I have a new bird

Well..needless to say I couldn't come home alone. My intentions were to go "look" and buy bird seed at the bird show today. BUT I found these extremely sweet cockatiels! As this happened my husband called to see what was at the show so I told him I was playing with a cockatiel and said "If you want to get it, bring it home" So...had he not called I wouldn't have gotten her. So now I don't feel guilty!
The one I picked out is I guess a normal gray and she's a 3 month old handfed (they said they thought she was female, a few people checked her vent area and said female)
She's starting to whistle and she's not at all phased or distracted by hearing other birds, which is perfect for me.
My budgie loves to be out of his cage, but will only sit with you for so long. My cockatiel hasn't even been in her cage yet. She will get on top of it then come right back for you to pick her up. I haven't had a cockatiel since I was little...so if anyone has any advice they'd like to share, I'm all ears! Thanks in advance!
-Mandi
PS. She's already been introduced to different kinds of fruits and veggies, is that a good thing, or is she too young for that yet?

 

Congratulations, I know what you mean about bird shows thats why i never go anymore as i would come home with lots of birds hehehehe. Cockatiels are great birds.
At 3months old there is no way of knowing a male from a female even by checking the vent as this can be misleading, A DNA sexing test is the only way to be sure at the age.

Unless both parents are normal greys and they have only come from normal grey bloodlines then you will have a female.

I have a 4month old normal grey from Meeko's last clutch and still can not tell sex of this one.

Hopefully you will have a female as they are easier to train and prefer to be with people than other birds.
They say that only the males whistle different tunes and the females only have one tone but i dont believe that as my females can sing better than the males and pick up different tunes very easily

Her eating fruit and vegtables at this age is great as i think its always better to start them young then you can watch and see what they prefer and you know to cut out the things they dont like.

Hope to see some pics, Again congrats on the new addition..

Mike

 

Oh good, I like to hear good news. I wasn't sure if they could tell when she's this young, because at only 3 months? That seems a bit early. Before I thought I'd rather have a male because I didn't want the female to lay any eggs because I was afraid she'd get mean. I'm happy with my bird no matter what sex it is. So now I just have to come up with a name that fits both genders! She's so sweet, when she's on my shoulder and I talk to her she "whispers" back to me like she's having a conversation. Also I was wondering if that thingie-do on top of thier head (what's that called anyways?) has anything to do with how they are feeling, if they are happy, or mad? To me they look kinda angry when they put it down, and happy when it's up. Just curious. I know when you get a bird you should always leave it be for a couple days to adjust to it's new surroundings, but she seems so comfortable and loves being handled I thought it would be alright for her to hang out with me. Is this ok? Since I just got her I'm going to keep her in my room for the first month then probably move her to the living room next to my other bird...just to be on the safe side. I got her from the lady that runs the bird show, so I'd hope she's a healthy bird! But I know you can't always tell either, so I'll keep him away from my Trouble for a month. Thanks for your help!
-mandi

 

Congratulations on your new Cockatiel

I have never owned a hand-reared one and can only imagine how much fun they would be!! I hope that I can have a few soon as I am attempting to hand-raise when my eggs hatch.

With my birds I tend to think that they are happy when their crest is down, that's when I find them singing or chatting to each other and usually their crest goes up when they are alarmed, curious, or listening to me talk to them. I suppose they seem happy either way, I have never really thought about it.

Anyway I hope you and your cockatiel have heaps of fun together. They are an amazing bird and from what I can gather when they are tame they are really easy to keep training.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for your support. I feel kinda....bad I guess, I don't know how to describe it, as I just found new homes for all but one of my budgies and also various zebra finches. I bred them for a short time as a hobby because I just plain love birds, and my husband and I just bought a trailer and we were going to set up the smaller of the 2 rooms for my bird room, well the bank took forever to give us the loan even tho we were approved the next day (we ended up switching banks) and in the meantime of all this waiting I became pregnant...so I had to give up my birdroom so we can make it into a nursery. I was sad to see all my feathered babies go, tho we are so excited about having a baby, this is our first. But anyways after finding homes for all my other birds...I came home with one today. This *is* the end of birds for me until the little one grows up and if he/she decides on wanting a bird...then I can start over
So far the cockatiel isn't real fond of her new cage. I put her on top of it while I put the bedding in there and food and water, and she tried to hop back over to me, so I let her sit on my shoulder, then once I got it all spiffed up for her I put her in. She got on a perch, but climbed back over to me. I can't get over how sweet she is. My budgie is a whole other story, he likes to be out of his cage as well, but would rather check things oout himself. Tho he will sit with me for awhile, until something more interesting comes along. Well, I guess I better finish bird-proofing my house a little better, we're still trying to get situated here at the new place.
And good luck with your babies, be careful...they are addicting! Very fun tho...I love that hobby. Well, feel free to e-mail if ya wanna chat birds,
mandi1081@hotmail.com
-Mandi

 

Congratulations on your pregnancy, I have three kids and not one of them is interested in my cockatiels!!

It sounds like your Cockatiel is attached to you already, I would try gently putting her inside the cage and shutting her in for a few hours so she can get some rest, food etc,

If you leave her for a few hours she will adjust to her cage and eventually come to like it, then let her out when your not busy and have time to spend with her.

It would be hard for me because I would want to have her always with me as well but I guess they have to learn to have time out to be a bird as well.

With my friends Cockatiel, when she shuts him in his cage, he continually whistles, mimics the phone and talks his way into getting let out again!! He is a very persuasive bird and he usually gets what he wants!! :mrgreen:

I can't wait till my eggs hatch I am anticipating some very exciting months ahead and I am very excited!!

I will keep you posted, Thanks