Cockatiels!

Hello everyone!

I'm thinking of getting a cockatiel. We've found a store that has hand fed ones... VERY tame! They like being with people more than they like being put in their glass enclosure.

I have a few questions for all of you tiel experts...

1. What do you feed your little ones? I've heard several suggestions/diets, but would like to hear what YOU think is best.
2. Is there any good way to sex very young birds?
3. How vocal are your birds? (Don't want to make neighbors too angry!)
4. Is $90 US dollars a good price for a very tame baby like this? It sounded about right to me, and I asked them about their diet history, etc. Just wanted to check!

Last but not least (and maybe even most importantly), if any of you have dogs, how have you trained them to stay away? We've been working with Muffin on an EMPTY cage that has had birds in the past, and that was fairly easy. I'm thinking that a live bird will pose a bigger problem!

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Originally posted by sirrahved
Hello everyone!

I'm thinking of getting a cockatiel. We've found a store that has hand fed ones... VERY tame! They like being with people more than they like being put in their glass enclosure.

I have a few questions for all of you tiel experts...

1. What do you feed your little ones? I've heard several suggestions/diets, but would like to hear what YOU think is best.

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Tame tiels always love being with people more than they like being in their enclosure. :p My tiels are out of their cage all day and only go there to sleep at night. They loooove people. Very sweet birds.

I feed my birds pellets, seeds, veggies, some fruits, whole wheat bread, popcorn (without butter/salt)....lots of other stuff. They need variety in their diet. VERY important.

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2. Is there any good way to sex very young birds?

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Its hard when they're young. The *signs* usually begin to show after their first molt. You could possibly tell by behavior though. (Males are more vocal....females are more quiet/cuddly, etc.)

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3. How vocal are your birds? (Don't want to make neighbors too angry!)

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My birds are so quiet most of the time, that our next door neighbors didn't know we had birds until they came to visit us. :p They never heard them. Basically, Popcorn gets pretty vocal in the morning.......singing, whistling, and just squacking, but he's quiet the rest of the day. Muffin squacks when she wants something.....like when she wants us to cover their cage at night, or fill their bowls, or just give her attention, etc. Otherwise, she's pretty quiet.

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4. Is $90 US dollars a good price for a very tame baby like this? It sounded about right to me, and I asked them about their diet history, etc. Just wanted to check!

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For a handfed baby, definitely. Petco's prices for a handfed, tame baby are usually over $100.....sometimes up to $150!

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Last but not least (and maybe even most importantly), if any of you have dogs, how have you trained them to stay away? We've been working with Muffin on an EMPTY cage that has had birds in the past, and that was fairly easy. I'm thinking that a live bird will pose a bigger problem!

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I don't have dogs so I can't answer that question. I know K9soul, GoldenRetrLuver, Logan, Dogz, Tina, and others all have birds and dogs in the same household though. Maybe they can help with that question.

Thanks so much, PCB!

1. I feed my tiels pretty much anything. The exceptions are NO avocados, chocolate, alcohol, watch the sugar and salt intake, and take the pits out of fruits that have them. Calcium is very important especially for females. Fruits and veggies are also important. My tiels like veggies better then fruits. In the cage there should be pellets and some seed.
2. When I bought Evie the place I got her from offered to DNA test her for $35. She’s a female and they said the test is 99% accurate.
3. I have two males and two females. There is a HUGE difference in how vocal they are. Alex, one of my females, is so quiet. I barely ever hear a peep out of her. Evie, her cage mate, is a little louder. My boys are loud! Danny is a lot louder then Milton, but both can be controlled by covering the cage for a few minutes. Yelling or giving them attention when they are loud only encourages them to be louder. Covering the cage and not giving them attention is the best way, in my opinion, to correct a loud bird.
4. Only my girls are hand raised for sure. My boyfriend found Danny, so he was free and I adopted Milton for $40. Milton is defiantly not hand fed or tame, but Danny is. Both of my girls are hand fed and very tame. Alex was $90 about 8 years ago when I got her. I got Evie a few months ago and she was $85. I saw hand fed tiels at Petco for $120, so yes I think $90 is a good price.
5. Harley is very aggressive with birds and Sylvia can be sometimes. I’m in the process of letting Sylvia get to know my tiels, but Harley will never. I could never trust him with them. My RB Shih Tzu, Angie, was great with Alex. I would put Alex on the couch next to Angie and go in the shower. I trusted her 100%. All dogs are different; you will have to see how Muffin reacts. On the off chance that a tiel is flying around the living room and Harley is in the house, I just yell and he knows I mean business. Alex takes a calcium supplement and when I give it to her I leave the cage open. Evie likes to fly out sometimes and Harley has been ok with that. However, he’s still a JRT and like I said I couldn’t trust him with the tiels. Hope this helps! :D

