Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Pajarita]

Rambo is your parrot and only you can decide.

[liz]

Myrtle found an empty cardboard box in the closet in Rambo's room. She is spending more time in there and it has cut down on the calls going through the house. Rambo is not bothered by her being in his room and goes on with his own little routine.

Myrtle has started doing things she knows she is not allowed to do. If I don't notice she will make a noise for me to find her and tell her to get out or stop or no. She immediately stops and does what she is told so that I will tell her she is a good girl.

I am beginning to believe that Tweet is female. I was told he was male. I found an egg and he/she is the only one tending to it. I left it and found a second the next day. All I know to do is leave them until he gets tired of them.

Gimpy still does not want to come out. When I separate his cage to clean it he will get away from it. His wings have not grown back yet but he has picked up speed with his flapping. I have been doing this on purpose to have him test his wings. When I put the cage back together he goes right back in. I still have not touched him.

[Pajarita]

If you found a second egg the next day, it was another hen that laid it because tiels lay every 48 hours, not every 24.

You are going to start noticing more and more changes in Myrtle's behavior now that she turned four because this is the age when they start reproducing. She was a baby before...

[liz]

Myrtle is 5 now and she went through her first season this past spring. That was the first time she presented her head for scritches.

Tweet was one of my later birds so she is not adjusted yet to the routine. Just like Lola it is probably the first time.

[Pajarita]

It doesn't matter if they are used to the routine or not, tiels cannot physically produce an egg in 24 hours.

OK, five then. It doesn't really matter, the point is that she is now ready for a mate and that changes their behaviors.

[liz]

Tweet is 2 years old and Jackie's baby. Jackie was not really socialized but knows her name and holds her ground as long as my hands are out of sight she is okay. Tweet got no interaction so much so that they did not even name him. He has no trust in me but I am trying to help him not be afraid. He/she now has 3 eggs. I think it will learn trust because of it's eggs. I put the eggs in a little box to keep them from rolling. It is learning that I will not take it's eggs and that even when I clean the I do not harm the eggs.

[liz]

Myrtle has finally chosen her "nite nite" place. She found an empty cardboard box on the top shelf of the closet in Rambo's room.

[liz]

I have been pulling the curtains closed at 5 pm, turning of their "sunlight" and just leaving a dim overhead light while they eat their supper. By 6 pm I have the room dark, not even a night light. I hear a lot of tweeting and moving around for about an hour like the wild birds did in the back yard in NC. (multiple species nested in the big redtip bushes in the back yard. I thought it was hilarious to hear all the different languages going on) I understand that it is normal for them to communicate while settling down for the night. Because I wake up at 5 am, for no reason and don't get a nap anymore, I start closing down the house at 7 pm. By 8 pm the house is dark and quiet. At about 9:30 one of those little boys start to sing. Then others join in. Some time it sounds like a lead singer with his backup group. What is causing this? They may hear me moving around at 6 am and start with their singing while everything is still dark. I don't know which one is starting it since I have not learned the voices of the resent rescues and they get quiet when I go to the door during the day. Should I be concerned that they mimic the outside birds in their schedule? I hear the singing starting right now.
There are 4 eggs now. Tweet still does not come to me (probably because he knows he can't fly) but has accepted that I will not harm his nest so this may be the way I can get him to loose his fear of me.

[liz]

I think I have figured out Rambo's eating problem. He has his own room with his own window so does not come out much. Myrtle is a begger and has her own place at the dining room table so we can share rather than have our food stolen. Rambo has been eating alone.
Since Myrtle is spending more time in Rambo's room, today I will work on getting the play patio set up again and start setting up their food to be shared like they used to.

[Pajarita]

You can't pull the curtains closed and leave a dim overhead light. They need the change in spectral distribution that happens at twilight and you are just doing a 'dim light' which is NOT twilight and it doesn't do anything to set their internal clock. You need to leave the curtains open and turn off all the artificial lights - then, when it's already night and they are all asleep, you can draw the curtains if this is what's needed to keep the room completely dark - but then you would have to open the curtains at 6 am. If you don't follow the instructions to the letter and keep on doing your own interpretation of diet and light schedule, you are never going to get them attuned to the seasons, Liz.