Bird Update

[ScantyNebula]

I feel like such a bad person We threw out the eggs .. She layed 2 so far. We just can't keep them ... We just got our tiels and we are strangers to them .. it just won't work with them having babies. We don't know enough about owning tiels yet .. let alone baby tiels. I feel so bad though .. they're down the bottom searching for their eggs ... Thats all we can do for now ... hopefully in the future they can have their babies ..

Also update from other owners .. apparently they never did let them take them out of their cage. They could only pick them up if they had came out of the cage themselves. Strange, no? And they owned them for years ... I always thought tiels were very friendly by nature ..

[Logan]

I just sent you a PM before I read this. Sorry it took so long, as our cable was out.

Don't be surprised if you get more eggs. Someone told me that there are "fake" eggs you can buy to replace the ones she was sitting on. But I guess that wouldn't serve it's purpose for you at all, would it? Good luck!

Logan

[ScantyNebula]

not really no! I want them to stop mating .. doesn't seem to be a way though ...

Anyway, you are right, she laid another egg like 2 hours after I took out the other 2. *sigh*

[Logan]

Probably the only way to stop it is to separate them, and I know that cages are NOT inexpensive at all! But separation has worked for us, even if it is stressful at first for the birds (and noisy for us). Since Bennie is using one cage, and Roger and Milly, the other, their mating habits have started back. I may have to take Popcornbird's suggestion and put Milly with Bennie and keep Roger by himself. Milly laid a third egg during the night last night. I'm going to start pulling them, one by one, later today. Makes me sad, but I would be sadder to have more babies.

[ScantyNebula]

hehe that depends on what you mean by inexpensive ... the ones I see are around 80 bucks .. which is not too bad, but very bad for us because we simply cannot afford it right now. I guess we have to let things stay the way they are right now .. I just don't like the idea of separating them anyway, they get along so well and are obviously very close.

[aly]

Originally posted by ScantyNebula

Also update from other owners .. apparently they never did let them take them out of their cage. They could only pick them up if they had came out of the cage themselves. Strange, no? And they owned them for years ... I always thought tiels were very friendly by nature ..

Cockatiels are very friendly and social by nature, but their people probably never handled them much or socialized them properly. So they spent most of their time in their cage bonding with each other and thinking humans are scary. The owners definately should have made you aware that they weren't so used to being handled, especially since that is why you wanted a cockatiel in the first place! I believe you could still tame them, it will just take a lot longer since they are set in their ways.

You might want to keep your eye open for garage sales or classified ads where you may find a cheaper cage.

[Uabassoon]

Have you tried looking at thrift shops? You might be able to find a nice cage at one. A while ago I picked up a nice rat cage for dirt cheap, I had to go to a few different stores but if you just keep going eventually you might find one.

[Logan]

Aly and Laura took the words out of my mouth, literally! The only reason I haven't taken the same advice is that I just KNOW that Bennie is going to Texas at some point, so I won't need a third cage!!!! Bennie is starting to sing.......I'm sure he is hoping that Aly will hear him!!!!

Logan

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by aly
Cockatiels are very friendly and social by nature, but their people probably never handled them much or socialized them properly. So they spent most of their time in their cage bonding with each other and thinking humans are scary. The owners definately should have made you aware that they weren't so used to being handled, especially since that is why you wanted a cockatiel in the first place! I believe you could still tame them, it will just take a lot longer since they are set in their ways.

Very true. Cockatiels ARE very friendly and social by nature, but when people don't know how to deal with them properly, they don't learn how to deal with humans either. I'm assuming this is what happened to your tiels in their previous home. I know my tiels cannot live without people.....they are VERY social, but that is because I spend so much time with them. Your tiels may not have had a proper upbringing and therefore, learned to fear humans. Because they are not so young, they are very much set in their ways, and while you probably can tame them, I think it would be a long and tough process. They just don't know they can play with humans. If they knew, they wouldn't be like that.

Have you thought of getting fake eggs and replacing her real ones with those? Some people also boil the eggs, and put them back. That thought freaks me out for some reason though...but I know people do it.

[ScantyNebula]

Thanks for the replies ..

As for a new cage - I do go to second hand stores, haven't seen one but I definetely would if I saw it. I don't intend on separating them. They've been together for years and they would become extremely loud and upset I'm sure if I took them apart.

pcb .. you said "Cockatiels ARE very friendly and social by nature, but when people don't know how to deal with them properly, they don't learn how to deal with humans either."

So what IS the proper way to deal with them? This is what I don't get. I'll tell you what I'm doing now. I'm not putting my hands near the cage unless I'm A) Refilling their bowls or B) Giving them some treats like Millet or crackers.

