Just some questions about Cockatiels...

Can I have 2 cockatiels living in the same cage?

Can 2 live in this cage together?

Does the gender of the bird matter? Like can i have 2 males in one cage, or are they aggressive?

If I have a male and female in the same cage, would they have eggs? If so, how would I raise them? (I do not plan on getting 2 cockatiels, just one, I just want to learn more about them in case in the future once I am more experienced, I do)

Can my cockatiel play with my dogs? I have a maltese and golden retriever. I used to have a hamster that played with them, and they never hurt it...

Do I just put a blanket over its cage at night and take it off in the morning?

Can they bond with more than just one person? Like would it bond with my whole family or just me since I am its main owner so to speak.

If I go on vacation and cannot take it with me, and leave it with the breeder until I come back, would that be okay? Or would it be mad at me? (I have heard some stories, and i know it would depend on the bird, just want to get something )

Thanks! Sorry for all the questions lol. Also, what is a good food to be feeding it? And when do I give it more food and water? Thanks again!

Yes, as long as they are aquainted and have ample space they are very peacefull birds, just make sure you keep an eye on them to make sure they are getting along, expecially if it's breeding season. As for the male/female debate, there is no garuntee they will fall in love, and even if they do they might not decide to raise eggs, but oftentimes they will breed. Actually, leaving the babies with the parents and handling them for a while every day has been proven to make them just as tame, but you could always hand rear the birds yourself. I would not reccomend letting them play with your dogs, too much chance for error, and golden retrievers might find a small flying thing too hard to resist. Most people don't cover the cage, but if you live in a busy household it might help your bird get some more rest, but cockatiels are prone to night-frights (thrashing around in the cage in a nightmare like state.) That might require a night light. Cockatiels are probably the best birds for bonding with more then one person, they are naturally very sweet and easygoing, but breeding season can induce some jealousy or resentment of some family members. As for leaving the bird with the breeder, it may resent you, it may not, it really depends on the specific bird. Food and water: a bagged cockatiel diet of pellets and seed, supplemented with LOTS of fruits and vegetables, and you can share food like whole wheat toast without butter, and well done scrabbled eggs. Food should be offered twice a day, with chances for healthy snacking in between, and water should be offed at all times and changed once of twice a day. If you want to learn more, i would reccomend Parrots for Dummies, or The Cockatiel Handbook.
Good luck!

Thanks so much! So if two have eggs, just leave them and let the parents raise them but just handle them every so often? Wow I didn't know that! Cool. So for food, could I just go to petsmart or somewhere and get a cockatiel pellet mix, some seeds, and do you know what fruits and veggies are best for them? How much percentage of fruts and veggies should I feed In proportion to the pellets and seed?

Can I have 2 cockatiels living in the same cage?
I currently have 4 cockatiels living together. Used to have more, but have found new homes for some and lost one.

Can 2 live in this cage together?
Can, but I wouldn't recommend it for two birds. Look into getting a flight cage instead.

Does the gender of the bird matter? Like can i have 2 males in one cage, or are they aggressive?
Most cockatields tend to get along well, regardless of sex.

If I have a male and female in the same cage, would they have eggs? If so, how would I raise them?
Maybe, maybe not. I know of one pair of cockatiels that have been mating for years without any eggs. Likewise, lone hens have been known to lay eggs without a male around. My first cockatiel, Casey, lays eggs but has no interest in male cockatiels.

Can my cockatiel play with my dogs? I have a maltese and golden retriever. I used to have a hamster that played with them, and they never hurt it...
There saliva is dangerous to birds. Birds also fly, which may heighten the predatory instinct of a dog. Not recommended.

Do I just put a blanket over its cage at night and take it off in the morning?
If you feel the need to use one, yes. I don't cover cages and I allow my birds to follow the natural light and dark hours of the sun. At most, I'll put up a dark curtain across the windows so lights outside are not as disturbing to them.

Can they bond with more than just one person? Like would it bond with my whole family or just me since I am its main owner so to speak.
Either or. Casey can be handled by my family and some strangers.

If I go on vacation and cannot take it with me, and leave it with the breeder until I come back, would that be okay? Or would it be mad at me? (I have heard some stories, and i know it would depend on the bird, just want to get something )
Varies. Whenever I've left my birds behind, Casey has always been excited to see me again!

Thanks! Sorry for all the questions lol. Also, what is a good food to be feeding it? And when do I give it more food and water? Thanks again!
I refresh food and water in the mornings. I do not believe in filling up a food dish and only dumping it when it appears like it needs to be refreshed. I feel as if the birds deserve fresh food daily.

I feed a mixture of seeds (currently Goldenfeast & Kaylor of Colorado brands) and pellets (Harrison's), about 50/50, along with fresh/cooked foods.

MonicaMc said:

Can I have 2 cockatiels living in the same cage?
I currently have 4 cockatiels living together. Used to have more, but have found new homes for some and lost one.

Can 2 live in this cage together?
Can, but I wouldn't recommend it for two birds. Look into getting a flight cage instead.

