Should I get a cockatiel?

Hello c:

I've been a parrot lover for quite awhile now but I haven't actually owned one.

I'm a senior in high school right now so I'm graduating at the beginning of summer. I live with my dad atm. When I'm done with school I'll be moving in with my mom and I plan on working all summer, about 25-30 hours a week. I'm also going to start college next fall so that and work will take up most of my day.

My mom will be charging me $300 a month for rent. Then I will have car payments and insurance to pay once I get a car(at the end of the summer).

I live in Ohio so it does get cold in the winter and can get real hot in the summer.

I have a friend who's had experience owning cockatiels so any help I need I can ask her.

But what I'm wondering if I should get a cockatiel. I understand the investing in a bird is expensive so I know it's not as cheap as buying a mouse or rat.

I plan on buying a lot of toys and perches before I get the bird and this cage:
A and E Flat Top Cockatiel Bird Cage - PetSupplies.com

According to my friend, buying food and toys on a monthly basis will only cost about $15-$20 which I'm sure I can afford.

I'm hoping to get the bird this summer. I can offer a few hours of my time to the bird but that's my main concern, is time. I'm worried I won't be able to spend enough time with the bird.

Well that's as much as I can think of to explain. Please give me some advice or opinions on what I should do!

Thanks for reading and thanks for your time c:

That is not enough time in my opinion, and that cage is definitely too small for a cockatiel. As for food you need to buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies that can add up in cost quickly. A parrot is not a bird you buy and leave in a cage all day and take it out for a little bit. Plus when you are home you will be studying and you will probably want to leave the house for a little bit to get a break. I really don't think you have enough time for a parrot right now. I'm not trying to be rude but I don't want you to get the cockatiel and find out you don't have enough time for it and have to rehome it.
And may I ask why you want a parrot?

That cage is more for a parakeet or finch, it needs to be a bit bigger. Will your mom help out in caring for the bird? As long as you can provide the necessity needs like toys and such. Have him out to play I don't see why not.

Hello : ) I agree that if you feed your cockatiel the proper diet it will cost more than $15 a month for food alone, not to mention toys. I got my bird at the end of Dec and I've spent $720 in food, toys, perches, cleaners, etc. so far and this is only mid March. I do have quite a bit of different foods and toys on hand, but $15 a month is a very unrealistic estimate. I agree with others that cage is not appropriate for a cockatiel no matter what it suggests. Something such as this cage would be far better. You have to keep in mind that once you fill it with toys, perches, a swing, etc you're losing some of the space, so bigger is better.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-Wrought-F040-31-Inch/dp/B00176F5L0/ref=sr_1_47?ie=UTF8&qid=1332297731&sr=8-47]Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Flight Cage with Stand F040 Black Bird Cage, 31-Inch by 20-1/2-Inch by 53-Inch: Amazon.com: Pet Supplies[/ame]

As far as time, only you know how much time you will be able to give. If you're going to school and working part time you'll have to make an effort to be home and spend that quality time with your parrot that is essential to keeping him/her happy and healthy.

I almost forgot, you do know about the cockatiel dust right? Because if you have allergies then I would not recommend a cockatiel.

Missy, where are you shopping at??? $720 is A LOT to spend in this short of period!!!! I don't even spend that much with all the birds we've got....And I buy food in bulk and it don't even add up to that much....Now if I add up with all the stuffs I buy for ALL the animals, yea it adds to about that much in 6 months.

I would recomend waiting till after you graduate. I am not familiar with the needs of finches, but I think a couple of them might be more suited for a student who also works. I do not think that you will be able to devote the necessary time to a companion bird if you will be going to school and working.

Cockatiels are great! However, it sounds like you might not have enough time to socialize with the bird. How much time would you spend with it daily, once you start school? It doesn't always have to be direct contact, but at least in close physical proximity. Would your mom be able to give it attention too? If so, then it could work. If a bird (any bird) doesn't get enough attention, it becomes more wild and wants less contact with humans.

If you don't care whether you can play with it or not, you could get two of them (and a big cage with lots of toys), and they could keep each other company. They could still be friendly, but they might be more bonded to each other than to you. Birds are social, so they need companionship.

What about something that's less social? A canary, maybe? They don't need so much attention, and they have a lot of pretty songs. I guess it depends on what you want out of your pet.

I'm not sure what it costs to feed a cockatiel a good diet, but I know Puck costs me more than $15-20 a month. Not to mention his recent, expensive, vet bills! What would you do if your bird got sick? Could you afford vet bills, or would your mom help you out? Since you would be responsible for the bird's wellbeing, you'd be responsible for vet bills!

Keep us updated on what you decide. We don't know your situation, so we can't judge, we can only give our opinions based on the info you give us. If you do decide to get a bird, we'd love to hear about it.

Two hours quality time is better than 8 hours, where the bird is out, and just sitting on a perch or on top of his cage... and get no interaction at all...

