petting my tiel

[lute]

my cockatiel is 16 years old.i have had him for a little over a year now. i would love to scratch him neck and be friendly,but he's just happy walking on "mount Me". each time i try to scratch his neck or et him he hisses at me.will he ever let me pet him or wil he always be like this? ether way i love him more everyday!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I don't know how to answer your question, but wanted to encourage you to keep trying. 16 years old is a great age for a cockatiel, but you could still have (and hopefully will have) many years left with him. My boss has a 21 year old cockatiel.

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by KBlaix
I don't know how to answer your question, but wanted to encourage you to keep trying. 16 years old is a great age for a cockatiel, but you could still have (and hopefully will have) many years left with him. My boss has a 21 year old cockatiel.

Some cockatiels live more than 30 years, so 16 is very very common. My friend has a 23 year old tiel that still acts and looks like he's 5.

I don't know if he'll ever like the idea of being petted. Some tiels will do ANYTHING to get head scritches. Others tend to avoid it. It depends on the bird........on their personality. Some just don't like fingers touching their heads. My Muffin LOVES being petted all over, while Popcorn has to be in the mood. Sometimes he loves it, and sometimes he pushes my finger away. At 16, I would think he's pretty much stuck to what he likes and what he doesn't like by now, and probably won't accept it. Unless you keep it up, he *may* eventually come to like it, but no guarantees.

[amoore]

Polly is 16 years old and he likes to be handled and have head scatchies. Stella is only a few years old and has not developed a likeing to be handled. She will walk all over me but she does not want me to handle her. I will give her time and keep working with her.

Maybe in time your tiel will enjoy you petting him. Don't give up.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Some cockatiels live more than 30 years, so 16 is very very common

I've always known the "average" lifespan to be 12- 14 years. With a nice amount of Cockatiels living to 20- 25years. Occasionally living to 25+, but not often. That's what I always thought, but I could be wrong. I thought 16 was above average for a cockatiel. (Of corse average doesn't mean much when considering the ones the died young lower the average age.)

[popcornbird]

My birds' vet says the average is 15-25 years. He said a great majority of the tiels that come into his office are well into their 20s. Many don't live as long, but its mainly because people are not well educated on their nutritional needs. Kind of like unhealthy foods can greatly shorten the lifespan of humans and take it well below the average. I go to a cockatiel board, and there's a member there who has a 25 year old tiel, and she says she's been feeding him only seeds his whole life.....so even with just seeds, they *can* live long. You'd be amazed at how old so many tiels on that board are! Even in the wild, according to what I've read, the average is 20-25. There have been tiels that have lived up to 40 years.........just checked on the web and found that, but that is an amazing age for a tiel. If well taken care of, they have the potential to live well into their 20s, or even longer.

[amoore]

Polly is 16 and he seems as healthy and happy as he was as a young bird. I have read also that they could live to be 35 years old. I know polly has not slowed down. He has more spunk than Stella at times. His feathers always looks good. Stella has more troubles, than he does. She goes through molts. Polly don't seem to ever go through them as bad as she does.

[lute]

thanks.im gonna keep trying but i don't want to stress him out.
i had no idea that tiels could live as long as 30.i hope lucy does.i would hate losing him!