Does the gender of the bird matter? Like can i have 2 males in one cage, or are they aggressive?
Most cockatields tend to get along well, regardless of sex.

If I have a male and female in the same cage, would they have eggs? If so, how would I raise them?
Maybe, maybe not. I know of one pair of cockatiels that have been mating for years without any eggs. Likewise, lone hens have been known to lay eggs without a male around. My first cockatiel, Casey, lays eggs but has no interest in male cockatiels.

Can my cockatiel play with my dogs? I have a maltese and golden retriever. I used to have a hamster that played with them, and they never hurt it...
There saliva is dangerous to birds. Birds also fly, which may heighten the predatory instinct of a dog. Not recommended.

Do I just put a blanket over its cage at night and take it off in the morning?
If you feel the need to use one, yes. I don't cover cages and I allow my birds to follow the natural light and dark hours of the sun. At most, I'll put up a dark curtain across the windows so lights outside are not as disturbing to them.

Can they bond with more than just one person? Like would it bond with my whole family or just me since I am its main owner so to speak.
Either or. Casey can be handled by my family and some strangers.

If I go on vacation and cannot take it with me, and leave it with the breeder until I come back, would that be okay? Or would it be mad at me? (I have heard some stories, and i know it would depend on the bird, just want to get something )
Varies. Whenever I've left my birds behind, Casey has always been excited to see me again!

Thanks! Sorry for all the questions lol. Also, what is a good food to be feeding it? And when do I give it more food and water? Thanks again!
I refresh food and water in the mornings. I do not believe in filling up a food dish and only dumping it when it appears like it needs to be refreshed. I feel as if the birds deserve fresh food daily.

I feed a mixture of seeds (currently Goldenfeast & Kaylor of Colorado brands) and pellets (Harrison's), about 50/50, along with fresh/cooked foods.

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Thank you so much

So, for food, you feed yours the half and half mix of those seeds and pellets, and a bit of fresh foods - what are the best fresh foods to feed them? And what percentage of the fresh foods should there be in proportion to their main diet if seeds and pellets?

I feed my Cockatiels seeds/pellet mix and a bowl of fresh fruits and veggies such as strawberries, kiwi, oranges, carrots, celery, bananas, broccoli, cucumber, green beans, and some other mixture depending on when certain things are in season. They don't eat a lot so you can just give them a small portion of the fresh stuffs. We feed a lot of birds daily so we get to give them all different mixtures. We basically give a Cockatiel a 1 oz bowl of mixtures. And all your other questions are being answered already so I don't need to go further into details in that part.

So in this cage there are 3 bowls. For one bowl, I can fill it up (or how much am I supposed to put in daily?) a 50/50 mix of seeds and pellets. Then in another bowl I can put in a few slices of fresh fruts and veggies, then in the other one I can fill it up with water. That sound right?

I've done both providing a mixture of 50/50 seeds and pellets as well as feeding seeds one day and pellets the next.

If your bird(s) is not accustomed to eating fresh foods, then those need to be the only foods in the cage for 30 minutes to 2 hours before changing it out with dry foods. In other words, provide foods that you want your bird to try first thing in the morning prior to switching it out for their regular food.

I usually try and give my birds enough food to eat within one day. For one cockatiel, that's around 15 grams of food, give or take. Amount of dry foods they eat will depend on how much fresh foods they eat.

So I have a gram scale, I can measure about 7.5 grams of seeds and 7.5 grams of pellets, mix those in one bowl, fill the other bowl up with water, and the other bowl can have a few slices of fresh food? when should I feed them?

First thing in the morning, either right when they wake up or a few minutes before. That way, they are happily munching away at food rather than greeting the day with screams. Or at least, that's the idea of it!

IF you premix your food, that would make it a lot easier when you just have to scoop to feed. During any given time we leave around a table spoon and a half of mixture per day. If they don't finish it, it's not gonna go bad. When you feed over time, you pretty much know how much your bird is going to consume, there's really no need to get nitty gritty on measuring the exact amount of food to feed.

Ok, and what were the best brands of seeds and pellets for them?

I feed kaytee and zupreem. You basically need to read the label, a lot of stuffs they put in Cockatiel seeds are junk, they're NOT going to eat them. They don't eat whole corn, they don't eat hard dry soy beans, plus many other stuffs. They're basically too hard for them to eat. Most are a waste. I had a couple brought a bag of food with them to show me when they came to my house. It's one of the more expensive mix, all natural mix, and it's mainly junk they're not going to eat. I've fed all different mix throughout the years and I can see what is being wasted that they won't eat. When I used to have over 150 birds when I was breeding, I order food in bulk directly from the feed mill company that deliver to my door step then I mix them with pellets. I really do suggest in good sealed bags as a lot of those paper bag feed are full of seed moths. Be real careful when you purchase them to examine for seed moth. IF you see them flying around the bird isle, they're coming out of those of those bags.

I mentioned in my first post what I feed. I'm not a big fan of food dyes or sugars found in many of the cheaper blends, and my birds seem pretty happy with the current mix that I've been feeding them.

