What's your best advice?

[Birds-of-middle-earth]

Hey everybody! I'm excited to announce that I'm getting a baby cockatiel later this week! I'll post pictures when I get him/her.
However, I'm coming from the background of only having owned a single budgie and I have very little to compare it to.
I'd love to know your advice for a first time cockatiel owner and everything I should know about them, I really want to be prepared!
Tysm!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hey everybody! I'm excited to announce that I'm getting a baby cockatiel later this week! I'll post pictures when I get him/her.
However, I'm coming from the background of only having owned a single budgie and I have very little to compare it to.
I'd love to know your advice for a first time cockatiel owner and everything I should know about them, I really want to be prepared!
Tysm!!

I hope your new baby is weaned. Hand feeding a parrot can be dangerous if you are not experienced and have easy access to an avian vet.

 

[Birds-of-middle-earth]

I hope your new baby is weaned. Hand feeding a parrot can be dangerous if you are not experienced and have easy access to an avian vet.

Oh, yes, the baby was fully weaned about a month ago. Sorry I forgot to mention that. I definitely wouldn't want to have to hand feed a baby myself. 😅

 

[Fluffonia]

Oh, yes, the baby was fully weaned about a month ago. Sorry I forgot to mention that. I definitely wouldn't want to have to hand feed a baby myself. 😅

I had two ‘teils’ once. Mango and Onyx. I would love to know the kind your getting! The two were lutino ‘teils’. They were a bit sensitive to the environment and easily spooked. Do you have some Specific questions?

 

[Birds-of-middle-earth]

I had two ‘teils’ once. Mango and Onyx. I would love to know the kind your getting! The two were lutino ‘teils’. They were a bit sensitive to the environment and easily spooked. Do you have some Specific questions?

He/she is a cinnamon 'tiel

 

[texsize]

Tip.
Baby cockatiels don’t know how to take care of their tails.
Dont be worried if tail condition is a bit rough.
Tip.
When young is best time to get them on a healthy diet.
most likely to try new foods when young.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Tip.
Baby cockatiels don’t know how to take care of their tails.
Dont be worried if tail condition is a bit rough.
Tip.
When young is best time to get them on a healthy diet.
most likely to try new foods when young.

Is your new baby tiel fully tame? I would handle your new baby frequently and spend a lot of time with him. Hopefully the breeder has been handling him regularly so he accustomed to human contact. By handling, I mean having the bird sit on your hands, arms and shoulders, not necessarily petting him. Many very tame birds do not like being petted except for their cheeks and head.

 

[Free as a bird]

Some good tips from Donna and textsize above. I would reiterate those, get it used to your hand, see if it will accept a scratch on the head/face, feed it different foods, let it chill with you while you watch TV, daily handling and before you know it will be shoulder surfing on you everywhere

Another one worth noting is their wings. I believe it's a good idea to partially clip them to begin with as it will make them rely on you more and help build trust. After that I like to let their wings grow. Don't clip them too much or the bird will crash a lot and hurt itself.

They can be easily spooked. In the wild every other animal eats them so they are naturally on edge and suspicious of anything even new toys can spook them. They can have night frights and hurt themselves by flapping their wings against the cage/toys and stuff. A night light helps.

I don't think it's a good idea to clutter the cage with too much stuff at the start either, give it room to spread its wings, slowly introduce it to new stuff and toys.

Just remember that it's an individual and will have an individual character that might not necessarily fit the "norm". When tame and trusting they are beautiful little creatures with beautiful little souls. I have 2 tiels I love them and they love me. They don't like eachother too much but I'm hoping that changes. One tries to preen the other but he won't accept it the snob lol it will only accept it from me.

Anyway I hope it goes well post some pics and let us know how it goes

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Some good tips from Donna and textsize above. I would reiterate those, get it used to your hand, see if it will accept a scratch on the head/face, feed it different foods, let it chill with you while you watch TV, daily handling and before you know it will be shoulder surfing on you everywhere

Another one worth noting is their wings. I believe it's a good idea to partially clip them to begin with as it will make them rely on you more and help build trust. After that I like to let their wings grow. Don't clip them too much or the bird will crash a lot and hurt itself.

They can be easily spooked. In the wild every other animal eats them so they are naturally on edge and suspicious of anything even new toys can spook them. They can have night frights and hurt themselves by flapping their wings against the cage/toys and stuff. A night light helps.

I don't think it's a good idea to clutter the cage with too much stuff at the start either, give it room to spread its wings, slowly introduce it to new stuff and toys.

Just remember that it's an individual and will have an individual character that might not necessarily fit the "norm". When tame and trusting they are beautiful little creatures with beautiful little souls. I have 2 tiels I love them and they love me. They don't like eachother too much but I'm hoping that changes. One tries to preen the other but he won't accept it the snob lol it will only accept it from me.

Anyway I hope it goes well post some pics and let us know how it goes

I agree (though many people will hate me for this) with a conservative wing trim. A good wing trim still allows your bird to fly from place to place in the room but not too high or too fast. Once he is very comfortable with you and his surroundings let his wings grow in which will take about six months. At this point, he will know his way around the room very well and won't fly into things at high speed and get injured.
I have had budgies and cockatiels for many decades and have never had a bird traumatized or hold a grudge against me by having his wings trimmed and I usually do it myself. Never let someone trim only one wing. It throws the bird off balance and he will crash into things trying to fly.
A severe wing trim (all the way back to the primary covert feathers) is always a bad idea. The bird won't be able to fly at all and can injure his breastbone by landing on it hard. A severe wing trim in a very young fledgling can also result in a bird that never learns to fly even after the wing feathers grow back. It's critical that birds learn to fly when nature intended. A conservative wing trim won't prevent him from learning to fly.
When I say conservative what I mean is trimming some length off all of the long primary flight feathers. In a cockatiel that would mean trimming off no more than one inch from each primary. Some people prefer to leave the first few primary flight feathers untrimmed and trim the rest of them right back to the primary covert feathers (google wing feather anatomy images for pictures) but that kind of trim leaves the full length primaries prone to breaking (like during a night fright), and if one or more breaks the result will be a pretty severe disabling clip job that will take many months to grow back.
Cockatiels are such lovely birds and can make a wonderful companion for many years. My last cockatiel Charlie was the sweetest easiest bird I ever had. He was hand raised and I got him soon after weaning so he was already hand tame and comfortable with people. He liked everyone and never gave me any trouble. He whistled songs, liked to have his face and head scratched, and loved to just sit on my shoulder and watch TV at night. He was calmer than most budgies. I don't know how hard it is to tame a cockatiel that's not hand raised and already finger tame but I understand that it can take some time and not all 'tiels become the friendly tame bird my Charlie was so I always recommend trying to find a newly weaned hand raised one.

 

[TenthDoctor34]

I have had tiels since I was a kid, They are quirky funny birds and are rather stubborn especially about new foods, but it always worth to keep trying. But if baby probably be easist time to get it on healthy diet. But they can have different personalities. They are good little birds, but as previous poster said can get scared easily. They are social so if its going to be an only bird would give it all the time and attention you can. Sometimes they are hand shy but depends on bird, so good to handle as much as can without forcing it on the bird. Some my tiels preferred it when I covered my hand with sleeve. But a hand tame one will generally like being with their owner or owners as much as possible, Not all will want to cuddle, but some will be happy to just sit with you. My last tiel is a cuddly monster but can turn bitey suddenly hes unpredictable lol. Cockatiels like it if you sing and whistle to them and they may copy it or do own tunes lol. My boy has his favourite tune that he likes to sing on repeat and louder and louder in my ear holes.