brianlinkles Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Hi! I love this forum, so I thought I would reach out and ask if anyone would give some advice about raising a cockateil. Our family currently includes a CAG, Lilac Crown Amazon & our daughters linnie. Our other daughter (11 years old) is very active in helping with our cag and amazon however the amazon is a rescue and is a bit difficult to handle, our cag is still very young and although she allows everyone in the family to handle her, I am her person and it is not that easy for my daughter to interact with her at times. This said Lili (my daughter) helps clean, feed etc. The linnie is owned my my high school age daughter (Christina) Lili does participate with the linnie but it's not the same as owning her own. Well, after saying "no more birds" (you know how that goes!) she fell in love with a baby lutino cockateil at our breeders store. So we put down the deposit, bought a lovely large cage, toys etc. and began waiting for him to get weaned. She wanted to know the sex, so we had a dna done, he is in fact a he and is now named "Orville". She loves history, we live in Dayton Ohio so she thought of Orville for the Wright brothers. Ok, I know this is a very long intro however, I have zero experience with a cockateil. We have both read a book on them, I have read about them on the internet but was hoping those of you with experience could give us some suggestions on how to handle him, what to expect, what type of toys? I feel like I know so much more about amazons & greys! I read that they cannot hold things in their feet the way that my other birds do. Does this mean no foot toys? Thanks in advance for any help you can give us! I'm going to let her read this, I think it is very important that she "owns" this whole experience! Of course as all of you parents know, I will be the main "over see-er" however I want her to also be very prepared. She is so excited, we visit him several times a week, he is eating well however they think it will be another two weeks. It's so strange because I have formula fed both my grey and our linnie until they were weaned. However our breeder will not allow this with cockateils. They said it is very difficult to wean a cockateil on it's own so they don't allow them to go until weaned for at least a week or two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Some of my Tiels do hold the occasional piece of millet spray in their feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianlinkles Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Some of my Tiels do hold the occasional piece of millet spray in their feet. Wow, I guess I shouldn't believe everything that is written! That's good to know, so I guess maybe some small foot toys would be appropriate! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have a tiel that dropped in on me a couple of summers ago but to be honest I have never seen her hold something with her foot but that doesn't mean she can't. They are adorable little birds, I had not been interested in them before but I got a quick lesson and mine has been a delight. She is not a loud bird and very inquisitive when she is out, flys about the room and seeks me out because she wants to be close to me. I can handle her very easily and she isn't scared to too much but sometimes when she is on me and my sun conure is too the sun will run her off but she doesn't go far. Tiels are capable of biting but mine doesn't do anything but peck at me, it just takes a little time for them to come to letting you handle them, just talk to him and be around him and he will want to be with the rest of you. I love to see mine when she goes on alert, that crest comes all the way up, very beautiful birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Wonderful, 'Tiels are wonderful parrots, a few notes if I may...'Tiels are fairly easy to sex, only the males are the singers. Sometimes, a female will have white spots under the tail. 'Tiels do not require much fruit, maybe a small bit of fruit a day. Their pellets should not be fruit flavored. They are a seed eater. This they require but no sunflower seeds. It is known from our personal experience and also something that can be researched on the web that in certain cases, they should not have a sunflower seed mix but sub a safflower seed blend instead. A good choice is Volksman or Royal and a very good seed that we feed our fids (don't laugh) is the Universal Blend for Medium to Large Beaked parrots at Walmart. Just remove the black oil sunflower seeds (if they get one or two it doesn't matter) With this diet, they should also be fed once a day a small amount of dark leafy green veggies like Swiss Chard, Kale, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Bok Choy, carrots (cooked or shredded), sugar snap peas, broccoli, frozen (cooked) mixed veggies, brown rice (cooked) and pasta (cooked), a small amount of cheerios, corn on the cob (occasionally), hard boiled egg (twice a week). Since this is a new baby, you can fix boiled sweet potato or yam with a dab of peanut butter (organic with palm oil Jif or Laura Scudders) and this will provide extra protein. This diet is complete for proper health and nourishment for the health of a Cockatiel. What we do about pellets is...we have three large birds who each eat a different kind of pellet so we take a couple of each to give to the 'Tiels. Make a variety of the foods mentioned above and you will have a lot of waste to start with but in the end, you will have a beautiful healthy bird. As a side note...two 'Tiels are as easy to take care of as one. You can get yourself a female from a completely different breeder and it doesn't matter if it is a Grey, a Lutino or an Orange-Cheek. Color is the outcome of the male. They are extremely easy to breed which is something your daughter could do since they should not be bred until at least a year old so you don't give them any stimulating toys or feed them an egg-laying diet until you are ready to breed them. A bonded pair of 'Tiels are not the same as a bonded pair of Greys, etc. as long as you keep constant care and quality attention to them. When they do lay the eggs, they will become standoffish. Another nice benefit of breeding