My bizarre second hand Cockatiel

This is my first post on the forum so hello. Early this year I inherited a Cockatiel from an elderly relative that could no longer take care of him. She had dementia and was doing things like trying to feed him a ham sandwich. I was the only one in the family who had ever owned birds but up till now I had only owned Budgies. Currently have one Budgie that I saved from a retirement home that wasn’t taking care of him. I have never owned a large bird despite me wanting a hand razed Sun Conure for years. So now instead of a tame Sun Conure I have a quirky Cockatiel that has some odd habits probably due partly to his previous owner.


A lit of a few of his many and varied oddities.

• · Will not eat seed made for Cockatiels. He will only eat the small seeds and that is it. I think he was only given Budgie food for so many years that that is all he knows how to eat. So the expensive food I buy for him is a waste.

• · He will not eat any treats. I’ve bought about $40 worth of different treats trying to find one he likes and he just ignores them all. He will not eat out of my hand so that is part of the problem. The only thing I have found that he likes is Green beans out of my garden.

• · He doesn’t like to be touched at all and will hiss at me most of the time when I do. (Except in one case that I will list in a moment.) However he freaks out if you leave the room. If he is out and you walk into the next room he will fly after you. He hates being alone.

• · Now the most bizarre thing about him is that he will let you touch him and even pick him up IF and only if you have a white paper towel. If you have one in your hand he will immediately start talking and calms down no matter how hissy he was before. I have no clue why that is. I could probably pick him up if I wanted to but I’m kind of afraid of him. I never dealt with larger birds before and he isn’t all that tame.

• · He is very talkative and can say a few words. He also likes it when you talk to him but seems to hate my Budgie with a passion and makes a fuss when the Budgie is being talkative.

• · I have a little ball with a bell in it hanging in his cage. He fights with it and beats the heck out of it. It’s like he is mad at it. I don’t know if that is normal but he seems to get into trying to kill it. Not sure what that is all about but it certainly keeps me from trying to hold him.

• · He stinks at flying. I let him out to play sometimes which I don’t think happened much at his old home and sometimes he decides to fly. He is not very good at it and when he tries to fallow me around the house I normally have to save him a few times. I’m always afraid he is going to break a wing or something when he doesn’t land well. He also seems to get winded vary quickly when flying.

So that’s my bizarre second hand bird. Maybe that is just how Cockatiels are but I don’t have any experience with them so I don’t know. He was just kind of dropped in my lap one day. Here is a video of him making noise. I do make fun of him in the video but that’s just how I talk to him. I call him a stupid bird because he acts so goofy all the time.



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdwKw235nkE]Cockatiel making noise. - YouTube[/ame]

welcome to the forum sharpie443

he's beautiful, and his feathers seem to be in quite good condition.
he sings wonderfully and is such a handsome boy!

I would try and improve his diet, whether it's improving the quality of seed or trying to offer some vegetables. this will take a great deal of time, due to his past diet, but if you persist daily with offering better food he just might try it and like it.

Man he is so cute! he reminds me of my old cockatiel jay jay. What I did with my teil, I just put pellets in there and he did eventually eat them so try putting seed and pellets in the cage and he might eat! It took Jay Jay like weeks to eat the pellets but it was very Vidal to his health!

Aaawww! Don't tell him he's stupid! He's a beautiful little Quarrion and in really good health, by the looks of things. If he's doing weird behaviours, you can bet a lot of it is because he's disoriented, having changed to a new environment. Try to be patient with him - treated kindly, he'll make a lovely pet. It all depends on how much patience you can offer in waiting for him to adjust to you and your Budgie.

Birds aren't born bizarre - we humans make them that way by conditioning them to fit into our daily lives. If this little guy is doing behaviours you don't like, that can change easily with time and patience. First of all, he needs a good name so he can have an identity to live up to. Quincy goes nicely with Quarrion...

(Oh. PS. We call them quarrions here in Australia - at least, we do in Newcastle where I'm from).

· Will not eat seed made for Cockatiels. He will only eat the small seeds and that is it. I think he was only given Budgie food for so many years that that is all he knows how to eat. So the expensive food I buy for him is a waste.

Like many humans, birds will eat what they like or what they know & kick the rest out or ignore it...especially junk food or the seed equivalent of junk food.....


· He will not eat any treats. I’ve bought about $40 worth of different treats trying to find one he likes and he just ignores them all. He will not eat out of my hand so that is part of the problem. The only thing I have found that he likes is Green beans out of my garden.

There's probably a real good chance he's never seen the treats you're offering, so has no idea what they are.....the same goes for different foods, if birds don't see their flock members eating something, it often falls on the resident humans to do a lot of test tasting in front of the stubborn bird.....a lot of ooohs & ahhhs, lip smacking & happy faces while doing this is always helpful.....

· He doesn’t like to be touched at all and will hiss at me most of the time when I do. (Except in one case that I will list in a moment.) However he freaks out if you leave the room. If he is out and you walk into the next room he will fly after you. He hates being alone.

When you're out of the room, talk to him & tell him you'll be right back or you're going to work or you're going out into the yard.....they will eventually understand and not be so anxious when you walk out.....just get used to telling him you'll be back & it will click for him.....

· Now the most bizarre thing about him is that he will let you touch him and even pick him up IF and only if you have a white paper towel. If you have one in your hand he will immediately start talking and calms down no matter how hissy he was before. I have no clue why that is. I could probably pick him up if I wanted to but I’m kind of afraid of him. I never dealt with larger birds before and he isn’t all that tame.