Cockatiels are lovely birds, cheap to keep - they don't eat much... They do need a proper sized cage and toys, but many toy can be made from simple item, your already have in your home...

Well, ok, food costs. What will you spend on pellets? $15-20 sounds about right. And don't all of you buy fresh fruit and veggies for yourself? With one little cockatiel, you just give it a bit of the ones you are already eating. So, no, I don't think you need to budget much more than what you are thinking on food.

You should get it a nicer, larger cage though. So you have the initial costs of cage, perches and toys. I would expect that to be in the $200-250 range for one cockatiel. Remember you will be replacing toys, and to some extent perches (although you can make your own) periodically. But, cockatiels don't go through those things at nearly the same rate as larger birds do.

The big expense is...vet bills! One wellness check is $250-300 if they run a full blood panel. I would expect you will periodically have illnesses. How many? Depends on the bird! I had one each per conure. But, my new Grey has been quite a fortune in that department. So that one is impossible to put a figure on.

If you have your bird out with you while you study, watch TV, eat dinner, etc, it will probably be fine with your schedule. If you are a person with a busy social life and a bf or gf in addition to college and work, you won't have enough time for a bird yet.

I've read all of the posts so far and after thinking through the night about what my schedule will be like, here's what I came up with:

I do know food might cost a bit more but I know fruits and veggies are necessary ;3 I get fruits and veggies just for my guinea piggy right now. She loves them!
As for time, I will probably be able to offer 4-5 hours of interaction time with the bird. I LOVE interacting with animals, no matter the shape or size. Smaller animals are easier to interact with for me.
I could give a bird 2-4 hours of quality interaction time a day, then it will probably get an extra hour or two to play on its own if I'm doing homework or drawing(I draw digital art all the time, so no bad paint or art supplies fumes and I won't have to leave the bird alone in the room).
I don't have a very big social life and find more joy in being around animals than groups of people. All my friends are moving out of state for college so hanging out with them won't be possible. I do have a boyfriend but he lives in another state so all my freetime will be dedicated to the bird c:

As for the cage, I'm still sort of learning demensional requirements. Overall, I just know that the wingspan and the tail of the bird can't be touching the edges or bottom to allow the bird comfortable cage space. My friend has had several cockatiels in the past. According to her experience, those types of cages are better than larger ones because they attempt to fly in the larger ones and get hurt. I would get a larger cage if it didn't cost too much.

My friend and I are going to get cockatiels together in the summer if I decide that I can afford it and manage it well. c:

So, I won't jump right into it, promise! I'll be thinking about it and adding up times and also expenses. I'll search for larger but cheaper cages too. If you have any links to good cockatiel cages that aren't so expensive($100-$200 is way too expensive for me^^; ).

I'm aware of cockatiel dust and it won't bother me ;3 I'm used to messy/ dusty animals and I'm prepared for whatever mess is to come from a bird.

As for the reason I want a birdy: I love animals and appreciate the companionship of having a pet. Right now I have a REALLY old guinea pig and she's my best little buddy. She's cuddly and cute but I know she probably won't last much longer(guinea pigs have such short lives). Having a nice little companion will help give me a bit of responsibility and I also wish to gain experience in handling and owning a bird to move up.
(I hope to someday adopt a rescued macaw and give them a new loving home, but that'll be MUCH later).

I plan on going to college to become a veterinarian in exotic species X3

Thanks so far for all your advice and opinions! I'm always open to more! c:

Ok looks like you are doing the right thing by thinking about it. As for cages if you want a new one then a good size one will cost about $100 but you could look online on craigslist or ebay for used ones that go for very cheap.
And please if you get one do not get it from the big pet stores(you know which ones), that only encourages them to buy more birds. Their birds are from birdy mills just like dog mills, they live in horrible conditions there. Plus pet stores generally don't take good care of their birds. Please look at adopting one/rescueing one. Or if you don't want to do that get one from a breeder, you will end up with a much better bird than one from a pet store, as long as it is a good breeder.
Good luck with your decision.

cdog said:

Ok looks like you are doing the right thing by thinking about it. As for cages if you want a new one then a good size one will cost about $100 but you could look online on craigslist or ebay for used ones that go for very cheap.
And please if you get one do not get it from the big pet stores(you know which ones), that only encourages them to buy more birds. Their birds are from birdy mills just like dog mills, they live in horrible conditions there. Plus pet stores generally don't take good care of their birds. Please look at adopting one/rescueing one. Or if you don't want to do that get one from a breeder, you will end up with a much better bird than one from a pet store, as long as it is a good breeder.
Good luck with your decision.

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I wouldn't even think about getting a bird from a pet store X3 Only animals I would be okay with getting from a pet store would be small rodents.
I'll be looking for a breeder c: I would love to adopt a rescue bird but I have had no success in finding one. Before I considered getting a Green Cheek Conure so I did look for rescued conures but found mostly macaws and amazons. I guess it makes sens though since a lot of people buy the bigger colorful birds thinking they're fun and cool and then finding out how much work they are!


