saw some cockatiels for sale online.

spaced · Jul 19, 2010

i just rang up about a cockatiel that is for sale along with its cage and gym. unfortunately the woman wasn't in so i left a message for her to contact me if the bird is still available. it sounds very tame and is $120, not sure if that is too much or what?
COCKATIEL, CAGE & PLAYGYM - Pets, birds - Gumtree Brisbane

i also rang a pet shop that advertised cockatiels as well. really nice woman whose been breeding them for years. she is currently hand-feeding some babies and she said they would be ready in about 4wks. she mentioned that some of them will be yellow[lutino???].
her price is $135.

this morning i went to the local island pet shop just to check and see what mixes and toys they sold. they actually had some cockatiels for sale at $35, so that is a huge difference in price. these weren't hand-reared birds so i suppose that is why they are so much cheaper?

HRH Di · Jul 19, 2010

$120 for bird, cage and play gym sounds like a good deal to me...according to google, 1 USD is 1.14 AUD so that's only $105 USD. Depends on how big the cage is though. Especially if he's hand-tamed. I'm a supporter of rescuing birds, however, just like with dogs and cats, and adult bird may have some habits that are less the desirable so there may be more training involved.

spaced · Jul 19, 2010

there is a picture of his cage in the link i supplied, looks kinda strange to me. still i suppose if he is out of the cage a lot, it may not matter how small it is?

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

That is a very good deal money wise. I definitely recommend going to meet the bird before confirming the purchase. The cage looks like a nice size and he 'looks' healthy too.

You everyday tiel where I live would cost you from probably $30-60 (from a breeder). A good cage will cost you anywhere between $60-200 and a playpen probably about $50 in a commercial pet store. I don't think the price is too low for concern. I'm sure they just want it to go to a good home, but I still advise a visit before you consider purchasing.

Yellow to me implies lutino-pearl, which is what my tiel is (sort of a yellow lace), or she could be referring to pure lutinos - not sure

HRH Di · Jul 19, 2010

Oh, missed the pic of the cage. It's hard to get a good perspective, but it looks tall enough, but seems kind of narrow.

A little personal experience on cages...even though we all intend to have our birds in their cages for limited amounts of time, there will be exceptions. Plan for, well not worst case, but almost worst case.

Our birds are out quite a bit now, about 4-5 hrs in the evening during the week (more if our boys let them out while we're at work) and more than 12 hrs on the weekend. However, we've been insanely busy on the weekends this summer so they haven't been out nearly as much as we want them to be. I'm glad we have big cages for them.

Spiritbird · Jul 19, 2010

If someone is looking for tiels the Baily Foundation has about 40 for adoption. Some may come with cages. Check the web site. The birds are located in PA.

SharonC · Jul 19, 2010

I think the pic is of the playstand...???...

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

SharonC said:
I think the pic is of the playstand...???...

There is a second pic underneath showing the cage

spaced · Jul 19, 2010

ok, thanks to everyone who replied. i didn't get a call from her so hopefully sometime tomorrow i'll hear.

when i was in the local pet shop, they had a cockatiel in a cage for $100. to me the cage would've only been suitable for a budgie or canary, it was very small.
i was looking at toys which were right next to where this cockatiel was. she made me smile coz she was really curious as to what i was doing, being very nosey!
however, as soon as i put a finger close to the cage she really didn't like it at all. actually i'm pretty sure that she made a bit of a hissing sound, at least thats what it sounded like to me???

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

spaced said:
actually i'm pretty sure that she made a bit of a hissing sound, at least thats what it sounded like to me???

yep thats what they do when they don't like something, sounds like a snake lol

Birdamor · Jul 19, 2010

Well, the first one looks to be a girl because, at 8 months of age, she would have already moulted out the pearls if it was a male (they usually get the juvenile moult at 6 months of age). The cage looks to be a homemade one and it seems to be made out of galvanized wire mesh which is not good for parrots. Last, why are the owners getting rid of a bird they could have only had for a few months? And a tiel at that! I could understand a conure, for example, but a tiel? Tiels are so very mild and require such little work that people don't often get rid of them after a short period of time.

Personally, I would get one from a rescue. I don't know in Australia but here in the States, there are literally thousands and thousands of great tiels in rescue.

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

Birdamor said:
Personally, I would get one from a rescue. I don't know in Australia but here in the States, there are literally thousands and thousands of great tiels in rescue.

Rescue centers (for birds) are few and far between here in Australia. The only 'official' one I know of is in Queensland and that is mostly large cockatoos. Other parrots are quite expensive here so most birds find good homes.

It is odd that they would be getting rid of a tiel, but the world is full of different people with different lives and different circumstances. I don't think he should turn it down outright, but I do think he should make a visit to meet the bird and find out why they are re-homing before he decides. At least if he does end up buying the bird, we know it is in the hands of someone who has been doing some thorough research.

Birdamor · Jul 19, 2010

Aussie Ben said:
Birdamor said:

Personally, I would get one from a rescue. I don't know in Australia but here in the States, there are literally thousands and thousands of great tiels in rescue.

Click to expand...

Rescue centers (for birds) are few and far between here in Australia. The only 'official' one I know of is in Queensland and that is mostly large cockatoos. Other parrots are quite expensive here so most birds find good homes.

