New rescue Cockatiel

Hello,

A friend of mine knew I was working with an adoption agency to adopt a bird. I had really wanted something more like an Amazon, but this lady in our area had a 15 year old 'tiel that she really wanted to rehome. It unfortunately had been fed mostly a seed diet, and its cage had no toys, just perches. She also had kept it in the basement and it didn't get much attention. I felt so bad for the little guy, named Patches. So I took him home. He is the sweetest little thing and loves head rubs. Im trying now to get him to eat his veggies and fruit.

Welcome, come on in!

Thank you very much for giving Patches a better home.

cockatiels are AMAZING birds. Smart, friendly with trusted members of the family and they will serenate you with singing. My boy tiel likes to sing to our feet. They can talk a little too. Unfortunately being a seed diet you should get him checked out at the vet to make sure his liver is ok. that's a long time to be on a seed diet. You should switch to pellet but it's probably going to be hard. start mixing it in with seed and reduce the seed and up the pellets slowly. And yes, veggies and fruit too! (not too much fruit). Mine loves kale and apples and pizza and panda express, well... anything I am eating really.

Picture didn't show up! Post more!

oh! And make sure you check out the list of deadly foods, like avocado and certain seeds from fruit (apples for one). If you have ANYTHING with ptfe and pfoa (Teflon) like cooking pans and heaters, they need to be exchanged for ptfe and pfoa free products! No happy huts!

I cant figure out how to post a picture. It asks for a URL. I have a picture saved on my computer how do I make it a URL to post?

Upload it to Imgur or a similar sight and then link from there.

There is a stickey in Technical Support. Go to the end of that thread and work backwards for the most recent how to.

What a sweetie Patches is and thank you for taking him in! He seems VERY relieved you took him in and I hope to see more pictures and adventures with Patches.

Aw, congrats he’s adorable! I recently adopted a cockatiel that is 6 and just love her. They have such great personalities, and I think you’ll really enjoy having him in your family.

Mine was also on a seed diet, and we’re working on adding veggies to her diet. So far - she loves to pick the little green bits off of broccoli crowns and will tear at leafy greens a little (won’t touch anything that is chopped up lol). Just keep trying different colours, sizes and shapes - hopefully something appeals to him eventually . Mine is now eating zupreem pellets, so don’t give up on converting to pellets - try a few different ones, he may surprise you!

Beware!

Cockatiels can become addicting. It's hard to stop with just one.

My HERO!!!!!!!!

Bless you. He'scute. You both are!

Here's my 2 cents on pellets...
Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff, like fruits and vegetables! My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.
Another couple of ideas...
My ol' man is an athlete and health nut. He actually EATS all the good stuff, so it's always around. I find that tossing various stuff into the food bowls at random is good... the variations and differences seem to stimulate curiosity and attention.
The other idea... if you can stand it (lol) EAT the stuff in front of the birds, yes. That encourages them. I have also found that if my ol' man eats stuff in front of the bird, the bird WANTS it for himself. Kinda a rivalry thing!

Welcome!