You've gotten good answers, so I don't have a lot to add. I will say that my Cockatiels and my dogs do not ever meet. Remember, I have 4 dogs and they are big. Plus, we have two cats. The Cockatiels live in my office (which is part of our home).

I think our Roger was $99 at a Pet Store. His cage, toys, food, etc cost more than double that amount! LOL!!! When we got Milly, she was an owner "turn in" offered for $150 for everything, including Milly.

Milly doesn't have the talking ability (or at least she chooses not to) that Roger does. They can get loud, but they are very quiet for 12 hours at least in the evenings, and really aren't too bad during the day unless they are ready for some attention.

Good luck with your new Tiel! They are fun, and I think, great first birds.

Logan

Thanks, everyone! I can't wait to bring my baby home.

I don't really have anything to add really. Looks like you got alot of good advice.:)

One thing is my dogs don't interact much with my bird even when I had my tiel. Usually when the dogs are inside the birds are in the cage or in another room. Sometimes I have had the birds out when the dogs were in the same room. I just had to watch them closely. They didn't really seem to care for the birds.

I think $90 is a fairly good price. I guess it just depends were you live. I got my first tiel free from my mother in law. I think cockatiels around here are $68 for non hand fed babies and $80 for hand fed babies. I haven't been to the pet store in about 2 months so I'm not sure what they are priced for now.

Good luck with you new baby.:)

Cockatiels live a long time and are a big commitment (as any other living thing), so I just wanted to suggest that you research them a ton before you buy yours. I've been researching for years and still don't have my cockatiel yet. I am finally ready and hope to have one soon!

congratulations on your new sweet baby. cockatiels are quite fun to care for.. i used to have one.. I miss him. : (

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Originally posted by sirrahved
1. What do you feed your little ones? I've heard several suggestions/diets, but would like to hear what YOU think is best.
2. Is there any good way to sex very young birds?
3. How vocal are your birds? (Don't want to make neighbors too angry!)
4. Is $90 US dollars a good price for a very tame baby like this? It sounded about right to me, and I asked them about their diet history, etc. Just wanted to check!

Last but not least (and maybe even most importantly), if any of you have dogs, how have you trained them to stay away? We've been working with Muffin on an EMPTY cage that has had birds in the past, and that was fairly easy. I'm thinking that a live bird will pose a bigger problem!

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1. With birdies, variety is key! Check and make sure the pet store has them eating at least some pellets, 'cause it can be tough to get them eating pellets later if they're used to just seeds. I would feed a base diet of pellets mixed with seeds (I like Zupreem and Prettybird pellets best) and then add in lots of fresh fruits and veggies, a bit of tofu, maybe a bit of whole grain bread/cooked pasta sometimes. Peanuts hit the nail on the head with the "forbidden" foods, that's the same list I was going to post. I'd like to add to that that dairy products should be avoided...they can be used as a treat but in general they're not a great idea.

2. You CAN DNA sex young birds. (My vet doesn't recommend doing it until a few weeks after they're weaned at least) In my area it runs around $30, and what they do is clip one of the birds' nails a little bit too far, put a drop of blood on a slide, and check it that way.

3. In my experience, while 'Tiels can be quite adament about letting you know what they want, the volume isn't enough to frustrate neighbors. Not to say that they can't get loud, but it's nothing compared to a conure or other larger parrots. :)

4. Absolutely!! That's a pretty darn good price for a HF baby!

I wish I had some good advice about the dog question, but alas, for my "problem" dog (Wilbur) the solution has always been just to have one room be off-limits. (He has a very strong prey drive. :( )

Congratulations BTW, 'Tiels are absolutely AWESOME and your little featherbuddy will be with you for a long time!