not, before I let him outside in my room. If needed I'll post a pic of him for you guys to judge him.

If you have any tips on how to teach him to talk, please do post. Also, what's the ideal living condition for the pet, regarding temperature?

Thanks guys, this parrot is my first real pet and I want him to be as comfortable as possible.

~Blaze

After posting, I realized this might be the wrong forum, sorry about that =(

 

[elijahfan]

i would say the size is fine, as long as she/he has a good space when her wings are out

teaching to talk, i haven't had mine tlk yme talkis not sur if girls can talk anyway im giving it a go lol, i would say just keep talking to her but use a limited use of words, i wolf whistle and say hello jojo, the conditions then is basic no drafts no direct sunlight,

it sounds like you are doing everything right so far, not likely to have her wing clipped

good luck with you new bird and cant wait to see pictures, ia m sure pictures, ipeople will be along to help you out,

 

[Blaze9]

Alright, thanks for the quick reply =P

I'll post a few pics as soon as I get my camera back, my dad and mom went to a part out of state, my mom's friends 25th anniversary or something like that, and they'll be back either today or tomorrow =(

Thanks again, and there is NO way to tell if his wings are clipped? And are clipped wings good or bad?

Edit: A few mins ago, He was scratching his nose and head, and while doing so, he was making noises similar to sneezing o.o'' Is that normal? He's not puffy, unless he grooms him self.

~Blaze

 

[Kai]

Hi Blaze,

I'll do my best to answer some of your questions. Hmm..... how to describe clipped wings.... I have no idea how to explain that one but I'm sure someone else will be able to do it. It is easy to tell clipped wings visually... I just can't explain it is all. As for the scratching his nose and head. That's completely normal. They get itchy and get stuff in their nose just like we do. This is your birds way of removing that, sneezing included. As long as it is not a constant thing then your bird is behaving perfectly normal.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bea]

I think i used to have the cage you're describing, personally i think it's a bit small for a cockatiel - yes they're small parrots, but they still need a fair bit of space. You might be able to find one of these in a local pet shop:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bird-Cage-Bird-...ryZ46289QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(but the size up - 18"h x 18"d x 30")

They're really cheap but also a good size for a single tiel.

 

[Blaze9]

Hmm, My cage has good space for it, and it usually stands in a place where he can stretch his wings nice and wide, I'm still a bit scared to let him out.. Might take him to my storage room, which is about 10 by 15 feet, pretty small, so I can catch him if he can fly.

I'll post up a few pics, as soon as I get my camera back. =P

~Blaze

 

[xxxSpikexxx]

I would take it slowly and talk to him and let him settle a bit before taking him out. I personally think it would be safer to have his wings clipped, that way he won't hurt himself flying into things. You could take him to an avain vet or someone who knows how to groom birds to get it done

 

[Blaze9]

Cool, thanks. I'll look in my listings for an avian vet. My friends father in his home country has over 20 birds, including two 21 year old tiels =O I'm sure he knows a good bit of stuff about them. I'll talk to him about this as well.

thanks again

~Blaze

 

[Plukie]

Hi, I'm sure you will be ok with your little tiel. If you go here http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22 in the sticky part at the top, there is a list of good and bad foods for your tiel. When you post pics, we will be able to see if his wings are clipped or not. Give him a little while to get used to you and then I would just let him out to have a good fly......or walk around if he's clipped....he'll find his cage ok to go back in if you have time to give him, or if you want to try and get him in yourself, you could use a perch to get him to step up on, or...he might even go on your hand if he's tame. Give it a try, the only way to learn is to do it. Good luck.

 

[SpickyDavies]

if his wongs are clipped he wont be flying haha!
and when he strechs you'll be able to tell by thinking "well that desont look right"

i wish you luck with your new friend

 

[Blaze9]

Thanks for the replys everyone =D this community seems very nice. Glad to be a part of it.

Umm, Oh, Can I like use a spray bottle filled with room temp - luke warm water to clean him in the morning?

~Blaze

 

[Plukie]

Yes you can, he may not like it though, not all tiels like baths, I've got one that does and one that doesn't. lol. Try spraying and letting the spray fall on him, rather than spraying straight at him.

 

[elijahfan]

dont the wings grow back ? we had a budgie with its wing clipped it grew back , hw still tryed to fly with his clipped wing flew into allsortd poor thing

 

[Blaze9]

dont the wings grow back ? we had a budgie with its wing clipped it grew back , hw still tryed to fly with his clipped wing flew into allsortd poor thing

Aww was he alright? =(

Alright, leme try to spray him, xD..

~Blaze

 

[elijahfan]

yeah he is fine well was fine unfortinatly no longer with us but the wing grew back he was fine

 

[Blaze9]

yeah he is fine well was fine unfortinatly no longer with us but the wing grew back he was fine

aww... Sorry =(

Hmm, even if the prior owners clipped the wings, they probably grew back.. Does anyone know roughly how much it takes at a vet, in USD?

~Blaze

 

[Laura]

I have no idea how much a vet would charge in the U.S, I am in Canada, I don't know if your comfortable doing it but its very easy to learn how to clip there wings and it only takes a few minutes here is an article you can read up on how to do it, but by all means if your unsure or not comfortable you should take your tiel to the vets.

http://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=682

 

[Blaze9]

I'm not a bit comfortable, for not atleast. plus my birds not tame, he keeps running away from me in his cage. I cant even hold him. But I'm trying to, and he keeps letting me closer and closer to him each time.

~Blaze