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.


Tame tiels always love being with people more than they like being in their enclosure. 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.

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

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


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. 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.

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

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!
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.