New cockatiel owner. Some help needed

grunteufel · May 17, 2014

Hello everybody.

This is my first time posting. I've owned budgies before but this is a new area for me. Three days ago, I was gifted a cockatiel. Don't really know the gender. I named him fae. Quite a cute bird. I am really happy about it.

His cage is somewhat small for his size and I noticed when he tried to strech his wings, he couldn't quite do it. So I took his cages top off. Here is a picture.

(my budgie got to its cage by his self.)

The problem is. He is hissing at me whenever I go near him. He is sitting at the bottom of his cage. Sleeps a lot. He went and got inside my budgies cage today and sat there for some time.

Should I put his cage back together. Do they feel safer when they are confined? He looks a bit nervous and I am afraid of him getting depressed.

I thought I should get some help before I go and mess it up further.

His current state.

Thanks in advance.

DannyA93 · May 17, 2014

Cute baby! Congrats! I think you should invest in a bigger cage asap. That one could be used as a travel cage, but much too small for living even for a budgie and especially for a cockatiel. The cage should be about three times his wingspan so he's not crunched up in a scrawny little cage

and has room to run around play and flap his wings! So when you get the bigger cage you wanna put lots of different sizes and shapes of perches so his feet stay healthy! He's probably afraid since he's not used to his new home.

Also I noticed there's only seed in his cage. Are you feeding him anything else?

grunteufel · May 17, 2014

The shop owner gave my dad a box of parrot food with lots of sunflower seeds and other such things but he kinda fails to eat them. He tried to eat some and dropped it so I gave him normal seeds. Should I mix them up?

Would it be better for him to stay in one place for some time in order to get used to things? My parents carry him to the living room whenever I go out to keep him company, would it mess with his head?

Also, I stay up late most of the time, and paint plastic models (only acrylics so no solvent and other toxic stuff) in my room. Can his sleeping habits get jumbled up by this.

I am quite ignorant about many things and I am really afraid of hurting the fella.

I will get a bigger cage as soon as I can.

MikeyTN · May 17, 2014

They should eat less sunflower seeds as its high in fat and can give them fatty liver disease. I mix 1 part cockatiel seed to 4 part parakeet seeds usually. And have pellets mixed in. Along with daily fresh fruits and veggies. It's not gonna mess with his head by having your parents watch him. Cockatiels are pretty social birds if you let everyone handle them. He's gonna hiss for now since he doesn't know you yet. You can put the cage top back on but like it was suggested you should get a bigger cage soon!

grunteufel · May 17, 2014

Thanks for the help everyone! I will update this thread sometime next week. I do hope he is not sick. He is just sitting at the bottom of his cage all day. It really scares me.

MikeyTN · May 17, 2014

Since he just moved in it's not surprising he's resting a lot. He's had a rough day so give him time to rest for the time being. Do you know how old he is??? Has he ate on his own already?

WhirlyBirdy · May 17, 2014

that looks like a female cockatiel to me.
due to the mostly grey face, male cockatiels tend to have more yellow around their face and the orange patch is much brighter. still a cute bird.

Runnergirl · May 17, 2014

I think it is a female too based on the grey face, but if it hasn't had its juvenile molt yet the color could change some. Also, females tend to only chirp while males will whistle more, beak bang, and do heart wings once they hit about 6-9 months. Its hard to tell based on the pics but he/she does look fairly young. Tiels take a little longer to adjust than budgies in my opinion. Since the top is off the cage, he could just be at the bottom resting to feel more secure. Tiels who are unsure and nervous hiss. Once he earns your trust that should lessen.
I would definitely try throwing pellets in the food sooner than later since tiels can be stubborn to try new foods especially once they get older. If you're really concerned about eating, you can try adding a little millet and almost all tiels will perk up for that.

Good luck with your new baby. Tiels are such cuddle bugs once they get to know you!

WhirlyBirdy · May 17, 2014

perhaps the reason the cockatiel is at the bottom of the cage it because those perches are pretty skinny, it may feel a bit unsteady sleeping on them, try adding a few thicker branches

grunteufel · May 17, 2014

MikeyTN said:
Since he just moved in it's not surprising he's resting a lot. He's had a rough day so give him time to rest for the time being. Do you know how old he is??? Has he ate on his own already?

