Cockatiel question (new bird!)

[Gaevren]

We just got a cockatiel yesterday. We were told not to try handling him till Tuesday at least, to give him time to settle into his new home and calm down (I say him but it hasn't been sexed yet so who knows hehe).

 

But we were also told to weigh him or bring him in to be weighed if we didn't think he was eating during the settling in period.

 

So here are my questions-

 

How long should I wait for the bird to eat before I really need to get worried? I put food and water (seed/pellet mix given by the folks we got the bird from, as well as some fresh veggies) in the cage yesterday when we moved him into it, and changed it out this morning. I also put some millet spray in- the guy recommended we do that as they might be more inclined to eat it even if it is stressed from being moved. Well I didn't see any seed litter this morning, and our little guy (Spike) still hasn't touched any of his food or water.

 

I have a scale that weighs in grams, so I can weigh the bird here at home instead of subjecting the poor thing to another trip so soon, but how do I get him out of the cage without terrorizing him, or is that even possible? I don't think waiting till Tuesday is a good idea, especially if he doesn't seem to be eating.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[kitt79]

When we get new birds in at the store, they often don't eat for the first day. Sometime during the second day they generally go for the millet, and later on their food.

 

Make sure the food dish is in a secure place -- by that I mean maybe in the back of the cage where he feels nothing can get him while he's eating. Same with water, and make sure it's in a form he's familiar with (ie don't give him a water bottle if he's used to a bowl, or vice versa).

 

Is he very young? You may also be able to entice him with a little hand feeding formula either in a bowl or on the end of a long spoon.

 

I wouldn't be worried yet, they aren't as fragile as finches when it comes to not eating, but if he doesn't eat by tonight I'd be concerned.

[Gaevren]

Well, he didn't eat at all yesterday from what I could tell, or this morning- until I went to change the newspaper in the bottom! The cage has a slide-out tray so I slid it out and he immediately hopped to the bottom of the cage to check out what I was doing. He watched as I took it into the next room (big open space) and brought it back. When I put in the new paper he hopped up onto one of the food dishes, leaned over to get a drink of water, and ate a couple seeds. Woot!

 

Hurray Spike!

[Suzzique]

Glad to hear that he is eatting finally! Oh and you don't need to do a dna test for tiels. They are very easy to tell male from female. Males have solid colored tail feathers. Females have striped tail feathers. If you got him from a breader he should have been able to tell you.

[Gaevren]

Well ours has stripes and specks on the tail so I'm guessing female? hehe