New cockatiel owner. Any important tips?

Hello all,

New member and new tiel owner! He is a beautiful 2 year old so he is very young. We just brought him home a few hours ago. He will come to us and has been sitting on our shoulder. We only held him for a bit cause we didn't want to stress him too much. He is also eating and drinking water.

So far he seems very happy and healthy. His previous owners fed him a seed mix. I have read he should be eating pellets so I will be going to the pet store tomorrow to pick him up something more organic and healthy.

She also said he only eats spinach so far and hasn't been interested in trying anything else.

Any tips we need to know? He is in a large 2 ft by 3 ft cage that is about 5 ft tall. Hopefully that's big enough.

He's adorable and you're going to have so much fun with him. Looks like he's landed himself in a really wonderful forever home with people that will ensure he's healthy and happy.

Whenever I have to convert an all-seed bird to a more healthy diet, I always start with birdy bread made with high-vitamin-A baby food, such as carrot or sweet potato and a sweet one, such as peach or applesauce. Most birds won't turn down warm, baked birdy bread. As they come to recognize it as "food," you can start adding chunks of veggies in there, then you can sprinkle the top with pellets. Eventually, they come to understand everything in their bread is good. Good luck! Thanks for rescuing such a deserving guy.

You are going to have so much fun with your rescued cockatiel! Sweet photos, thanks for sharing!

Don't be surprised if your new friend is a bit reluctant to try unfamiliar foods at first, sometimes the transition from a seed only diet takes weeks instead of days, keep trying, he'll get the hang of it. Spinach can interfere with the absorption of calcium, it's fine in moderation but I would offer kale more often than spinach. Sprouts are a good food to offer seed eaters. When you have a chance to browse the diet section, there are some great tips, recipes and information.

Parrot Food, Recipes and Diet - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

Your little guy looks quite comfortable with you already. Thank you for giving him a loving home.

Thank you so much for the link above!! I will be making birdie bread tomorrow!! He is too funny. He just sat on my shoulder and sang "If You're Happy And You Know It" for over a half hour. Hahahahahaha I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks!

Oh!! And we are watching Frozen and he keeps dancing and bobbing his head. Soooo adorable!

Ahhhh! You have a musician and a cinema fan! What fun! My parrots have a collection of recorded animated cartoons.

I've never met a parrot that could resist a piece of freshly baked birdy bread. Thankfully it freezes well.

I do have a few questions. Do tiels need cuttle bones? We were given a "litter" for the bottom of his cage. Is this okay or do you all prefer basic newspaper?

Oh...and what about "grit"? Saw that at the store and not sure if we need that or not.

Congrats on your new little guy!!!! Just know that cockatiels are very dusty little birds! So if dust is ever an issue, be sure to give him plenty of bathes and you might need to look into an air filter without an ionizer!


As far as diet goes... well, an all pellet diet is just as bad as an all seed diet! Seed diets can lead to malnutrition, which in turn can lead to a whole host of other health issues! Pellets can result in kidney failure, which might lead to gout.

An ideal diet should be 50% or *LESS* pellets, same or slightly greater amounts of seeds (or, feed sprouted seeds! sprouted seeds contain far superior nutrients than dry seeds alone!), and plenty of fresh foods and some cooked!

My a-vet recommends 25-50% pellets for the little guys, with the rest being seeds, where-as the bigger guys can eat around 75% pellets and the rest seeds or nuts. (as the dry portion of the diet) The more fresh foods (fruits, vegetables, sprouts) that you can get into them, the better! And cooked eggs, sprouted or cooked *healthy* grains and legumes are also a great addition!

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html


Cage is a great size! As far as spinach goes.... I wouldn't recommend feeding that very often.... it contains oxalates which can block calcium absorption, and can potentially be deadly in large amounts. Although spinach isn't the only food that contains them, it is found in high amounts in spinach. I rarely ever feed spinach to my flock, although they could probably be fine if I included it more often. The main thing is a large variety of healthy foods!




If birds are on a healthy diet, they don't need cuttle bones, but it doesn't hurt to provide them!

I haven't bought any in ages and my birds are fine. Some cage litters can be dangerous towards birds, especially if they aren't cleaned frequently or they can be deadly if ingested. I prefer good ol' newspaper!


Although wild parrots do eat grit, our captive parrots don't need it if on a healthy diet! Cuttle bone and mineral blocks are actually forms of grit! The big issue about grit is that there is soluble and insoluble grit. If birds, especially sick birds, eat too much grit, it can cause a crop impaction. This can also occur with rope strings (if birds chew on rope toys or perches), cheese, or other things, too...

So should he get a measured amount of pellets and seeds? Like 1/8 cup or something like that? With my parakeets we just made sure their dish was full at all times? Does the same apply to cockatiels?

I don't recommend keeping the food dishes full. I feed enough food to last one day, with maybe a little left over and refresh their food dishes daily. I leave dry food in the cage at all times and fresh and cooked foods for only a few hours.

Cockatiels, if cared for well, have the potential lifespan of 20 to 35 years.

Budgies come from the same region as cockatiels do, require a similar, if not same diet as they do. Cared for well, budgies could have a lifespan of 15 to 20+ years.

Ok. Thank you so much. The fresh food makes sense to only leave for a short time. I will monitor his pellet and seed intake so his food doesn't get old. He is only 2 1/2 so I am excited to have him for many years to come!! Trying to learn as much as I can about proper care. It's my first tiel.

It sounds like his previous owner only gave him spinach and he would not even try anything else. We are trying to introduce a few new things.

Your tiel is very pretty! One thing that absolutely work for me when I want my tiel to try some food is eat it with her. When we brought her home I offered her different fruits and she just ignored them (she always loved veggies though). Then I decided to eat an apple when she was around and she came in a sec to eat it too . One she even tried to eat some raspberries I was eating although she didn't like them, she took little bits and did funny moves with the head (too acid I guess).
The veggies she likes the most are watercress, endives and celery. She also loves dried fruit (blueberries, pineapple, mango).