Adopting a cockatiel from a rescue?

[caseymayyne]

I'm not sure how old he's going to be, but he will most likely be a little older. I already have a lovebird, and I'm not sure where to put the cockatiel's cage. Would it be bad for them to be on either sides of the room where they could see each other?
What is the best way for me to get him used to his new surroundings?
Another question: How do I go about socializing an older cockatiel? It was hand raised, but I don't know how tame he still is. He was bonded to his old owner so I'm thinking it's going to be difficult.
What is the best way to get this cockatiel to bond to me?
Any advice at all would be great, thanks.

[Jessica M]

I know it's a little late for a reply but i say no one else answered your question, rescuing a bird can be a great thing to do,but since it is bonded to it's old owner you can expect to be bitten.When you first bring it home i would keep the cockatiel separated from your love bird in different rooms in your house because the cockatiel will be stressed and scared you don't want to add to it by the other bird chirping.Sometimes it can take 2 weeks or more for a bird to get used to it's surroundings.Socializing won't be too hard if you get it bonded to you,just have a strong step-up commend invite people over your house and when ti bird steps up on other peoples fingers give him a treat.

[GlassOnion]

My cockatiel is secondhanded.. more like thirdhanded.
He lost his female cockatiel mate, and came to me. Honestly, he never seemed depressed over it and seemed to rather have forgotten about it.
But one thing, it really is hard to break old habits. He hates being touched, and still has the reflex bite, even though he trusts me much more now. You just need a lot of patience with rehomed birds I think, especially if they're shy or haven't been taught manners very well.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Keeping the bird in another room at first is a good idea from a quarantine standpoint as well, if you can do that. If not, I personally suspect it would be better for them to be able to see each other than to be in the same room but tucked in corners out of sight. When we brought Scotty home, although not a rescue, he was used to a busy bird store/breeder and I think being able to see and hear another bird was actually helpful. We did try to keep them out of sneeze range for a month and didn't cross-handle them during the quarantine period.