New cockatiel and first time owner needing guidance?

[Eto_Josh]

Hello everyone my name is Josh and me and my fiance whose also named Josh recently bought ourselves a 5 month old Pearl Pied female Cockatiel who was hatched around 2/12/14. We've had her for about 2 weeks now give or take and after having her for a while now I've come to realize we weren't as prepared as we thought we where when we brought her home.

Before buying our little avian friend we did out research using the internet to gauge what our bundle of joy would be like,we read books(all which were about 4-5 years out of date and not to many to choose from), and we visited a nearby parrot speciality store to socialize with different parrots before deciding on the breed we wanted. Even with all that preplanning and research I still feel like we missed a lot.

I know that her diet shouldn't be simply pellets and should be supplemented with veggies of all sorts,grains,fruits if she is so inclined to eat them,egg when they're molting.They're water should be changed often throughout the day.Giving a parrot routine is good for them and helps lessen they're stress levels.I also know that 10-12 hours of sunlight is best for our little firecracker so as to lessen the chances of her going into a breeding like state.They're forging parrots and love to shred things with their beaks.I also know that they are prone to night terror due to poor eyesight at night.

What I don't know is how much time is too much time in the cage?Is 9 hours is too much time left alone?(I ask this because in about three months I'm heading back to college and my school days run for about 8-9 hours a day,so should I consider buying her a companion and if I do what type of bird should it be if not another cockatiel I don't want another cockatiel because I'm afraid of them breeding on me if I get a male?).If I do end up on getting her another cockatiel will I need to buy another cage or will my 26x14x221/2 cage be enough for two cockatiels?What is the best way to give them an enriching life besides teaching her tricks and placing toys in front of her?Where s the best place to put her cage(because I'm completely confused on where to put it;I currently have it in our living against the wall facing the sun view window so she gets optimal sun time.

At times I feel like I'm doing the best that I can for my bird and then other times I find myself doubting everything I just did and know.

Advice,Tips,Pointers,or anything else you guys/gals are willing to give would be a great help.

Please and Thank you.

[Pajarita]

First of all, welcome to the forum, congratulations on your new bird and, if you are a good bird keeper, you will have the doubt of whether you are doing enough for the rest of your life so, if I were you, I would just accept this fact and don't obsess over it -LOL

Now, let's see... at 5 months of age, your bird has not gone through the juvenile molt so you still don't know if you have a male or a female because it's only after the molt that you will find out for sure (as the greatest majority of pearl males lose their 'pearls' on it).

The cage is too small even for one cockatiel, they are climbers and need height as well as width.

If the bird is a female and you want to avoid her laying off-season or chronically, you will have to do better than 10 to 12 hours of light and 14 to 12 hours of dark because they can still go into breeding condition with this schedule. The only way that is completely guaranteed is to keep them at a natural solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk and feeding lower protein during the resting season (winter).

Tiels don't do well on free-fed pellets, they end up with kidney issues. You need to feed whole grains with veggies and leafy greens for breakfast. Ideally, fruit too, but they are not big fruit eaters although they do like wild blueberries and pomegranate seeds (I think mostly because they are tiny and look like large seeds to them) but you should still offer them some every day (I had a couple of them that liked apples). They do eat veggies like baby peas, corn, cooked and finely diced carrots, baked sweet potatoes, etc as long as they are mixed with grains. For dinner, you can give a small portion of pellets and seeds or just seeds (I don't feed pellets but, if you are going to go that route, I recommend TOPs and no other).

I don't know why people say that tiels are so prone to night frights. I've had a flock of more than 30 tiels and they never had a single one. As a matter of fact, mine only had them when we moved back to the city and there was a sliver of light from a lamp across the street falling on their cage through the window - once I put blackout curtains on it, no more night frights. Besides, night at light will screw up the bird's endocrine system...

Now, if the bird is going to be by itself for 9 hours every day, I would get him/her a companion and I would get one of the opposite gender. I know that you said that you did not want the bird breeding but, in all honesty, tiels are such HUGE opportunistic breeders that, even if you have a hen and even if you follow the sun schedule faithfully and lower the protein in the winter, come spring, she will most likely lay eggs regardless of whether she has a mate or not. And, if you have a pair, they will not only be happier this way, you also don't have to actually breed them, all you have to do is switch the real eggs for fake ones (which you order online).

[Eto_Josh]

@ Pajarita First and foremost thank you for the advice and the welcoming invitation to the forum and secondly I hope your right seeing as I'm very nervous about this whole owning thing but I guess the best way to get over this fear is to face it head on.

On the subject about the cage being inadequate for our current single tiel what cage would you recommend for us to get?Currently our funds are a little tight and we don't have the means to go buy a cage right now but knowing in advance will really help and provide us with the time to find the best place to buy the new cage from.

So if I'm getting you correctly the best way to ensure that my tiel is hormonally correct is to get up with them in the morning around dawn and to put them to bed around dusk?The only issue I have with that now is that me and fiance wouldn't be too keen to waking up that early in the morning and then if we needed to go back to sleep being unable to because the bird needs something or attention;is exposing the tiel to dusk only not going to help them with their internal clock all the much if we choose when to uncover its cage and st And obviously once the brd is asleep give it a quiet environment to sleep in, and if that being the case should we move her cage out of our living room and move it into our bedroom?Since we spend a lot of our free time after hours in our living room and we can close our bedroom door if we plan on being loud, or should we just move her cage into our room at night when its time for her to go to bed?