I'm leaving their cage door open for most of the day, so they are free to climb out. So far Chip comes out a lot, he's even walked around the carpet.. BUT I don't put my hands near him because he runs away or goes to bite.

Everynow and then he flies around and gets stuck in a high place, so then I try to take him down. This happened today .. he flew up and clung onto a towel hanging from our wall. He stayed there for over an HOUR. I tried everything - put my hand there and he bit, hissed and sqealed at it and wouldn't cooperate, put a perch next to him, no dice. So eventually I just took the towel down with him on it and put him back in the cage.

I talk to them various times throughout the day, and I'm working right across from their cage all day.

When they get too noisy I put a white blanket over their cage and they usually go to sleep/sit on eggs.


Am I doing things right for the time being or is there more I should be doing?

Thanks

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by ScantyNebula


pcb .. you said "Cockatiels ARE very friendly and social by nature, but when people don't know how to deal with them properly, they don't learn how to deal with humans either."

So what IS the proper way to deal with them? This is what I don't get. I'll tell you what I'm doing now. I'm not putting my hands near the cage unless I'm A) Refilling their bowls or B) Giving them some treats like Millet or crackers.

What I meant by saying that was I think their PREVIOUS owners didn't handle them properly...not YOU. You just got them. The way they were raised in their previous home is probably what's affecting their personality.

If you're not putting your hands near them unless you're filling their bowls or giving them treats, they're not going to learn to like your hands. You NEED to put your hands near them as much as possible. That's how they get used to you.

When my birds were new, I would constantly go to the cage, open the door, and put my hand inside. Muffin would run up and cling to the bars, and Popcorn would try to attack me. I didn't back off. I kept my hand there. Everyday, I would put my hand in the cage, bringing it closer to them, day by day. Sometimes I would hold millet in my hand, in a way that they couldn't get it unless they came right to my hand. You need to tempt them to come to you. You need to put your hands near them often. If you don't, they'll think their attacking works in pushing you away, and will only attack more. Once they know their attacking/backing off is not going to work in keeping you away from them, they begin to warm up to you. When they walk on the carpet, sit down beside them and talk to them. You might want to try to lay down too. Anything to get closer to them and make them feel less threatened. It might take time, but if you're persistent, hopefully, it will work.

[ScantyNebula]

thanks pcb .. that helps a lot. I was thinking about it oppositely .. I thought I should wait until they were with us long and warmed up to us before trying to put our hands near them. It just seems to stress them out so much .. but thanks for clearing that up

There is a problem of miscommunication with the previous owners .. I'm hearing some things but don't know for certain how they were with them. I mean its been mentioned that they used to sit on their owner's shoulders (mostly Fancy) and Chip would sing (which he hasn't yet) .. they loved being misted with water ... umm they did take a while to warm up to them but she used to just put her hand in and take them out and eventually they got over it. Thats the jist of it ...

A question - is it not a good idea do pick them up? Is it best to hold a tiel by letting them perch on your hand?

[kingrattus]

This is what my neighbour did, for years. He would take the eggs & poke a hole in the bottom & top & would blow all the stuff out & return the eggs back to mom. Mom would nest & nest & nest until she the eggs took too long & then would reject them..

He siad he tried just tossing them out & it did no ggod, she would just lay more to replace them.

I think he had the birds for 10 years & did this all the time. Hes birds were very nice & chirped all day long outside with him while he gardened.

[Logan]

Johanna, our birds "perch" on our fingers. We use "step up" with Milly and Bennie to get them there. Roger just comes running and goes straight up our arms. He's a ham!

I think PCB is right. Talk softly to them, as much as possible and I would try holding out a millet spray. That might win them over quickly!!!! And I would hold it outside the cage to lure them out. How about toys? Do you have many? And is there anything like a cat ball with a bell inside that you could put on top of the cage or on the floor for htem to play with? Mine love bells.

Good luck to you. Your patience is going to be tested, but you are doing the right things.

[LDWP]

Just a warning about secound hand cages, a few weeks ago a saw a very nice cage at a thrift store, big and cheap. BUT the previous owner of the cage had the stupid idea to spray-paint it with gold paint, making it unsuitable for birds to live in, as they'd chew off the paint and poison themselves. So just a precaution, if you do see one then inspect it carefully before purchasing it.

Also do you have any "open air markets" around your area? I have one called "Swapmeat" and it's a very good place to buy quality stuff for CHEAP! Bird breeders etc. have stands there weekly and they sell cockatiel sized cages for 10 bucks, and BIG macaw cages for 80. It's great!