His previous owner may have carried a paper towel around for poop wipe ups & you carrying it gives him an association that he knows.....

· He is very talkative and can say a few words. He also likes it when you talk to him but seems to hate my Budgie with a passion and makes a fuss when the Budgie is being talkative.

He wants to be the center of attention and is trying to make himself look more important than your budgie.....the fuss is his way of interrupting the budgie.....think two two year old kids vying for attention...which one throws the best tantrum.....understandable if he was the only bird at his previous home.....


· I have a little ball with a bell in it hanging in his cage. He fights with it and beats the heck out of it. It’s like he is mad at it. I don’t know if that is normal but he seems to get into trying to kill it. Not sure what that is all about but it certainly keeps me from trying to hold him.

Normal behavior for a lot of birds.....

· He stinks at flying. I let him out to play sometimes which I don’t think happened much at his old home and sometimes he decides to fly. He is not very good at it and when he tries to fallow me around the house I normally have to save him a few times. I’m always afraid he is going to break a wing or something when he doesn’t land well. He also seems to get winded vary quickly when flying.

Be patient, he'll get it figured out...'tiels are really good flyers.....

Good luck.....

Betrisher said:

Quincy goes nicely with Quarrion...

(Oh. PS. We call them quarrions here in Australia - at least, we do in Newcastle where I'm from).

Click to expand...

Quincy's nice

Over here in WA they are called weero or weiro, quarrion is more a NSW thing (I'm a born NS Welshman btw) plus Sth Qld. Comes from the different Aboriginal languages.

Oh he's darling!! Showing off his stuff for you! He's going to start saying stupid bird though if you keep saying that to him...

Welcome to the forum! He's an adorable boy, it'll take him for him to settle down to get used to things. weco already pointed out most of what I want to reply. He will master his flight skills once again, it'll take him several weeks if you let him fly. Cockatiels are wonderful birds that's pretty easy to train if your willing to take the time with them.

· Will not eat seed made for Cockatiels. He will only eat the small seeds and that is it. I think he was only given Budgie food for so many years that that is all he knows how to eat. So the expensive food I buy for him is a waste.

My tiels prefer smaller seeds as well. Many of the mixes made for cockatiels have too much large items in them that they simply wont eat. Currently, I mix a budgie seed mix with a Goldenfeast blend meant for small parrots.

· He will not eat any treats. I’ve bought about $40 worth of different treats trying to find one he likes and he just ignores them all. He will not eat out of my hand so that is part of the problem. The only thing I have found that he likes is Green beans out of my garden.

What treats have you been buying? Tomi Girl didn't like millet when I got her! She didn't learn what it was until she saw the other cockatiels eating it. Maybe if your tiel sees budgies eating millet then he'll learn to eat it, too?

You could also offer him what he is familiar with (i.e. his own food) from your hand. First thing in the morning, if he hasn't eaten offer him food from your hand. I did this with budgies and cockatiels and was able to get the birds to become more comfortable with hands.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUx81WHTUwk]1 Bird in hand Leads to Many - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlSm4uFZzVU]More Budgies!!!! - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q88bN30qOjo]Sunshine in the Morning - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9w9w8nMRmw]Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH9ZWxhCSAE]Not So Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjKmHswgiHs]Cockatiel Feeding - April 24th - YouTube[/ame]


· He doesn’t like to be touched at all and will hiss at me most of the time when I do. (Except in one case that I will list in a moment.) However he freaks out if you leave the room. If he is out and you walk into the next room he will fly after you. He hates being alone.

Sounds like he enjoys non-physical interaction. That's not a bad thing.

Hissing is just his way of saying he's not comfortable with what you are trying to do and most tiels don't enjoy anything beyond scritches anyway! I currently have four cockatiels and only one will ask/demand scritches. The rest do not enjoy them from me.

· Now the most bizarre thing about him is that he will let you touch him and even pick him up IF and only if you have a white paper towel. If you have one in your hand he will immediately start talking and calms down no matter how hissy he was before. I have no clue why that is. I could probably pick him up if I wanted to but I’m kind of afraid of him. I never dealt with larger birds before and he isn’t all that tame.

I agree with Weco here.

· He is very talkative and can say a few words. He also likes it when you talk to him but seems to hate my Budgie with a passion and makes a fuss when the Budgie is being talkative.

Pretty much what Weco said! LOL Many tiels don't really like budgies all that much! Budgies are pesky creatures!

· I have a little ball with a bell in it hanging in his cage. He fights with it and beats the heck out of it. It’s like he is mad at it. I don’t know if that is normal but he seems to get into trying to kill it. Not sure what that is all about but it certainly keeps me from trying to hold him.

You should see my mitred conure, Charlie! Charlie will attack and beat up a toy! But when that toy swings back at him, he goes into a rage!!! Quite hilarious to watch, actually!

Birds play and interact with their environment in a variety of ways. Beating up toys is one of them!

· He stinks at flying. I let him out to play sometimes which I don’t think happened much at his old home and sometimes he decides to fly. He is not very good at it and when he tries to fallow me around the house I normally have to save him a few times. I’m always afraid he is going to break a wing or something when he doesn’t land well. He also seems to get winded vary quickly when flying.

This should improve the more chances he has at flying. It sounds like he's out of shape and out of practice.... so the more he builds up his stamina and relearns how to fly, the more chances he'll have of getting into better shape and learning how to fly/avoid flying into things!