I've heard Cockatiels can we very picky eaters and don't do well with being introduced to new foods and it can be stressful for them.What is the best way to get her to eat her new food without her begging for the usual feed of pellets?Not only that but what are the kind of grains I should be feeding her?Food her seed's to replace the pellets I'm feeding her what type or brand should I get?

Okay so covered dark cage is the best for my tiel got that.

On the subject of getting my tiel a companion you suggest a mate.So should I wait after the first molt to get a companion for my tiel so that I can get a male or should I return to the store where I bought this tiel and purchase the other tiel that was part of her clutch that was raised and hatched around the same time as this one?;I only ask this because I'm afraid that 1)the cage I have now won't be enough 2)I won't have enough funds to buy another tiel so quickly and 3)My current tiel won't welcome another tiel so quickly seeing as she has bonded so well with me and might no welcome another bird in their space.And if I do get a companion bird for my tiel will they still want human interaction or will they ignore me?

While all the advice was helpful and I feel a bit more well informed I'm feeling more and more distraught over me being one of the primary care givers and don't know if I can or will be able to provide the best home possible for not only a single parrot but two.

[Wolf]

Hi Josh and Josh ;

Let me start of by saying that I do not have cockatiels and that Pajarita is much more knowledgeable about them than I, and for that reason I was going to stay out of this.
Not a single one of us are able to provide our birds with the best home possible, we must accept that even with our best efforts we do well if we provide something that is even minimumly adequate for their needs.
I have no idea as to what time you rise or retire at night but you do not have to get up at dawn for your birds to benefit from it just leave their cage uncovered at night and they will receive dawns light when the sun rises. You may have to get creative to make it work for you but you should be able to work it out.
The best way to get them to eat their veggies is simply to eat them yourself in front of them and make a big show of how great they are. Once you get their attention build their desire for it by eating another bite or two and then offer them their very own very small piece of it. You may have to do this for a very long time and with the veggies prepared in many different ways such as chopped, diced, shredded, large pieces, small pieces, cooked and raw. except beans which must be fully cooked, and avocado which you just throw in the compost because they can't have it at all.
Last thing I wanted to touch on was mate for your bird. Never get a mate for your bird from the same place that you got it, you do not want brother and sister or other closely related birds. I know that you don't want to breed them but this is just good to do anyway.

[Pajarita]

Don't worry about the veggies, if you chop them up real small (you don't need to do anything with peas or corn) and mix them with the grains, he/she will eat them but you can use the technique Wolf told you about for the greens which all tiels like but some need more time than others to 'pick up'.

Don't worry about the second bird yet. Wait until yours is an adult and bonded to you before you go looking for another one (and it would be great if you adopted it from a rescue or somebody else instead of buying it from a store or a breeder -so many great birds out there without a good home...).

Don't worry about the cage yet if you are taking him/her out often during the day, he/she is a baby still and they need more company than they need room to move around at this point in time. Besides, you can always get a nice used cage in CL for much less than you would pay for a new one. As to size, the bigger, the better so, if you can find a, say, 32x36 or, better still, a 36x36 would be great!

And yes, up with dawn and to bed with dusk is the only sure way of controlling their sexual hormone production. Especially with tiels which are VERY prone to chronic and off-season laying. But it's like Wolf said, you don't have to get up before dawn for this to work. I know this couple that have a canary and a GCC (I gave them both birds) in their living room and, as they live in an apartment in Manhattan and he is an actor (works late at night) they have solved the problem by turning off the artificial lights in the living room when the sun is halfway down and. once it's dark, they cover the cages with blackout material so the lights from the kitchen, dining area and end table lamp doesn't reach them. Then, before the last one of them goes to sleep, they turn off all the lights and uncover the cages in the dark so they would have exposure to the sunrise the following morning. I do the same thing with a Senegal I have in my dining room, only I leave her cage covered (I cover all sides but the one that is against a window so she can get the moon and stars light) the entire night because my husband stays up late and comes down to the kitchen (which is next to the dining room) and turns on the light in there. I then get up early in the morning (5:15 am this time of the year -my husband thinks I am completely crazy! -LOL) and uncover it (the sky is just beginning to get light at that time) so she can have the sunrise but, in reality, I could leave her cage with just the one side open to the window and she would still get enough exposure to twilight to set her internal clock correctly but I am a bit of a maniac because I like to put out their fresh food no later than one hour after sunrise so I get up early for them.

[Eto_Josh]

Thanks for all the help everyone sadly we had to give up our little ankle bitter because our landlord told us we were going to be evicted if we didn't get rid of her. I was under the understanding that we could have birds as pets in our complex but we weren't. So today me and my fiancé gave her back to parrot speciality store we bought the bird from. It's been a long and sad day for me and hopefully down the road we can get another bird but for now I have an empty nest and heart.

[Wolf]

I am so sorry about you giving up your bird. I don't know how people can treat others that way, but I do understand. We had no choice but to but a place, when we could least afford it because we refused to give up our pets. We were able to find plenty of places some with up to four bedrooms, as long as we had neither pets or kids. Made no sense to us, but that's the way things were. So as I said I do understand and am sorry that things worked this way for you.
However, you have found us and in my opinion this is a perfectly good place to learn more about parrots of any species and we are always happy to share with you.