Hello everyone- Roy

[Wolf]

Sometimes they take a little while, so be persistent as well as patient and you will succeed and it is well worth the time it takes.

[Victor]

They are strange birds. I was showing him off to my mom. As a have gotten so fare with him. When I opened my mouth he put his head inside to check out my teeth. So I closed it. With his head inside. It is know a trick. The funny part is he trust me not to bite his head off. but he don't trust my hands.

[Wolf]

Please be careful, Victor, with the head in the mouth thing. Yes, it is cute, but you contain some bacteria in you mouth that could be harmful to your bird. Just so that you as aware of this.
Also since I just noticed it, you have a cockatiel and a Grey parrot, both of these birds are dust birds and you may wish to consider an air purifier or two. They are great things to have when you have dust birds.

[Victor]

Also since I just noticed it, you have a cockatiel and a Grey parrot, both of these birds are dust birds and you may wish to consider an air purifier or two. They are great things to have when you have dust birds.[/quote]

6 or 7

You have no idea how bad I want one. I don't know what I wouldn't do to get one... Um I think I better just stop. This is a family site.

[RoyH]

hey friends,
1-yesterday i switched Paul's seed bowl with a bowl filled with mixed vegetables at an early hour...unfortunately he didn't approach his bowl all day, i couldn't keep him starving :/ so i passed through a market at night and found an interesting meal box for cockatiels and Australian birds: it s made of a variety of seeds mixed with Australian fruits... so Paul had these stuff at his dinner... and u guys had to see him digging and gulping his meal... i m not sure if it was a gd idea to get him such stuff, but he was happy:/
and i was wondering, does sunflower seeds cause any harm for cockatiels?

2-Paul has been losing his feathers abundantly since i got him... and he s feeling so itchy... so i searched for such case on Google, and the answer was that Paul is molting... i m afraid that this unstable diet of his, isn't suitable for a molting period... even mashed hard eggs isn't on his menu.

i would appreciate any helping tip. and thank u in advance.

[Wolf]

The truth is that he is being stubborn as like all parrots he is suspicious of new foods, but he is not starving. Try offering him some romaine or kale in addition to his veggies for breakfast and take a few bites of it yourself making a big fuss about how good it is. At this point with Paul being on such a high protein diet, yes sunflower seeds are bad for him. Once his diet is improved a bit more then some sunflower seeds will be fine. He eats seeds as a natural part of his diet but no where to the extent that he gets them as a captive bird and that is why they cause a problem.
As for the seed and fruit mix that you gave him, I see no harm in that as long as the fruit didn't contain additives that could be harmful to him. Paul is a parrot and parrots are herbivores and don't need to eat animal proteins such as eggs.
It is a little late in the season, I think for him to be molting, but this is not unusual so if you can get it try spraying him down with a mix of water and aloe vera. You want 100% aloe from the whole leaf and mix it half aloe and half water and spray him down like you are giving him a bath. The aloe will not hurt him as it is actually good for them and it will help relieve the itching and soften the pin feathers too.

[Pajarita]

He won't eat just chopped vegetables, Roy, you need to put half cooked grains and half veggies and then they only eat certain veggies, not all of them. Mine love corn and chopped broccoli but will also eat sweet peas, especially the baby ones, and carrots that were cooked soft and chopped small. He likes the 'Australian' food because it has seeds, all parrots love seeds and they are not bad for them, per se, but you have to use the lower protein/fat ones for tiels (no sunflowers).

[RoyH]

hey guys, it is been like 3 months since i got paul from the pet store:) he s doing well, showing extraordinary behavior; flapping wings, playing around its cage, and screaming all day long lol:) yes screaming, strange callings... he doesn't whistle, or make different sounds, and still very shy and freaks out when i approach ... i m starting to doubt its gender honestly, cz i v read alot about male cockatiels showing pretty much sociable behavior and whistle, mimic sounds frequently and make some sounds of his own...unlike paul. Unfortunately here where i live, it s kinda very rare to find an aviary vet to check up on him for DNA blood test, knowing that this facility is more dedicated to raise chickens in farms not aviary pets here... so i m kinda confused:D

[Wolf]

Roy, how much time do you spend on a daily basis, just hanging out with Paul, talking to him and such while standing or sitting near his cage? I am asking this as he should be used to you by now and trusting you enough to interact with you without wigging out. Cockatiel do much better when there are two of them rather than being alone. But still, I am thinking that no one let you know that he will need a lot of time spent with and soon on you. They need time out of the cage to explore and to fly about the room for exercise, but especially since he is alone, he needs you. At this point in his life you are still his surrogate parent and he needs you to spend time with him He also depends on you to teach him what he needs to know to live with you because he doesn't know. He doesn't even know that a lot of vegetables are even food, which is why he doesn't eat them. You, as his caregiver need to show him which things that you bring to him are food, you can do this best by eating it while if front of him so that he sees you eat it and begins to want some. He will let you know that he wants some of it, and when he does you need to give him a small piece of it.
At this point, I am thinking that there are mainly two reasons for his screaming and they are that he is hungry or he is lonely and needs you to be there for him. Of course, there could be screaming if he is in pain, but I am hoping that this is not the case, he hasn't hurt himself, has he or acting like he doesn't feel well ?

[Wolf]

Still got you and Paul on my mind, and I got to thinking about your statement that Paul freaks out when you approach. My question is are you sure that he is freaking out or could it be that Paul is just very excited to see you approaching him?