I don't disagree with you there Monica, but I've been feeding the same blend for many years without issue. The vets even says my birds are looking really healthy, but of course we give them fresh food too....But I did try the normal pellets long ago that looks like dog food for my birds and they did not like it at all so I just never tried it again. I got some Harrisons over a year ago, my birds look at me like I'm crazy and we ended up tossing it cause no one would try it. To me as long as they are eating it, it's a better supplement then just seeds alone. Plus my long term breeder friends all liked zupreem and they've been doing it way longer then I have by 40 years.

Yellow_Tang04 said:

Can I have 2 cockatiels living in the same cage?

Can 2 live in this cage together?

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A little late to the party but I just wanted to suggest [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-Wrought-F040-31-Inch/dp/B00176F5L0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780376&sr=1-1&keywords=prevue+flight+cage"]this[/ame] as a great cage for two cockatiels -- you can't beat the value and it's the perfect size! I have [ame="http://www.amazon.com/CAGE-CO-32-Inch-21-Inch-Sandstone/dp/B004MZV1Q6/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780436&sr=1-2&keywords=a%26e+flight+cage"]this one[/ame], which is also awesome but slightly more expensive. I like that it comes in different colors though.

Does the gender of the bird matter? Like can i have 2 males in one cage, or are they aggressive?

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Some are more aggressive than others, but given ample space they usually coexist just fine regardless of gender. Two males would be fine together, unless they really hated each others' guts, which is possible but unlikely. My males get along fine.

If I have a male and female in the same cage, would they have eggs? If so, how would I raise them? (I do not plan on getting 2 cockatiels, just one, I just want to learn more about them in case in the future once I am more experienced, I do)

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They could, for sure. But even two females together or a lone female could lay eggs, they just wouldn't be fertile. Either way, egg-laying can be hard on the female's body. I would do a Google search on "cockatiel hormone reduction techniques" if you end up having that issue.

Can my cockatiel play with my dogs? I have a maltese and golden retriever. I used to have a hamster that played with them, and they never hurt it...

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No, that would be dangerous. Even if the dog would never intentionally hurt the bird (which you can never be sure of -- instinct is a powerful thing) it's saliva would be highly toxic to a bird. Not to mention the bird might be freaked out by the dog's presence even if it meant well. My cockatiels are deathly afraid of dogs and cats.

Do I just put a blanket over its cage at night and take it off in the morning?

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I used to cover my birds' cage for 12 hours/night, but now I have blackout curtains in the room instead. Make sure that there's a way for a bit of light to get through if you do cover -- you want a night light on in the room to help prevent night frights. If a tiel gets spooked by something at night, wakes up and can't see anything, it can really freak out and hurt itself blindly flapping about and banging its wings on things in the cage.

Can they bond with more than just one person? Like would it bond with my whole family or just me since I am its main owner so to speak.

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Some choose favorites, some are great family birds. Mine are wary of strangers at first, but pretty much like anybody if given the chance to warm up to them.

If I go on vacation and cannot take it with me, and leave it with the breeder until I come back, would that be okay? Or would it be mad at me? (I have heard some stories, and i know it would depend on the bird, just want to get something )

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I've left my birds with a friend for a few days, and while they were freaked out by the trip and being in a new place they didn't hold a grudge against me. They were just happy to be home.

Oh and I feed a mix of Zupreem fruit and Zupreem naturals pellets, in addition to plain seed with as little "extra crap" as possible. In separate dishes. I also feed Nutriberries and fresh foods (minced veggies mixed with rice and bean mash, scrambled egg, bird bread, etc.).

Can someone link to me what the Zupreem food looks like, I want to be buying the right things lol so, I mix the seeds and pellets (zupreem?) with some of the fresh foods correct?

You mix the seeds and pellets in one bowl, or seeds in one bowl, pellets in another. Fresh stuffs should be in a bowl by themselves.

Here's a link to zupreem site itself--->http://www.zupreem.com/our-food/birds/fruitblend™-natural-fruit-flavors-premium-daily-bird-food

MikeyTN said:

I feed kaytee and zupreem. You basically need to read the label, a lot of stuffs they put in Cockatiel seeds are junk, they're NOT going to eat them. They don't eat whole corn, they don't eat hard dry soy beans, plus many other stuffs. They're basically too hard for them to eat. Most are a waste. I had a couple brought a bag of food with them to show me when they came to my house. It's one of the more expensive mix, all natural mix, and it's mainly junk they're not going to eat. I've fed all different mix throughout the years and I can see what is being wasted that they won't eat. When I used to have over 150 birds when I was breeding, I order food in bulk directly from the feed mill company that deliver to my door step then I mix them with pellets. I really do suggest in good sealed bags as a lot of those paper bag feed are full of seed moths. Be real careful when you purchase them to examine for seed moth. IF you see them flying around the bird isle, they're coming out of those of those bags.

Click to expand...

I feed mine ecotriction cockatiel mix, is it mainly waste?