She (most people seem to think its a she so..) eats on her own yes. No idea about her age but supposed to be a bit younger than a year at least thats what the shop owner said to my dad.

What kind of fruit should I give her? I am guessing some are more preferable than others.

And yes. She chirps rather than whistle.

I put the cages top back, opened its door and reorganized the whole setup. She is much more chipper and energetic right now. I am gonna have to get that cage asap.

Thanks again everyone. This forum is quite helpful.

Runnergirl · May 18, 2014

grunteufel said:
MikeyTN said:

Since he just moved in it's not surprising he's resting a lot. He's had a rough day so give him time to rest for the time being. Do you know how old he is??? Has he ate on his own already?

Click to expand...

She (most people seem to think its a she so..) eats on her own yes. No idea about her age but supposed to be a bit younger than a year at least thats what the shop owner said to my dad.

What kind of fruit should I give her? I am guessing some are more preferable than others.

And yes. She chirps rather than whistle.

I put the cages top back, opened its door and reorganized the whole setup. She is much more chipper and energetic right now. I am gonna have to get that cage asap.

Thanks again everyone. This forum is quite helpful.

Anytime! I am by no means an expert, but am willing to help anytime! If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to help. Enjoy your baby! My guess is she is 6-9 months.

MikeyTN · May 18, 2014

WhirlyBirdy said:
that looks like a female cockatiel to me.
due to the mostly grey face, male cockatiels tend to have more yellow around their face and the orange patch is much brighter. still a cute bird.

Not necessary true! The juvenile males actually looks more like females until they go through their first molt! Look at my postings of my baby since the day he hatched, it is a boy!!! http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets-cockatiels/41787-baby-tiel-hatching-way-ahead-schedule.html

MikeyTN · May 18, 2014

WhirlyBirdy said:
perhaps the reason the cockatiel is at the bottom of the cage it because those perches are pretty skinny, it may feel a bit unsteady sleeping on them, try adding a few thicker branches

It's not unusual for newly arrived bird to be on the bottom of the cage....they're unsure of their new surroundings, especially a baby that is scared!

MikeyTN · May 18, 2014

grunteufel said:
MikeyTN said:

Since he just moved in it's not surprising he's resting a lot. He's had a rough day so give him time to rest for the time being. Do you know how old he is??? Has he ate on his own already?

Click to expand...

She (most people seem to think its a she so..) eats on her own yes. No idea about her age but supposed to be a bit younger than a year at least thats what the shop owner said to my dad.

What kind of fruit should I give her? I am guessing some are more preferable than others.

And yes. She chirps rather than whistle.

I put the cages top back, opened its door and reorganized the whole setup. She is much more chipper and energetic right now. I am gonna have to get that cage asap.

Thanks again everyone. This forum is quite helpful.

It does look like a girl. Lift her wings to see if the dots go from the primary feather all the way down to her body. That's one way to tell with Greys. But once reached maturity you will know for sure. They start to go through their molt around 5 months old or so.

As for the singing part, females can sing too, to me not as good as the boys. I have one female that sings.

Someone else brought to my attention about the heart dance that she knows someone's girl that does it too. Although I've never witness it, can't say it's true or not.

songlake · May 23, 2014

I've just weaned a baby cockatiel and while it's easy to teach a baby to eat veggies, it's not to easy to teach a older bird to do it. Spikey's favorite food is scrambled eggs, but they should not be fed often (bad for birds too). I buy egglands best hoping maybe they are slightly better for her than a normal egg lol. She also eats mushed carrots, green beans, corn on the cob, some brown rice. While I don't know for sure if she's eating it the mash also contains sweet potato, zucchini, yellow squash and lentils.

My older cockatiel who was a cage bound bird is in much the same shape as your bird. I'm still working with him to get him tamer and to change his diet from all seed. The only thing I'm sure I've seen him eat or pick at so far is the scrambled eggs. He may be trying pellets too though since I make a real hodgepodge of various pellets I mix with seeds and scrambled egg (just a teeny bit of a single egg).