It is odd that they would be getting rid of a tiel, but the world is full of different people with different lives and different circumstances. I don't think he should turn it down outright, but I do think he should make a visit to meet the bird and find out why they are re-homing before he decides. At least if he does end up buying the bird, we know it is in the hands of someone who has been doing some thorough research.

I agree. I did not mean to imply that he should outright discard the option, just to point out that he should look carefully into the reason why (in case it's disease or something like that).

Not many rescues in Oz, eh? Well, going by the increasing number of bird owners from down under one sees on birdsites, I guess that will change soon enough. I have to say that I always found it odd that Australia allowed their native wildlife to be caged. I don't mean this as a criticism, I don't know the specific circumstances well enough, just that it's unusual, most countries don't.

apatrimo94 · Jul 19, 2010

If the bird looks healthy and I agree with Birdamor about the cage, see if you can just buy the bird and not the cage. Then buy a cage from a store

However, go and visit the bird before you buy it. For all you know, it could be sick and that would be the reason why they're rehoming it so fast.

spaced · Jul 19, 2010

i will definitely go and see the bird first, and also question them why they are selling it. she sounds as if she is quite tame and friendly so i too am wondering the reason for getting rid of her.

aussie ben is correct in saying rescue centres are few and far between. i am only aware of one on the gold coast. i went to their site but they have no list of any birds that need rehoming.

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

Birdamor said:
Well, going by the increasing number of bird owners from down under one sees on birdsites, I guess that will change soon enough.

Totally agree with you and this fact has got me very worried. About 2-3 years ago I actually noticed an increase in pet shops selling large birds (macaws, eclectus etc). This was very odd where I live, most you would find in a petshop was a budgie, tiel and the occasional lovebird. You went to a good breeder if you wanted anything else. The trend has since tailed off, but I fear it will happen again and stick around. The birds disappeared very quickly from the pet shops, I don't think they knew how to look after them. Any way its a worry.

As for caging our own wildlife, Its not really any different to any other country caging their birds. Many birds are now low in numbers here but mostly due to habitat destruction and not so much the pet trade. Most white cockatoos, galahs and lorikeets are in vast abundance however, they are so resilient and adaptable. I don't go one day without seeing at least a few flocks of Sulfurs, 3 million Galahs (lol

) and a handful of smaller species.

It also depends what you mean by 'caging our birds', I mean its not like we lock them up and throw away the key lol, they become loved house pets like any other bird.

apatrimo94 · Jul 19, 2010

Aussie Ben said:
I mean its not like we lock them up and throw away the key

Sadly, that's what my parents think...

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

apatrimo94 said:
Aussie Ben said:

I mean its not like we lock them up and throw away the key

Click to expand...

Sadly, that's what my parents think...

Sadly, its what a lot of people think. But as I mentioned, down this way birds are $$$ so MOST (not all) find good owners that do right by the bird. I would think with the cockatoos the most common reason for poor treatment is because of how long they live. Once the original owner dies or moves away, it is usually up to the family to decide what to do with it. There are 3rd and 4th family pet cocky's around in some places.

Mel · Jul 19, 2010

Aussie Ben said:
apatrimo94 said:

Aussie Ben said:

I mean its not like we lock them up and throw away the key

Click to expand...

Sadly, that's what my parents think...

Click to expand...

Sadly, its what a lot of people think. But as I mentioned, down this way birds are $$$ so MOST (not all) find good owners that do right by the bird. I would think with the cockatoos the most common reason for poor treatment is because of how long they live. Once the original owner dies or moves away, it is usually up to the family to decide what to do with it. There are 3rd and 4th family pet cocky's around in some places.

I agree with Ben 100%. We have an abundance of birds here, in some areas some species are actually considered a bit of a pest while others require a permit to keep and are not allowed to be wildly caught. The RSPCA will often have Sulfur crested, galahs, teils and budgies looking for homes but as Ben said due to the cost of most species here the less common breeds are well looked after and finding a new home is rarely difficult. Due to the purchase price you'd never find an Eclectus, Macaw, AG, Amazon and I would doubt even conurs in a rescue centre - the few centres that we have.

In fact there is a huge problem with bird theft here and many breeders of the more expensive breeds have a lot of security. even Sydney's Taraonga Zoo had 2 Macs stolen this year

Aussie Ben · Jul 19, 2010

Mel said:
In fact there is a huge problem with bird theft here and many breeders of the more expensive breeds have a lot of security. even Sydney's Taraonga Zoo had 2 Macs stolen this year

Few years ago I was reading the paper and came across an article about a male eclectus named Eddie, that had been stolen from the local pet shop.....lol scared the daylights out of me, what are the chances? Luckily he was returned to the pet store a few days later, unharmed (a little shocked i would think).

More recently there were 2 kookaburras stolen from a nice privately owned pet shop down the road. They used to sit out on a stand in the shop and people could talk to them and interact with them. Again, they were returned but are now sadly locked up during open hours from fear of theft.

So yea you are right, there is probably a bigger problem with theft rather than re-homing in this part of the world. Having said that there are birds around that need to be rescued, its just so hard to find them.

saw some cockatiels for sale online.

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My sister's Tiel Jax :)

What other birds are like Cockatiels??

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