Cockatiels is you can do what we call "surrogate parenting". Since you have to clean the nest box daily, from the start you are touching the chicks. So you start at seven days holding them, cuddling and loving them, letting them feel your body warmth for a few minutes each day. You increase the amount of the time spent with them and by the time they fledge, they are well accustomed to humans. At around 5-6 weeks, you can feed them warm baby formula with a spoon but not as a main meal, just as a supplement. Unfortunately, we never got to try this with any other species but Green-Cheek Conures. Enough...just passing on interesting information. Jayd and Maggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgwalker Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I breed Tiels and love them. If socialized properly they are great companion birds for all ages. They come in a variety of color mutations and sexing can be easy or difficult depending on their coloring. I have 8 cockatiels and generally they do not hold objects with their feet. They play with their beaks and love to forge and shred paper. They are an easy bird to breed. However they get a little snippy when protecting babies or eggs. The males are singers and will sing/dance for attention where the females are generally quiet. There is a great forum on cockatiels: http://www.talkcockatiel.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Some Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I have had tiels for over 40 years and they are a great small parrot to have. All of my cockatiels were and are tame and shoulder sitters. Most of my male tiels talked. I had one tiel that could say over 25 words and was king of the house. I have one tiel now that is 21 years old the other one is 7 years old. I loved them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianlinkles Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Wow! I love the pictures! We just came back from the breeders and Orville is getting so big. Lili and I were so surprised at his wing span! He looks just like the lutino in the above pictures. (I guess they all look very similar, however the breeder said his coloring was very pretty, which I do think it is!) He is so cute, there were a couple of times that I was holding him and talking to someone and when I looked down at him he had his head cocked and looked like he was totally paying attention to our conversation! He has a cute little whistle! Lili is so excited to get him home, he is eating solid food well and is on two feedings, they said he will take one little bit of the formula and then refuse. I am hoping within the next few weeks he will be able to come home! I am wondering Dorothy our cag is very laid back do you think it will be possible to allow them supervised on the java tree together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWIX Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I loved the photos, awesome information, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Thanks all, this is just some of our 'Tiels, We have a bird[bed]room for the smaller birds, our larger birds will fly in the room and pay the 'Tiel's no mind, the large birds are all afraid of the tiny Green cheek conure...lol Always be careful.. What you want to do is "introduce" your new baby to flock", you'll be able to judge any reaction then. Thanks Jayd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Love the pictures!! I have been wanting a riel, but am trying to convince myself I have enough birds for now....but this thread isn't helping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianlinkles Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Thank you all so much! I knew this forum would come through! This forum is making me so excited for Lili's baby to come home! We bought a really nice big cage for him (it just amazes me the "so called cockateil cages in the pet store!") Our breeder showed us the size cage that would work, I have to say at first I was surprised how large it should be! I now feel like standing in the cage aisle at the pet stores and telling people to run away from the small cages! I am hoping that Dorothy and Orville will be able to hang out on the tree together. I will introduce him very slowly and see what happens. I do have one other question, the cage we bought does have a nice play area on the top however Lili saw a fun looking play type stand that was made out of a lucite type material. It had many, many different areas, toys, ladders etc. She would love to get that for Orville, my only concern is it going to be too slippery? Any thoughts? Does anyone have anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 You Can wrap the perches in vet wrap if they are slippery and you have your heart set on the lucite one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) OK Penny here is little one and she has been with us for 7 years and is a rehome that was found on the roof of a house. She is very sweet and loveable. And there is Willie our 21 year old male. I think you need a cockatiel. They are a small parrot with a BIG PERSONALITY. Edited April 14, 2012 by Ray P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 OK Penny here is little one and she has been with us for 7 years and is a rehome that was found on the roof of a house. She is very sweet and loveable. And there is Willie our 21 year old male. I think you need a cockatiel. They are a small parrot with a BIG PERSONALITY. troublemaker... I do know that there will probably be a rescued one in my future one day...I look all the time..don't know if I can handle another BIG PERSONALITY with Nilah's BIG HEAD!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Your tiels are beautiful btw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 A funny story, and a good example: For Hammy, our tame Orange cheek we bought him Preatty-mama, a nice plump Cinnamon. Their 1st clutch the gave us, a Fawn, a Cinnamon Pearl-pied and a White Faced Lutino..... Their 2nd clutch: A Yellow-wing Cinnamon, a Cinnamon Orange-cheek, This continued till we stopped their breeding. Thanks Jayd I'll post photos later.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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