Hi! Me and My first Bird!

[willwelsh816]

Hi, my name is billy, and I recently have recieved a white cockatiel by the name of Charlie. I'm am unaware of wether it is a boy or girl, but I often refer it as He. I am a giging jazz/blues guitarist, and my Charlie has gotten a good amount of taste in blues and jazz music(especially Charlie "Bird" Parker). Charlie is by himself in the house with no other pets, but I often sit by the window(with the screen on of course) while Charlie attempts to socialize with the local flock of sparrows, pigeons, and squirrels. I am worried about when I start going to school(8AM-2:30PM) and he will be all alone until i come home and play with him. Any bit of suggestions about keeping him busy while I'm not home are very welcome.

The story about how he ended up in my possesion is pretty strange. He lived in the house of a junky from birth for one year, when my stepmother bought him off of the junky. The bird then stayed at her house for a year and a half fattening up and socializing with the three kids, the dog, the big green parrot, and numerous guests. I am the only person who Charlie took a strong bond with, and so my stepmother gave this little precious ball of fuzz to me. He is very attached to me, yelling when I leave the room for a sec, always sitting on my shoulder(right now included), and for some reason always goes to another spot when he needs to relieve himself.


He looks exactly like this, except more real of course.

 

[erik7181]

First off as you read through diffrent posts you"ll find most of us are unaware if our birds are M/F. Lol . Anyway get charlie some cool toys, plenty of fresh water and some healthy food based on his breed. Also leave a radio or a CD on for him well your away. Other then that you should be all set. Good luck Erik

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Billy and welcome to the forum, many people work, go to school or are away from the home for a variety of reasons, it doesn't seem your time away will be excessive, you'll want to buy a number of toys for Charlie to keep him amused, you can start by placing one or two toys in his cage at a time, and then rotate them out with new ones every few days, no need to throw the old ones out, just keep them in the rotation, that and keep spending your quality time with him and you should be fine, enjoy your stay here, lots of friendly members always willing to share great info and advise

 

[bogo1]

Welcome... Your Charlie sounds like a great bird and very lucky to have found you. Agree with all the advice on finding or making a bunch of toys (no metal... check out threads on making safe inexpensive toys) and rotating them... leaving on something for company. Try for lots of daylight in room, but be careful that cage won't end up in full sun during day while you are at school without Charlie having retreat from heat/sun. Then just enjoy. Oh.... and just a thought. If you use your computer for school in the room that Charlie shares...consider setting up frequent, automatic backups of your work. My old conure ,Sam, managed to scramble and erase a huge hunk of work on a thesis for me in about thirty seconds of exploring my computer keyboard several years ago.

 

[Ecclipse]

Making your own toys is fun and things like toilet rolls, wood blocks, torn up paper etc. are great amusement. Play the radio quietly as well during the day so that billy isnt sitting in constant silence. There are so many sights to do with homemade toys and your local petshop should have a good range.

 

[willwelsh816]

I was thinking on leaving the window open with the screen on and putting the cage near it so that Charlie could still try to make contact with the local wildlife, while still in his cage. I will head on over to the pet store with charlie to find some toys this weekend. Charlie is the kind of bird who wants attention 24/7 hahaha

 

[Ecclipse]

Charlie sounds so adorable. Its a good idea to put him where he can see whats happening outside. Just be careful that it doesnt suddenly turn cold and when you close the window before leaving check that there are draughts. This only has to be done once. I run my hand along the edges of the window with my fingers spread out to feel if there are any draughts blowing on my hand. I love shopping for toys for Rosie, I think I enjoy it more than she enjoys playing with it - lol!

Just some random info but when I got my first parrot I didnt give him enough time for sleeping and used to put him to bed late. He got very ratty but when I covered him earlier he got into the routine he began to not be so grouchy - hahaha. You have come to the right place - this forum is great!!!!

 

[willwelsh816]

yeah, charlie is very fun, i don't know if 3 years old is young for a cockatiel, I should do some more research. He definately has lots of character, but doesn't make much noise, unless he hears other birds outside, people outside, or when I leave the room for any reason. Whenever he hears a strange noise, he looks at me and tilts his head as if i could tell him what it is. He does the same thing whenever I play my guitar to him. I'm trying to teach him to sing, talk, or wistle(even tho I can't wistle).