[Johnny Bravo]

Hello,

I adopted a cockatiel, he likes me and will call to me, grind his break, and eat treats from my fingers. He likes to ride on my shoulders which I have heard is not good. He will not step up unless it is to jump off right away to my shoulder. He will even fly to my shoulder, when he wants to. Even did this when I was adopting him. He will whistle and sing especially if someone whistles at him or if he sees his reflection in his mirror (it came with him). He even says some words and likes to get his neck scratched. No idea of his age.

Lots of loud flock calling to the wild birds outside and to me. Since I'm in an apartment, I am trying to put on music to distract him, which sometimes works. Calling back to him quietly doesn't quiet him.

I am using Natural pellets as treats, I want to switch him to that but don't want to loose the advantage. He also doesn't like fresh fruit or veggies. What do you suggest?

His crest is a little thin.

I just got him over cage aggression. But now I have nail polish he is afraid.

How do I bathe him? He doesn't like spraying.
How do I handle him with out freaking him out. I want to take him to the vet for a new pet checkup. He had bird mites which I had to treat him for. Not sure if from him or the wild bird nests on my balcony.

The adoption agency clipped his wings, but he gets around okay. I let him hang out outside of the cage every day. I try to get him enough sleep since he is trying to mate with the sleep hut all the time. LoL

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Robert Seale]

It's sounds like you have a pretty cool little guy already! Just give him a little time to get use to his new home. There's no telling WHAT this bird went thru before you came along. The first order of business is to get him to step up onto your finger. Clipping wings is a good way to do that as they rely more on YOU for transportation! If he is on the floor, just put your finger down in front of him and keep saying "step up" eventually they will get it. As for food, have you tried Roudybush pellets for cockatiels? It's a GOOD brand. DON"T give up on the veggies either. Some birds take longer than others but a good number of my 12 will now eat broccoli which is very good for them. As to the bath: that's a tuff one. I use a mist bottle to shower all of mine. Some love it, others arn't that crazy about it but it's better than NO bath at all. The issue is: if he doesn't like the mister, he's probably not going to like the kitchen sink with luke warm water in it either. You can TRY that and see. Try working with him on stepping up and don't forget that vet check-up. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Thanks for all the great advice! I will try the Roudybush brand and broccoli 🥦. He's not much of a ground dweller. And step up becomes demands for neck rubs LoL. But I will keep at it. He knows how to step up, just doesn't want to. And I will try the sink, and find a vet.

 

[Robert Seale]

Sounds good! Keep me posted on his progress.