thinking about buying a cockatiel, help needed

[sana]

Firstly, I'd like to thank everybody who helped me when I asked about how to care for goldfish. But, as I learned, they are a little hard to keep, so I dropped the goldfish buying plan.
Well, these days my sisters and I watch a lot of talking parrots or cockatiel video clips on youtube. my sister now, totally wants a cockatiel! So, I asked my mom if we could buy one and guess what! She said yes!!! YAHOO!!!! So, today I'm gonna try and ask my dad to get me one.
So, my sister told me I should first clearly learn about them, and of course, I thought about you all. So, I was thinking, could someboy tell me about how to care for them?


Thanl You!!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I don't know anything about them but here's a link that tells you some of the basics:http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Origina.../tielcare.html. There are many more links about them too. I hope this helps and good luck.

[Karen]

PM Popcornbird, she's been a cockatiel mom for a long time! She's not online as much now that she has a human baby, dear little M, to take care of, but I bet she'll help you!

Be prepared to have a large enough cage for he or she to be able to move about, perches, and read some of the previous Pets of the Day who have been cockatiels stories, that'd be a start!

[sana]

PM Popcornbird, she's been a cockatiel mom for a long time! She's not online as much now that she has a human baby, dear little M, to take care of, but I bet she'll help you!

Be prepared to have a large enough cage for he or she to be able to move about, perches, and read some of the previous Pets of the Day who have been cockatiels stories, that'd be a start!

I don't know anything about them but here's a link that tells you some of the basics:http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Origina.../tielcare.html. There are many more links about them too. I hope this helps and good luck.

Thank You both of you! I'll try PMing PCB, but, could somebody tell me, if I have two males and one female, would that be bad? Would the males fight with each other? Or if I kept three males, would they fight with each other? I hope not.

[Bonny]

I was owned by a female Cockatiel for 8 1/2 years. She was a chronic egg layer & eventually it did her in. They are very affectionate birds & love all the attention you can give them. My hen would whistle for me when I was out of sight & I learned to give her a flock whistle so she knew where I was. She loved scritches (you take your index finger & scratch it gentle like around their head).

I miss her dearly & she was my girl for sure. They can live up to 30 some years so it is a life commitment. I think it is rare for an egg laying hen to live past 12 years. They are very prolific birds so the need to reproduce their own kind is the cause for egg laying. There are some hens that don't get into the egg laying mode & that is rare. The eggs are infertile & they will lay eggs even without the influence of a male birds presents.

Male birds can learn to talk but I am not sure that all of them can or will talk. You would not have to worry about them laying eggs.

If you can find two birds together that get along that would be good. They are very flock oriented & they consider us their slaves & we have to obey them. This is for real. If you should get two birds that are friends they could ignore you also. That has happened to some people I have known over the years.

I fed my hen cockatiel pellets, Zupreem, & seed & she liked apples. They can eat fruit but are not much for veggies. She received fresh water & her bird food everyday.

I left her wings grow out (they were clipped when she came to live with me). She learned to fly & land around the house for exercise. Being flighted can be a problem too. If you have open doors or windows they can fly out & not come back.

Get a nice large cage with some bird toys. My hen didn't care for toys & she liked being out of her cage. I gave her the freedom of my house when I was in the house with her other wise she was in her cage for safety sake.

Just remember this is a life commitment. To many cockatiels are throw away birds, people have them for awhile & decide they don't want them anymore. They do poop a lot about every 20 minutes when they are awake. So think about cleaning up after them.

You can tell a female from a male most of the time by the barring on their tail feathers & under their wings. The females have the barring.

Happy Birding Sana & let the bird pick you out.

[sana]

Thank You soo much Bonny! I really hope I get the talking one

Well, I have another question. How many times should I feed them in a day?

Well, about being its flock, I'll be happy to do that! My summer vacations end on 8th September, so hopefully, I'll be able to spend a lot of time with the birdies.

Please pray I get them real soon!!! I've asked my dad and he says we can buy them!!

I have a small other question. Should I buy the cage from the petstore, or have it made myself?