Unweaned or Weaned?

[Parroty]

Hello everyone,I am planning to get a cockatiel and I want a young one.But should I get a weaned one or an unweaned one? Btw I never kept a bird b4.

[Wolf]

First to answer you; always get a weaned bird.
Now with that done allow me to add to it. If you have found a breeder or person that is willing to sell you an unweaned bird, run and never look back. If they are willing to sell an unweaned bird to anyone, but especially to someone with no experience, run. This type of person can not be trusted to provide you with a healthy bird and if they said the bird is weaned, you could not trust this to be true. Run.

[Roonil Wazlib]

Weaned - Completely, utterly, very muchly weened. And i can tell you this from experience! I had no idea what i was doing, and she became over-attached. She's in another family now, but to this day she has issues when her person is not with her.

Your best bet, i think, would be to go to your local pet store and get one from there. In this environment they are already weened, and have been in a second environment, so coming hone with you should mean less stress, and they are less likely to regress. (wanting to go back to their weening food) which causes more problems, especially if you've never owned a parrot before.

[Pajarita]

Weaned but never from a petstore, they only buy from bird mills. Personally, for a tiel, I would go with the adoption of adults because tiels are easy to tame and always mild-mannered so getting an adult will give you the same chances of establishing a bond with it but also eliminate health issues that only become a problem when they become juveniles or adults. It's a win-win situation.

[Parroty]

Might as well as get the weaned one.Thanks!

[Wolf]

Since you have never had a bird as a companion before, I would like to be as much help as possible to you before you get your new friend. Because of this there are some things that I think that you should be aware of so that they can be a part of your decision making process.
Due to the basic personality of the cockatiel, I really think that it is a great choice for a first bird. I think that you should look at your schedule to see how much time you are likely to have to spend with the bird on a daily basis. Cockatiels are very smart birds, but like most other parrots they are also highly social creatures and require a lot of one on one time as well as just out of cage time. Being one of the smaller species and being a bit more timid in nature than some of the other parrots, having company, either from you or another bird is very important to their well being. For this reason, I usually suggest that these birds are acquired in pairs instead of as a single bird. I also think that you need to consider whether or not you have allergies as they are a bit dusty.
Due to the fact that bonding seems to almost always come into the equation with most people wanting a bird that will bond with them I would suggest volunteering at an avian rescue if one is available as you could easily find the right bird or birds for you there and while you are gaining some valuable hands on experience you have a chance of meeting the bird(s) that will choose you, so you know that it will bond with you. Also you can be certain of the birds personality.
When you get a bird from a pet store or from a breeder you run the risk of the bird not bonding with you after it goes through puberty and you won't know the birds true personality until it goes through puberty. So if any of these could be an issue for you then going through an avian rescue is the best way to go.
These are some thoughts that I have that might prove to be helpful to you so I thought that I should share them.