Question on Cockatiel

My friend has a cockatiel named Frost that for the first 6 months of his life was never handled. He is not hand tame and my friend would like some pointers on how to help him. She has been working to make the hand a good thing by feeding him treats and such, but what are some more pointers you can give her?

Also, the place where she got her bird is offering baby cockatiels for free. My question is if you were to get a baby that was just weaned, would it be easy to hand tame? How old are they when they are weaned? How hard would it be to hand tame a baby this young? Also, if you got two babies from the same hatching and they were opposite sexes, would they mate? Can you get DNA testing done when they are this young?

Sorry for so many questions!
Ashley

I'm still learning about Cockatiels as I go along since I haven't been a tiel owner for that long.. but here's what helped for me:

I have three tiels that hate to be handled. One will nip until you leave him alone. The other two.. I'm way too afraid to even try with. I started leaving the cage door open when I can supervise. One of the three came out on their own. I have a feeling that if I do this long enough, another one (or two) will come out just because the first one did. So I'd suggest maybe doing the same and letting her Tiel decide when it's ready to come out? When my tiels come out, I also make it a really happy place and offer lots of goodies.

I'm not too sure about the baby thing.. but about opposite sexes mating.. I know that I have at least one male in my cage. None of them have ever mated. I don't provide a place for egg laying though.. so I guess that helped.

Your friend is doing fine with having a special treat like millet in her hand to get the cockatiel to climb on her hand. It takes a lot of time & patience to tame a cockatiel. If you would go to a library or bookstore & request books on cockatiels you can find out a lot about them. That is how I got started. I did my research first before I got my bird. She was not a hand tamed bird & it took a long time to tame her. As far as finding out the sex of a bird you would have to take it to the veterinary & he/she would draw some blood from the bird which would be sent for DNA testing. Getting a free cockatiel would be nice but I would ask the people that own the birds lots of questions. Make sure the baby is not inbred. Make sure it is weaned & eating on its own. Make sure they will help you if the baby should want formula. This sometimes happens even after they are eating seed & pellets on their own. Make sure you have a large cage to put the baby in, a cuttle bone, mineral block, & feed. The water & feed have to be changed everyday. The water dish should be washed out everyday & fresh water should be put in it. Bacteria can build up in the container of water if it is not changed everyday. There is a very good chance if you put a male & female cockatiel together they will mate. Cockatiels are very prolific & will raise lots of young & lay lots of eggs. You would be better off starting with one cockatiel. Remember to do your research there is so much to learn about these birds. They can live to be 36 years old. That is a long time to be responsible for a pet. Happy Birding To You !!!

Hand-taming cockatiels, in particular, seems to take a longer amount of time than budgies. Just be consistent and maintain patience. Ask your friend to buy and read Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan. Gawsh, I can't believe how many people don't do this simple task which could save them months of heartache! If her tiel is calm enough to step onto her hand, I would advise her to take the tiel out of the cage and take a shower with it. Showering time provides *incredible* bonding time. Once you're in the shower, you can easily pet the tiel and "groom" it just as another birdie mate would. I'd also advise your friend to incorporate the bird in nearly every aspect of her daily rituals. Let her tiel observe her brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, eating her breakfast, etc.

Generally, freshly weaned chicks are easier to tame than adult birds who are set in their ways. However, this still depends on *how* the chick was raised. Are the cockatiel chicks being parent raised or handfed? If they're handfed, then they should look at human hands as friends whereas the parent raised chick looks at human hands as predators.

I haven't bred budgies in years, but I do believe both budgies and tiels share the same general growth rate. Sooo, if that's true, cockatiel chicks begin to fledge around 4-5 weeks when weaning begins. Weaning should end around 7 weeks when the bird reaches adulthood. It should not be difficult at all to tame a baby tiel. Think of the baby tiel as a blank slate :)

Birds do not care if they're related. They simply don't know. Even if the birds are from the same clutch, they will mate after reaching sexual maturity. So yes, if you place two tiels of the opposite sex in the same cage (no matter their relation), they will mate if given the chance. Yes, you can get DNA testing even when they are freshly weaned. Remember, your DNA won't change throughout your life! :p Just send a feather or blood sample to the labratory, and the company will send you the results within a few business days.