'Tiel and GCC Help

[BriGuy]

So, cover them as soon as it gets dark out, and take the cover off as soon as the sun comes up?

[Wolf]

Close ! Cover the cage at dark and uncover it before the sun comes up. I don't cover my birds but if I did I would uncover them at least an hour before sunrise as they need the twilight that comes with the dawn to match the one at dusk to keep their biological clock running accurately.

[Pajarita]

Correct. The key is no artificial lights whatsoever that would interfere with the twilight period so yes, you uncover BEFORE sunrise and cover after night falls -and, if the birds are kept in a human area, you need to use black-out material.
I feed my tiels and my GCCs the same thing: gloop with fresh produce in the morning (only the tiels get a large piece of leafy green and the GCC gets a large piece of fruit) and seed for dinner (budgie during the winter and cockatiel from spring to molt).

[Bguns]

Also, when I cover them/put them to bed, do I have to put them in a quiet room, because most of the time, someone is watching TV in the same room

[Wolf]

Well they would probably sleep better, but if the volume is kept very low it is possible for them to get accustomed to some noise without waking them up. Sort of like people in cities being used to the level of background noise in their city and then not being able to sleep well in a rural setting without this background noise or the background noises being so different than those to which they are accustomed to.

[BriGuy]

And for the diet, feed fresh foods in the morning. A vegetable or leafy green to the Cockatiel, and a fruit to the GCC? And then seed at dinner? What if they get hungry inbetween?

[Wolf]

First thing in the morning a fresh raw leafy green and 2 fresh raw vegetables for the cockatiel and for the GC a fresh raw leafy green, a fresh raw vegetable and a fresh raw fruit. About an hour later feed them both gloop which consists of 40% cooked whole grains, 40% cooked mixed vegetables and 20% cooked white beans and lentils. They should be given enough of both the fresh foods and the gloop to last until dinner time when you give them their seed mix. The seed mix should be removed from the cage when they go to sleep for the night. It is the only time that there should be no food in the cage to eat.
To be on the safe side start them off with about 2 tablespoons of gloop each and adjust so that there is very little waste.

[Bguns]

Do I have to make sure they both eat all of the veggies/fruits?

[Wolf]

No, you don't, in fact I prefer that there still be some in the cage to put in my compost at the end of the day. If the bird runs out of either the produce or the gloop before dinner is served then they need to be increased a little bit.