With all the info I'm gathering from these posts, I might not get a cockatiel due to expenses. I could probably afford most of it but a larger cage and vet bills might be too much.
I will probably wait and instead volunteer at a nearby aviary to learn about birds and get some experience c: Then later when I can better afford things I might adopt some rescue birds X3

Thank you all again for your opinions and advice! X3

Good for you, volenteering. Well if you do get a bird in the future make sure you come back here and ask as many questions as you want.

I just wanted to say that I really respect how much thought and research you're putting into this!

It sounds like you have your head in the right place! Thank you for doing your research first.

I was able to get Puck AND an awesome cage from people I found on Craigslist for a fraction of pet store prices (AND I was able to adopt a bird that needed a new home, and get him a HUGE cage). His regular cage was a $500 cage, but I paid $150 for it. His other big cage is even bigger (and outdoors now), and my mom paid $100 for it. You can probably find cages smaller than what I have, but still suitable, for less than $100.

The only thing I don't know how to get cheaply is vet care. Some vets ARE more affordable than others. My local bird vet wanted to charge around $100 for a poop test, but another clinic I found only charges $30 (and is open 24/7).

I as well appreciate the time and effort you put into researching. I also applaud your maturity to admit what you want may or may not be a good choice right now. I especially applaud your choice to study exotics because I know at least true avian vets seem tough to come by locally for alot of people. I suppose it's about the same for reptiles and other non dog or cat pets.:smile049:

I think you might be overestimating how much time you'd have to spend with the bird, anyway. If you're planning on veterinary school, you're going to be looking at a demanding undergraduate career (with the likes of organic chemistry, biochem, physics, etc, with 3-4 hour lectures plus 3-4 lab time a week; and it'd be wise to get into an organismal research lab, and this is all before thinking about volunteering/interning/working outside school at a veterinary hospital/animal shelter/wildlife rehab/zoo too), and then vet school itself is naturally challenging (and do you know for sure if you'll stay in the US? There are only 26 schools in the country; I know quite a few people who've gone abroad to study in the UK. Though you do have the home state advantage in Ohio).

So to me it's not simply the expense, but also the fact that your life is probably going to be very busy and relatively unstable for the next 8 years (at least!)

On the flip side, I also have friends in grad school with birds, including one PhD candidate who got her cockatiel (and a dog) while working on her masters. So it's not impossible, but I would advise you to at least get a taste of college life before deciding.

mcw009 said:

I think you might be overestimating how much time you'd have to spend with the bird, anyway. If you're planning on veterinary school, you're going to be looking at a demanding undergraduate career (with the likes of organic chemistry, biochem, physics, etc, with 3-4 hour lectures plus 3-4 lab time a week; and it'd be wise to get into an organismal research lab, and this is all before thinking about volunteering/interning/working outside school at a veterinary hospital/animal shelter/wildlife rehab/zoo too), and then vet school itself is naturally challenging (and do you know for sure if you'll stay in the US? There are only 26 schools in the country; I know quite a few people who've gone abroad to study in the UK. Though you do have the home state advantage in Ohio).

So to me it's not simply the expense, but also the fact that your life is probably going to be very busy and relatively unstable for the next 8 years (at least!)

On the flip side, I also have friends in grad school with birds, including one PhD candidate who got her cockatiel (and a dog) while working on her masters. So it's not impossible, but I would advise you to at least get a taste of college life before deciding.

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Yeah, I know veterinary school is tough^^; That's the sad part about it. Being a vet was sort of my 2nd career choice. My first one was animation, but the salary of an animator isn't as good, and neither are the working hours. 12-16 hours a day every day to work on animation isn't ideal for me. So, I'm going with veterinary sciences.

I'm going to stay in the US since I DEFINITELY can't afford to leave.

And I'm glad I did research and thought about it as well. I wouldn't want to assume I could afford to get a bird then find out I can't and have to give the poor birdy away.
And if I do get a bird in the future, I'll be sure to get it from a rescue shelter. I'd rather adopt a rescued one. Adopting should be done first before anyone goes to a breeder c: It can give an older bird a second chance at having a good owner who will care for it. It will also help decrease demand for birds from breeders, which is good since there are so many birds that are in rescues or are abandoned and need to be cared for rather than producing too many new birdies and causing the older ones in need of homes to be ignored.
I wish everyone did their research before buying birds. I bet if they did, then a lot less birdies would be in rescue!

Thanks again, everyone for all your advice! I really appreciate it X3

Well, yes and no on adopting. With a cockatiel you are probably fine with adopting. On many other species though it is often easier to start with a baby bird than to rehab an older one who has behavioral or health problems. Many people are not able to do that with a first bird. Once you've had a bird for a number of years, then adoption might be a better option for a second bird.