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Anything special I need to know besides food, perch, and water? I gave it some toys, too, and he seems happy. He may have a cage tomorrow if noone on CL claims him. Speaking of him, any way to tell the gender?
You found a cockatiel? Just like that? Got pictures? Who’ll take care of him after you deploy? Is he friendly, or more like that rabbit you took in once?
Er… Sorry for all the questions.Hi Ski!
You might want to contact any other places like humane shelters, etc… not sure what you have out there. Not everyone checks craig’s list, but a lot of people have pet birds escape…
Please consider reporting him as ‘found’ on this page! http://www.911parrotalert.com/ and this one: http://www.birdhotline.com/
Birds can go a long, long ways… and the owners might be trying to do everything they can but might not be super local to you (the way a lost cat or dog might be…)
Other than that, for care, here are some links to get you started:
Diet: http://rationalparrot.com/diet.htmlHousing: A cockatiel cage minimum size should be at least 20″ wide, 20″ deep by 28″ tall. It’s very important that the bar spacing be smaller than the cockatiel’s head.
Perches: most pet shops sell those wooden dowel perches, or the plastic ones. They are terrible! They are an even width and smooth. Long term, this can cause serious foot and leg problems for the bird, because when they are not flying, parrots spend 100% of their time on their feet, even sleeping. Natural perches with varying widths, textures, etc are a must. Most pet shops sell these with large washers on one end to attach to the side of the cage. They may be labeled as manzanita wood or branches. ( http://www.birdcagestoreandmore.com/image_manager/attributes/image/image_44/1095442364_4238493055_thumbnail.jpg )
Other types of wood are okay too. Wood from fruit trees is generally safe, but you have to be sure that there were never pesticides on it. http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtmlToys, definitely. Some cockatiels like to play, some don’t…. it just takes time to learn what they like. Make sure to stay away from metal toys that might contain zinc, as parrots are prone to zinc toxicity.
If the bird has been outside… or really, any time you bring one home, he should see an avian vet. He could have picked up parasites while outside, or any number of avian illnesses (and I should warn you, some ARE communicible to humans. It’s rare but it does happen, and cockatiels tend to be a carrier for clamydia, psittacosis (parrot flu or fever) are two that parrots can and have given to people, especially young kids and the elderly). A vet check will also make sure he’s not malnourished from being outside, among other things. Make sure to see a vet that knows bids.. otherwise they might just BS you and it’ll be expensive for nothing. They should, at a minimum, run a gram stain (butt swab!) on the bird. Maybe take a blood panel.
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My art: featherdust.comAw look how tame! He was definitely a loved pet, at least at one point. Cockatiels tend to get ‘wild’ easy if they are not lovingly handled regularly.
If you can get me a photo of his wings spread, and underside of the tail (not the bumhole, but the tail feathers itself) I might be able to tell gender.
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My art: featherdust.comThanks Jen:) Esp for the info on the cage bars. He is in a dog kennel right now with lots of perches and toys, but the bars are too big. The PX didnt have a bird cage!!
I included a pic and yes, Justin and some friends just found him trotting around in a picnic area. A neighborhood guy stuck his finger out and the bird hopped right on… then Justin brought it home. He is very tame, but has tried to bite me twice already today. Guess he is not a morning bird. I actually think he is stressed out or pissed off or something. He is giving me that vibe. He loves to be on shoulders, though. I had called the HS last night after he was found, and left a message about a found bird, and I will call the vet when they open at eight. I dont want another pet… I have enough already and birds require too much attention. Justin wants one bad, but he is just not responsible enough. I am pretty sure it will go to the HS if no one claims it. I have had lots of interest in adopting it but I dont know what kind of home is good for a bird 🙁
Jennifer wrote:Aw look how tame! He was definitely a loved pet, at least at one point. Cockatiels tend to get ‘wild’ easy if they are not lovingly handled regularly.
If you can get me a photo of his wings spread, and underside of the tail (not the bumhole, but the tail feathers itself) I might be able to tell gender.
He must not have been out that long, then, though he did eat and drink like a demon when I put him in the cage.
I’ll try to get pics later, once he has cheered up some!! 😆 Thanks for all your info, Jen. I have sent a report to the first site and will do that again for the second in a few. Ihope his owner claims him… He is a nice bird with lots of personality.
Oh and by the way… I was so busy spewing info at you. For now seed is okay, especially if he lost some weight outside. It’s more important for him to get food in him than it is for it to be a perfect diet, for now. Depending on what his old owners were feeding him he might not warm up to a healthy diet right away anyhow… they can be as picky as children if they are used to junk food, veggies sound gross!
I don’t know if you cook much, but one other thing to keep in mind is that anything (ANYthing!) non-stick can release toxic fumes (odorless/colorless) when heated. Some studies say over 250°, some say over 500… either way, they kill birds, so if you have nonstick stuff and use it, be careful while Mr. cockatiel is living with you. 🙂
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My art: featherdust.comOk. Thats good to know. I googled last night, before I went and got bird food, and tried to give him some pineapple, lettuce, and carrots, but he was having none of it. One of the sites said it takes a while for a bird raised on seed to eat anything fresh. I will keep the option there for him, but he does not seem interested at all… Just like my kid!
skigod377 wrote:Anything special I need to know besides food, perch, and water? I gave it some toys, too, and he seems happy. He may have a cage tomorrow if noone on CL claims him. Speaking of him, any way to tell the gender?
Ski, if you’d like I can give you my mother’s email address and you can ask her anything you like. She has 10 or 12 tiels. 😀 She knows just about everything there is to know about them. 😉 She even inhierited a 25 year old tiel who’s owner regrettably died. Who immediately fell in love with one of her youngest tiels. No babys, as he’s far too old. BUT, another pair who doesn’t seem to like to sit on the eggs had 4 eggs one day in the food dish. So she gave them to the old bird and his girl, and “poof” babies! 😀 So she raised those too. LOL
He looks nice and chubby so he couldn’t have been gone too long.Oh wow! I hope that if he did just fly away, or get loose, that his owners will claim him, but if he was just tossed outside, then I hope that he/she does go to a good home!! He is so cute, and if I lived closer, I would like to adopt him–but then again, when my mom had a parrot, that thing hated anybody else but my mom, and so, he bit me enough for me to have a slight phobia of their beaks. I love them otherwise. 🙂
Do pet birds normally have tags or something on their legs? Would it be enough to identify the bird?
I love birds, but even compared to horses, they’re a lot of work! LOL. I know what you mean by having too much!Phoenix wrote:Do pet birds normally have tags or something on their legs? Would it be enough to identify the bird?
I love birds, but even compared to horses, they’re a lot of work! LOL. I know what you mean by having too much!Some breeders do band their birds. However this is usually just a number. Unless the breeder purchases special bands with their breeder code on it, you’d never even be able to locate the breeder.
Even if you locate the breeder… they usually get sold to pet shops, and it’d just be a dead end. It’d be a miracle if there was enough of a paper trail to locate the owner.
Most breeders don’t bother banding cockatiels though.Some people do micro-chip parrots, but sadly cockatiels are on the ‘minimum size’ to get microchipped and most vets will only chip birds larger than cockatiels.
Ski, yes! Cockatiels.. a healthy, well taken care of bird with a good diet, can live 25-30 years. My cockatiel, Feathers (hush, I named her when I was 4 years old!), lived to be at least 25. I had her nearly my entire life!
Parrots, even small ones, are long lived. Average cockatiel lifespan is 15-20 (just because many people still feed them seeds only).Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com
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