New to Cockatiels

So I'm not new to parrots, I have an african grey and a bluefront amazon, and have had parakeets and conures in the past.

I had reached out to someone who found a cockatiel and was looking for the owner, she ended up giving her to me because she didn't have a cage, but they did buy her food and had her wings partially clipped, she can still fly very well and I've thought about clipping them fully but I might leave them how they are. I filed lost pet reports and posted here, and on facebook trying to find the owner, but she's not banded so I can't track down where she came from. I'm assuming she might have been an "oops" bird from someone who had a male and female. It's been more than two weeks and no responses, so I want to start training her more and get her more socialized.

She's relatively tame, but very skittish. She doesn't really know "step up" or anything but I've been trying to teach her which is going slow, but she's getting more comfortable with me.

She always comes over to the side of her cage when I come in and will peep for my attention. Her appetite is good though surprisingly she doesn't eat the millet I've given her. She will take sunflower seeds on occasion. She is currently on a mixed diet of seeds and pellets, seeds I gave her exclusively at the beginning because she was a bit underweight. I'm going to be introducing some fresh food today.

If I open the top of the cage, she'll climb up on my shirt and up to my shoulder, and will sit there indefinitely, and occasionally she's started to preen me, so she does like human company. She will sometimes let me stroke her head and cheeks but she's not too keen on it yet.

I'm looking for any tips on training her and diet, as well as a name! I didn't give her a name at the beginning because I didn't want to get too attached if she belonged to someone!

Hi. I got Rex the same way. I put him with my flock Friday after 6 total weeks of looking for his owner.

I would just offer bird safe foods daily. I personally prefer to remove all food at night. Offer chop first thing in the morning then remove at noon and put out a few seeds.

Of course mine want anything I'm eating.

To get my teil eating fresh, I made her the finest chop I could in a wee handheld blender, and mixed in a teaspoon of seeds. Her condition improved dramatically so I guess its working!

gracebowen said:

Hi. I got Rex the same way. I put him with my flock Friday after 6 total weeks of looking for his owner.

I would just offer bird safe foods daily. I personally prefer to remove all food at night. Offer chop first thing in the morning then remove at noon and put out a few seeds.

Of course mine want anything I'm eating.

Click to expand...

I always share my food with my other birds, since half the time I'm eating out of the kitchen while I'm cooking! I'm going to take that advice and take the food out at night. I was initially keeping food in since she was a bit underweight but she's got a good appetite now.

itchyfeet said:

To get my teil eating fresh, I made her the finest chop I could in a wee handheld blender, and mixed in a teaspoon of seeds. Her condition improved dramatically so I guess its working!

Click to expand...

I do have a food processor, I've offered her a bit of the chop for my other birds but I'll probably have to practically grind it to a paste! I also have a small selection of baby food that I mix in for my other birds or feed from a spoon, which I had to do for my grey. I might do that and start with a little applesauce.

Lol the paste is pretty much what I did, and to be honest, it's pretty close to how it looks now lol. But with that type of consistency, it's impossible for her to not get something with every seed she cracks

Yesterday Rex saw the rest of my birds on my lap stealing corn. After a few false starts he landed on me for the first time.

He started picking up and dropping corn. Then he started eating it. I dont know if he had corn before or if the other birds taught him it was food.

I'm a little wary about introducing her to my other birds. I think my grey would be fine though. Right now she's been quarantined in my bedroom, so I might bring Gonzo in to see her and put him on the play stand I'm in the progress of making. My BFA Sydney previously fell in love with my conure and would try to feed her, so he might be okay as well, but he's very hormonal right now so I'm going to wait a bit longer.

So i'm guessing your going to have the cockatiel as a house pet. if so then here are some of my cockatiels favorite toys that your cockatiel may like. kabob with volcanic rock pommus, a seagrass thing ( I'l attach a photo), and her favorite place to sleep is the her rope swing. Also ive never met a cockatiel that doesn't like cuttlefish bone so that would be a good idea to put into the cage. for food i would feed a similar diet to your other birds. When trick training millet spray is a must, as cockatiels will do anything for some. a good trick to teach your cockatiel is hanging upside down. i hope this gives you an idea for what you can do to keep your cockatiel happy and i hope you have an awesome time with her/him.

WilliamKenyon said:

So i'm guessing your going to have the cockatiel as a house pet. if so then here are some of my cockatiels favorite toys that your cockatiel may like. kabob with volcanic rock pommus, a seagrass thing ( I'l attach a photo), and her favorite place to sleep is the her rope swing. Also ive never met a cockatiel that doesn't like cuttlefish bone so that would be a good idea to put into the cage. for food i would feed a similar diet to your other birds. When trick training millet spray is a must, as cockatiels will do anything for some. a good trick to teach your cockatiel is hanging upside down. i hope this gives you an idea for what you can do to keep your cockatiel happy and i hope you have an awesome time with her/him.

Click to expand...

I gave her the same selection of toys I had for my GCC, and she was chewing the wood corner perch I have, so I put the cuttlebone there and she did start chewing it! I get some toys from the rabbit section so I have some seagrass and more "shreddable" toys for her so far.

I've been trying to give her little sprigs of millet but she's not really going for it, so I'm either giving her a small sunflower or some small safflower seeds. I made her a little felt "tent" so I feel like she's a little more comfortable.

Wow that sounds like you are allready beginning to make a bond.

I've been growing food for my cockatiels. They LOVE amaranth and assorted greens. Amaranth is also very ornamental. To get the most nutrition in your food mix 8 parts powdered granite with 1 part potting soil and one part green sand. Most plants need some organic matter in the soil to grow. I use Miracle Grow for nitrogen. A half a wine barrel provides all the green munchies for my four cockatiels. I took a blue plastic 50 gallon drum and drilled 3" holes in equidistant spacing up and down the sides. I then planted alternating greens and strawberries. To get all the plants to produce I need to rotate the drum 1/4 turn every day. I suggest Joseph's coat cultivar because of it's striking appearance. I've just planted a bunch of different kinds of amaranth and am going to replant the produced seed. That way it can naturalized into the unique environment. Next year I'm going to try millet. Be cautious of where you plant. You can inadvertently poison your birds by growing there food next to pressure treated wood. Whatever is in the soil will end up in your plants. In the case of pressure treated wood it leeches out cyanide and arsenic into the surrounding soil. It's hard to believe people actually used pressure treated wood to build there raised beds. I have a mantis tiller which tills 9 inches down, I then add a foot of soil on top. I use cinder blocks to make my raised beds. In California a student is required to do several hours of community service before they can graduate. Even though I find this policy unconstitutional, I took advantage of it and asked the metal shop teacher to have his students build me some U shaped brackets that slip over the ends of the cinder blocks joining them together. Alternately you can use 1/2" re-bar driven into the soil with a 16OZ hammer. I put the re-bar on the outside of the blocks as opposed to the inside since I utilize the space inside the cinder blocks for planting. Good gardening to you all