tiel weights and diets?

bug_n_flock

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Just weighed Alex. He is slightly under 97g. A little heavy for my liking, but not too too bad. He does not know how to fly. Any other good ways to get him to excersize a bit more maybe? Also going to stop giving him free access to the fruity pebbles(zupreem). Do pebbles at night and only chop in the morning? Fruitys 2x a day? What do you guys think? He does not like the look of an empty fruity pebbles bowl and will constantly contact call until I refill it (didn't I train him so wellllllllll yaaaaaaaaay me).

Please be kind about Alex not being a flying birb. I am new to the thought of flighted birds and Alex doesn't even try. No hopping. Nothing. All walking and climbing all the time. Maybe I could get him a teeny treadmill? Omg can you imagine?? Would be so cute....

His breakfast was scrambled egg, a teensy bit of grated cheese (like 1 or 2 sticks in the whole batch of chop, not all for him), broccoli, and diced apple. He ate a bunch, because he thought it was my breakfast and he was getting away with something, also because I whisked him out of his cage before he could eat a breakfast of sugar rich fruity pebbles.

:yellow1:

From phone
 
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ParrotLover2001

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Elvis weighs 87g and Skittles weighs 98g. I feed them veggie chop in the morning, with 3 different veggies and a fruit blended together for the chop. They get Zupreem before bed, once in a while I give seed instead of pellets. Once a week they get hard boiled eggs, twice a month they get some fruit.

Elvis is the same way with flying, he just doesn't do it. He hates flying and prefers to run around. A little birdy treadmill would be great! Someone should really make those.


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wrench13

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If flying is not an option, try making him work to get to the food bowl via connected plastic chains or other climbing feature. Tho not a cockatiel, Salty's food bowl is at the other end of his daytime play boing/hanging chain, so if he wants a snack, he has to expend some energy, climb up, over, and down again. It's kept him at 294gr. for almost 2 years. Where does Alex spend his daytime?
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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Ducky weighs a light 85 grams, but he’s flighted and regularly flies laps around the room. I give him and all my birds free access to pellets all day long (non colored ones), and chop/veggies in the evening. Just make sure to only give Alex seeds as treats, as seeds, especially sunflower seeds and millet sprays, can be fattening. Bluebell was on an all seed diet the first year of her life, with unlimited access to millet sprays, and is still overweight as she likes to spend time in her cage as opposed to flying. She does fly, but not as much as my other birds. If there is no way you can convince Alex to fly, try giving him ladders and/or a play gym so he can at least get some exercise via climbing. Also put him on the floor and let him run around if he likes that. Lastly, put his food and water bowls on opposite sides of his cage so he has to walk across the perches to get to them.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

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Alex's diet is like, 2% or less seed. Basically he gets a spray millet once every few months, and sometimes sneaks into the budgie's cage and gets at his food bowl. Lol other than that, he probably eats 85+% zupreem pellets, and the rest is chop or whatever he steals or begs off of me lol. He spends literally all of his time either on me, near me, or in/on his cage napping. I think he hasn't been getting enough sleep lately so starting tonight will be putting him in the guest room at around 8 or 9 since I think I've been keeping him up, poor dude.

He also doesn't play much anymore. He isn't a young bird, but suddenly compared to Fatty I am realizing just how lazy of a dude he is. Do you think maybe birrdo #3 I'm looking to adopt should be another tiel to potentially be his pal and show him more of how a tiel is supposed to act? Or would that just cause him undue stress? Might teach him to fly or play or wake up his lazy bones. Or it could stress him out and make him miserable and jealous.

From phone

Edit: just rearranged his house and added a plastic climbing chain. Never seen him use it before, but maybe his food dish will motivate him to try.

Edit#2: even as a baby, Alex would never touch safflower or sunflower seed. Lol dainty little thing, even today I buy canary size pellets because he throws the bigger ones out if the dish lmao
 
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AmyMyBlueFront

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Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
When Beeb's came home with me at 4.5 months old,the breeder had him on a "cockatiel blend" of seed they developed for 'teils. They have been in business for almost 40 years,have numerous species of parrots,with the parents on site etc. BB was also being fed the Zupreem fruity pellets and was just starting to nosh on various fruits/veggies.

He gets a 1/8 cup of the tiel mix and a little over 1/4 cup of pellets. On occasion(once every two weeks maybe) he gets a piece of millet maybe two inches long. He was VERY picky about eating his fruits and veggies,maybe taking ONE nibble at this and that,and then running away to climb up me,OR eat from MY plate! (They are flock kids and want what you are having)
At times,I just don't have the time to make myself something that is "good" for me,to share with him.