I was told bandit, my tiel was under 1 year old. He's definitely had his baby molt so it's possible he's older than that. But based on my experience with him and from what I've been reading about cockatiels they are very slow to adjust! It took him over a week to come out of a open cage door and sit with the other birds. It's now been 2 weeks and he's still hissing at both them and me. The only one he's not hissing at is the baby spikey. I'm fairly sure he didn't eat for the first week I had him. I never found seed husks in his cage. Luckily he was pretty fat and is now eating. Just be aware the older birds are slow to adjust to new situations and can be challenging to tame.

grunteufel · May 24, 2014

Time for an update. I am afraid she really is sick. It's been 10 days, and I am suspecting an illness. She is puffed up all the time. Even when she is agitated or afraid. Rather slow reaction speed. She doesn't sit at the bottom anymore but she is asleep %60 of the time. She doesn't really move other than eating and drinking.

Her poos are a bit runny. I don't know what kind of consistency cockatiel poo have but if it's anything like that of a budgies than it is runny. Considering that she eats only dry bird seeds I don't think it's diarrhea.

She refuses to eat anything other than seeds. Nothing else. She doesn't even look at the fruits we give her.

Am I being too paranoid? As far as I can see, cockatiels are rather lively birds. Is she depressed or something? She is never alone and is cared for.

I am afraid of her dying because of me somehow missing something and being negligent. Any help appreciated.

Her condition %90 of the time.

MikeyTN · May 24, 2014

If that's the case have her examined by a avian vet as there isn't much we can help you with here.

grunteufel · May 24, 2014

songlake said:
I've just weaned a baby cockatiel and while it's easy to teach a baby to eat veggies, it's not to easy to teach a older bird to do it. Spikey's favorite food is scrambled eggs, but they should not be fed often (bad for birds too). I buy egglands best hoping maybe they are slightly better for her than a normal egg lol. She also eats mushed carrots, green beans, corn on the cob, some brown rice. While I don't know for sure if she's eating it the mash also contains sweet potato, zucchini, yellow squash and lentils.

My older cockatiel who was a cage bound bird is in much the same shape as your bird. I'm still working with him to get him tamer and to change his diet from all seed. The only thing I'm sure I've seen him eat or pick at so far is the scrambled eggs. He may be trying pellets too though since I make a real hodgepodge of various pellets I mix with seeds and scrambled egg (just a teeny bit of a single egg).

I was told bandit, my tiel was under 1 year old. He's definitely had his baby molt so it's possible he's older than that. But based on my experience with him and from what I've been reading about cockatiels they are very slow to adjust! It took him over a week to come out of a open cage door and sit with the other birds. It's now been 2 weeks and he's still hissing at both them and me. The only one he's not hissing at is the baby spikey. I'm fairly sure he didn't eat for the first week I had him. I never found seed husks in his cage. Luckily he was pretty fat and is now eating. Just be aware the older birds are slow to adjust to new situations and can be challenging to tame.

Funny thing. She adjusted rather fast for such a bird. I started picking her up from her cage with a branch, and now she hops on to my finger willingly. I actually scratched her head for half an hour just this morning but I am not sure if she is sick or not. Birds can be rather half hearted and don't put much of a resistance while they are sick. My deceased budgy was like that when I first got him. I am afraid this little girl might have the same problem.

BEWolf · May 25, 2014

Your cockatiel appears to me to be one sick bird and I recommend that you get her to an avian vet right away. If the one you call for an appointment can't get you in today ask them for the number of one who may be able to see your bird today. Do this however many times you must to get your bird in today.
Birds can and do hide illness for as long as they can, it is a survival thing as in the wild a sick bird is usually a dead bird.

MonicaMc · May 25, 2014

If your tiel is sick, keep him warm (heating pad, heat lamp, turning heat up in the house - may want to keep him at 80° F or warmer - without panting), allow him to eat whatever food he wants (make sure that he *IS* eating), and get him to an avian vet!

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