Cockatiel help

At work this girl brought me a Cockatiel [that she had gotten out of a bad situation] . I guess someone kept him in a closet with a blanket over him [awful ]]. Hes surprisingly better than I thought he would be. A little skittish but very interested in attention. Im used to bigger birds [hes so little ] .They were just feeding him parakeet seed . I got him a new mix for small birds ,cuttle bone ,seed stick toys and millet . Ive offered him little bits of fruits and vegs. Does millet have any nutritional value ? What other treats do your cockatiels like?

Dark leafy greens (even the pickiest birds will usually go for greens!!) and mine also love wholemeal toast for a treat.

i feed mine millet as a treat or when i need my birds to pick up weight during molting or if they are ill and dont have an appetite for anything else. its good as a treat, but not a main part of the diet.

what i feed my birds (tiels and lovebirds):

parakeet seed
i add 4 human grade sunflower seeds to the diet daily, since they are good in moderation, too fattening if fed too much)
various veggies and mashes
birdie breads
and supplement it all with pellets up to 20 % of the diet.


sprouting seed is better than dry, if you have a knack for it. i dont and never had luck with it. had bad luck and bad experience with it so i myself wont try it again. mine always goes bad, i dunno why.



the little guys require less pellets in the diet because they cant handle the higher protein in the pellets. they evolved eating pretty low-nutrient diets in the wild, come from arid habitats so they arent used to such a nutrition-packed food. so too much pellet proportion in the diet can lead to kidney disease in the long run.

sounds like this little guy may have been a tame bird at one point but was unfortunately neglected. poor guy. well now he has a way better chance at life and should be in good hands

DallyTsuka made a great post!!!!! Cockatiels are great to have around so I think you would be quite happy with him around.