He has gotten a lot better in time in chowing down. I can now make him his own little plate and put it on the coffee table while I eat mine in peace :p

I have found now that he does have some favorite foods. He simply goes nuts over mac and cheese. He will sit on his bowl/ plate and dive in and EAT for 10 minutes..and that's not exaggerating,and all the while he is making little "chirps". Any type pasta seems to get his attention. Smashed or sweet 'taters are a big hit too. He will nibble and throw broc or cauliflower around,,nibble at a 'nana or grape. Honey nuts an' oats cheerios he loves. Rarely does he take things from my fingers but these things he does.
I have made a new batch of birdie muffins for him and Amy. There is NO digging for what he wants and tossing the rest! Sorry kids,but everything now is baked in MUFFINS and there is no way for them to pick an choose lol.

As far as flying goes..Amy never fledged or learned how to fly ( We've been working on that with flapflapflap lessons) She has walked more miles on those little feetsies then any other parrot I've known,and it looks to me she has no desire to learn how to fly. Why should she? DAD brings her everywhere lol.

Beebers wasn't flying either when he came home. The breeder had given him a "soft" clip to where if he RAN and then HOPPED a waved his arms frantically.he would get about a foot off the ground then softly land back down.
I wanted for him to at least learn how to fly,so when he stripped off his baby clothes and grew his adult long sleeves on his arms,I didn't clip him,and I haven't done so yet. I don't plan on taking him outside when it gets warmer,like Amy is always going somewhere in summer with me,she just LOVES the car rides and going places with me.

So now BB flies pretty darn good! He is learning very quickly to fly to me when called,he can HOVER in mid-air :18:,he can land anywhere (and does :rolleyes:)
The only real thing that gets me nervous about his flapping is..'teils are known to spook fairly easily :eek: All Amy has to do is all of a sudden yell out in Amazon lingo and Beebers jumps up and takes off and has NO CLUE in where he is going or how fast he's trying to get there and he has had his fair share of smackin' into s%^&:eek: and it freaks me out!

Ok...sorry for the long post :eek: I don't know if it helped you or not lol.


Jim
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

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B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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When Beeb's came home with me at 4.5 months old,the breeder had him on a "cockatiel blend" of seed they developed for 'teils. They have been in business for almost 40 years,have numerous species of parrots,with the parents on site etc. BB was also being fed the Zupreem fruity pellets and was just starting to nosh on various fruits/veggies.

He gets a 1/8 cup of the tiel mix and a little over 1/4 cup of pellets. On occasion(once every two weeks maybe) he gets a piece of millet maybe two inches long. He was VERY picky about eating his fruits and veggies,maybe taking ONE nibble at this and that,and then running away to climb up me,OR eat from MY plate! (They are flock kids and want what you are having)
At times,I just don't have the time to make myself something that is "good" for me,to share with him.

He has gotten a lot better in time in chowing down. I can now make him his own little plate and put it on the coffee table while I eat mine in peace :p

I have found now that he does have some favorite foods. He simply goes nuts over mac and cheese. He will sit on his bowl/ plate and dive in and EAT for 10 minutes..and that's not exaggerating,and all the while he is making little "chirps". Any type pasta seems to get his attention. Smashed or sweet 'taters are a big hit too. He will nibble and throw broc or cauliflower around,,nibble at a 'nana or grape. Honey nuts an' oats cheerios he loves. Rarely does he take things from my fingers but these things he does.
I have made a new batch of birdie muffins for him and Amy. There is NO digging for what he wants and tossing the rest! Sorry kids,but everything now is baked in MUFFINS and there is no way for them to pick an choose lol.

As far as flying goes..Amy never fledged or learned how to fly ( We've been working on that with flapflapflap lessons) She has walked more miles on those little feetsies then any other parrot I've known,and it looks to me she has no desire to learn how to fly. Why should she? DAD brings her everywhere lol.

Beebers wasn't flying either when he came home. The breeder had given him a "soft" clip to where if he RAN and then HOPPED a waved his arms frantically.he would get about a foot off the ground then softly land back down.
I wanted for him to at least learn how to fly,so when he stripped off his baby clothes and grew his adult long sleeves on his arms,I didn't clip him,and I haven't done so yet. I don't plan on taking him outside when it gets warmer,like Amy is always going somewhere in summer with me,she just LOVES the car rides and going places with me.

So now BB flies pretty darn good! He is learning very quickly to fly to me when called,he can HOVER in mid-air :18:,he can land anywhere (and does :rolleyes:)
The only real thing that gets me nervous about his flapping is..'teils are known to spook fairly easily :eek: All Amy has to do is all of a sudden yell out in Amazon lingo and Beebers jumps up and takes off and has NO CLUE in where he is going or how fast he's trying to get there and he has had his fair share of smackin' into s%^&:eek: and it freaks me out!

Ok...sorry for the long post :eek: I don't know if it helped you or not lol.


