Hi all,
I have recently been looking into whether I would be able to adopt a cockatiel and provide for it correctly. I feel reasonably sure that I could, but I have never owned any kind of parrot and want to be sure of my footing before I commit to the next 10-15 years of parrot ownership.
I'm pursuing a tiel specifically since they have a reputation as being good apartment birds, not prone to screaming, and tend to be cuddlers, though I'm very aware that every bird has its own personality.
I currently work full-time, getting up at 7am, leaving at around 8:30 am and returning at 6pm—occasionally later when I have to run for groceries or other errands, but usually by 6. Due to my current living situation I spend probably 80-90% of my time in my own room after work and on weekends. I don't suspect this will change whenever I do move to a new living situation—I'm very introverted and don't go out much. Most of my spare time is spent writing or otherwise fooling around on the computer. My reading leads me to believe that as long as I dedicate those evenings to the tiel it should be more than happy, and I'm glad to do so.
Is that enough time for a tiel? Is it fine if a tiel spends most of its time in one room, as long as ample attention/out-of-cage time/stimulation is available? I'm not opposed to taking it around the house and I would certainly want to socialize it to people beyond me, but we do have two Welsh corgis I would have to be mindful of and I just don't spend a lot of time upstairs. The dogs are occasionally in my room but I would not allow the bird to be out at the same time.
My room is located in the basement and is fairly low-traffic and low-activity, though I do own four finches that hang out in their corner of the room. Due to space the tiel would be just a few feet away. I wouldn't think this would be a problem, but if I'm wrong please correct me. The finches are not tame and never come out of their cage, and never even try to escape as it's a very large cage (31x20.5x40 inches). The finches are very flighty and I would keep the tiel away from their cage just for their sake, though I don't think the tiel would ever even be able to get close enough to potentially harm one of them if it got it in its head to do so. We also have an avian vet nearby.
I was also wondering about the tiel's housing. I'm perfectly willing to buy another, larger cage, space allowing, but I do still have my finches' original cage around from when I only had two. Here is a picture:
For reference the finches are about the size of a mouse. The cage dimensions are 26" L x 14" W x 22" H, which I think is a little on the small end for housing one tiel comfortably, but if nothing else it would be convenient if I could use it at least at first. Is this acceptable? I know non-flat roofs aren't very good for finches, which is why I got them a new cage, but I'm not sure about the same for parrots.
I am researching all of this now because a tiel was surrendered to our local shelter just this past Sunday (though I've been entertaining the idea of getting one for several months). The way I found out about him was all a little serendipitous, enough to make me want to see if it was a possibility. His name is Razzle and they don't have a lot of information on his history, so I'm not sure how old he is, but he did look like an adult. One of the people there said he had been hand-raised but isn't currently hand-tame (he lunged at the worker who put his hand in the cage but didn't actively attempt to bite), and just got his wings clipped when he was surrendered. I'm willing to dedicate the time and patience it would take to hand-tame a bird and the workers seemed confident it wouldn't be a problem, but I confess I'm a little worried he would never get to like me. I am a worrier, though, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since I went and saw him on Sunday!
Sorry for so many questions! I've read so many awful stories about people being unprepared for exotic birds and I don't want to add one more to that number. Thanks so much for your help!
I have recently been looking into whether I would be able to adopt a cockatiel and provide for it correctly. I feel reasonably sure that I could, but I have never owned any kind of parrot and want to be sure of my footing before I commit to the next 10-15 years of parrot ownership.
I'm pursuing a tiel specifically since they have a reputation as being good apartment birds, not prone to screaming, and tend to be cuddlers, though I'm very aware that every bird has its own personality.
I currently work full-time, getting up at 7am, leaving at around 8:30 am and returning at 6pm—occasionally later when I have to run for groceries or other errands, but usually by 6. Due to my current living situation I spend probably 80-90% of my time in my own room after work and on weekends. I don't suspect this will change whenever I do move to a new living situation—I'm very introverted and don't go out much. Most of my spare time is spent writing or otherwise fooling around on the computer. My reading leads me to believe that as long as I dedicate those evenings to the tiel it should be more than happy, and I'm glad to do so.
Is that enough time for a tiel? Is it fine if a tiel spends most of its time in one room, as long as ample attention/out-of-cage time/stimulation is available? I'm not opposed to taking it around the house and I would certainly want to socialize it to people beyond me, but we do have two Welsh corgis I would have to be mindful of and I just don't spend a lot of time upstairs. The dogs are occasionally in my room but I would not allow the bird to be out at the same time.
My room is located in the basement and is fairly low-traffic and low-activity, though I do own four finches that hang out in their corner of the room. Due to space the tiel would be just a few feet away. I wouldn't think this would be a problem, but if I'm wrong please correct me. The finches are not tame and never come out of their cage, and never even try to escape as it's a very large cage (31x20.5x40 inches). The finches are very flighty and I would keep the tiel away from their cage just for their sake, though I don't think the tiel would ever even be able to get close enough to potentially harm one of them if it got it in its head to do so. We also have an avian vet nearby.
I was also wondering about the tiel's housing. I'm perfectly willing to buy another, larger cage, space allowing, but I do still have my finches' original cage around from when I only had two. Here is a picture:
For reference the finches are about the size of a mouse. The cage dimensions are 26" L x 14" W x 22" H, which I think is a little on the small end for housing one tiel comfortably, but if nothing else it would be convenient if I could use it at least at first. Is this acceptable? I know non-flat roofs aren't very good for finches, which is why I got them a new cage, but I'm not sure about the same for parrots.
I am researching all of this now because a tiel was surrendered to our local shelter just this past Sunday (though I've been entertaining the idea of getting one for several months). The way I found out about him was all a little serendipitous, enough to make me want to see if it was a possibility. His name is Razzle and they don't have a lot of information on his history, so I'm not sure how old he is, but he did look like an adult. One of the people there said he had been hand-raised but isn't currently hand-tame (he lunged at the worker who put his hand in the cage but didn't actively attempt to bite), and just got his wings clipped when he was surrendered. I'm willing to dedicate the time and patience it would take to hand-tame a bird and the workers seemed confident it wouldn't be a problem, but I confess I'm a little worried he would never get to like me. I am a worrier, though, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since I went and saw him on Sunday!
Sorry for so many questions! I've read so many awful stories about people being unprepared for exotic birds and I don't want to add one more to that number. Thanks so much for your help!
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