Jim


Omg. If ever Alex tried a hunger strike, mashed sweet potatoes would stop it in as quick as I could mash um up. That little bird can eat 3x his weight in the stuff, I swear! Haha

From phone
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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Maybe switching him to a different pellet brand would be in order? Something uncolored and organic, like TOPs or Harrison’s? My birds ALWAYS sneak into each others’ cages. In fact, Kermit is in Ducky’s cage right now, eating his food. Gotta close that door lol.
As for getting another tiel? If he’s been alone his whole life, I don’t think it’ll be easy for him to warm up to a new bird in his cage. My tiel is actually afraid of other birds. You can get another tiel if you want one, but be prepared to keep them in seperate cages. I got my budgie Pearl originally as a friend for Bluebell, but they aren’t interested in each other so I’m having to keep them in seperate cages.
Also, birds need 12 hours of sleep each night, maybe that’s making him cranky and lazy? I don’t know, I just don’t have experience with an older, unflighted tiel. Ducky isn’t a climber like Kermit, but luckily he loves to fly and has no problem with getting all of his exercise that way. He does spook easily, but he has such control of his flight that he can keep going and going without landing and doesn’t crash. Kermit both climbs a lot and flies a lot (he’s really fast), so he’s a very active bird. Pearl is pretty hyper also, flying in circles and trying to attract attention.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

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Yeah he definitely isn't getting enough sleep. I usually am up pretty late, and at least the noise of me being up in the same room I think is keeping him up. He probably only gets 8 or 9 hours a night of good uninterrupted sleep, not enough. Guest room hopefully will give him some quiet time to catch up on z's.

As for the food, he won't take harrisons, mazuri, nothing. He ate roudybush when I first got him, but I switched from that quickly, since I heard of some issues with quality control I didn't like. Probably warrents looking back into though.

He hasnt been alone alone, always other birds, but only once did I have a second tiel, and only for a couple of weeks. Jack was a wonderful bird, but I was living at home and my folks said he was too loud. Worked out though. He was a rehome I took from a woman whos oncologist has said for her to get rid of her birds. She got a second opinion tho who said 1 bird was ok and good for her mental health, and it just so happened Jack couldn't stay here... He got to go home. :)

That was so many years ago, though, I dunno. Lol if it is any indication, he loves videos of himself and other tiels.

From phone

As for stealing food from Fatty, I am working to get him on a good diet. Pet smart bird though, so is putting up much resistance
 
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AmyMyBlueFront

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Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Ms Gail TYVM for the informative post :)





Jim
 

reeb

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Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
Berry eats Versele-Laga's Premium Prestige Cockatiel mix (it has a balance of pellets and seeds), as well as daily fresh fruits and vegetables, from apples to spinach to many others.

Since she got a few more of her wing feathers (breeder cut them before I got her last year, before I could say no) she has been a lot more active, although a bit wobbly when she flies as she is still missing a few feathers haha! Not sure of her exact weight, but the vet was happy with her when we went for our checkup two weeks ago. From my knowledge 'tiels tend to range in weight from somewhere in the 70-80g region to up to 120g or so, so I think Alex is okay where he is at.
 

smbrds

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Nice to see what everyone's tiels eat. Having a scale is a good way to keep track of their weight. Baby hovers around 90g. He's on 50/50 seeds and pellets along with millet, grains and veggies that are mixed in (he only eats them grated/minced), with some millet and the occasional "people food" like crackers, rarely rice or whole wheat cereal because of the iron content/he likes (unflavored) oatmeal and absolutely loves air-popped popcorn.

He's flighted but doesn't fly, he'd rather hop and walk around. Occasionally if he wants to go back to his cage, he'll fly to it.
 
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bug_n_flock

bug_n_flock

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B&G Macaw, Galah, 5 cockatiels, 50 billion and a half budgies. We breed and do rescue. Too many to list each individual's name and age etc, but they are each individuals and loved dearly.
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So putting him to bed early last night really seems to have helped. Still napping but much more preening and scolding himself than napping during his breaks, and overall much more activity- he even hopped to a perch that I placed annouyingly juuuust above head level near his favorite food dish rather than climbing the bars to get to it. Whoo hoo! Caught him chewing on a swing that I put also at annoying level above a favorite perching spot, and leeeeaaaning waay over to reach a wooden chew toy he likes that I put juuuuust out of reach from another perch. At one point he put one foot on the climbing chain for almost a minute. That was it. Not quite a workout, but is more activity than he usually does while in the cage. Lol

I bet continuing him getting proper rest will continue to give him more energy. :D Still gotta work on boosting play and tweaking the diet a bit, but hey progress! He usually gets a big energy rush around 5 until bed time, he isn't all naps all the time lol

From phone
 

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