Thanks for helping

[sarahof]

Hi! I adoore birds andI just got a baby cockatiel, my first bird, last Sunday! I joined here just in case I had any questions. I'm not sure what to name the bird yet, we aren't sure of its gender, but I've been calling it Pudge and my family's been calling it Floyd. The seller said he/she was about 2 months old, but I don't know if that's true cause when she sold him she didn't give us much information about the species and told us to buy seeds as an everyday food. We already took him to the vet for a check up and he's all healthy! The vet said he was young, but we don't know the exact age.

The bird is really loud whenever we leave the room. I've tried to make a contact call like a lot of websites say to but it's not working, I was wondering if you have any advise? I'm in high school, so I don't have much time during the weekdays but I have him out every second the moment I get home and my mom has him out for hours while I'm away. My older sister and my dad don't really like the bird, and my other siblings and mom say he can't get loud. The noise doesn't bother me at all, and my mom thinks it's okay when he chirps normally and hasn't said the noise he makes when we leave bothers her yet. I was wondering if there's any way to train him to be more independent while he's still young. We've bought him tons of toys and a mirror and I always play music in my room. I can't put him downstairs cause my dad is heartless and hates animals.

I can't even go to the bathroom.

[Wolf]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Where did you get the bird from, a breeder or a pet store? Do you know the age of the bird? You should set up an appointment with an avian vet for a health exam and its first blood panel to establish the base line values for your bird.

Although a pet store is not allowed to let an unweaned bird to leave the store, this still happens a lot and/or the bird may regress to an unweaned stated due to the stress of moving to a new home, this makes it possible and even likely that you will need to supplement the food that you are currently giving the bird with some soft food, most likely twice a day, until the bird reweans itself. I am pretty sure that regardless of where you got this bird that you were not told that you need to teach the bird to eat a large variety of fresh raw vegetables and fruit, most of which should be organic due to their sensitivity to many of the agricultural chemicals used on the plants.

Birds are also much more sensitive to many household products that we are accustomed to using. For this reason I am including a link to a list of toxic and non toxic plants, foods woods and household items that you need to read right away. The actual list begins on the second page of the posting. http://www.theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12521

With this being your first bird, please take the time to read as many of the postings on the forum as you can as they are full of information that you will find useful. Also please do not be bashful, ask as many questions as you want to, there is a lot of information as well as misinformation available to you on the internet and it can become very confusing for a new bird person and we can help you sort it all out, if you let us by asking for any information that you might need or want about your bird.

[sarahof]

I stated in my question that I had taken the bird to a vet, and have also done tons of research and reading for at least a year before I got him. I bought him from a breeder at a convention, and made sure there was nothing that could irritate him in my house. He's just a baby and I think he wants attention, but I don't know how to stop him from screeching whenever I leave the room.

Thanks for the response, I will!

[Wolf]

At the time that I posted my reply your post stopped at your family calling the bird Floyd. Enough about that though as it isn't really all that.

The screaming is his contact call and probably the best that you can do about it is to use a one or two note whistle in answer to his contact calls. It will take a bit of time to work but he will pick up on it and begin to use it instead, but you must use the same whistle everytime that you answer him.

The reason for his calling is that he is afraid and wants you to keep him company so that he is not all alone and afraid. Parrots regardless of species are flock animals and cockatiel are even moreso. They are never alone in their natural environment from the time they are just an egg until the time of their death. They depend on their flock for protection from predators as well as for security and a sense of well being. A lone bird in the wild will soon be a dead bird and so he calls to locate you, hoping that you will come to him since he can't go to you. He is taking a big risk by calling because as a lone bird calling he would also be attracting the attention of the predators as well.

Cockatiels are ground foragers and the do eat a lot of seeds, although they are not dried out seeds , they are the young immature seeds mostly of the native grasses, but they also eat some of the vegetation as well as some fruit. Seeds alone are too high in fats and carbohydrates and deficient in essential amino acids and many vitamins and minerals. They like leaf lettuce and will usually eat that right off without a lot of prompting, but you are in the role of its parents and you will need to teach it what to eat and hoe to play with the toys that you get for him. You will have to make or buy foraging toys and teach him how to forage for the food that you place in them. Foraging toys can be as simple as a cupcake paper with a piece of a tree nut or produce wrapped up in it. Foraging will help to keep him occupied and help him to become a bit more independent as well as keep his mind busy so that he is not overly bored.

[sarahof]

Thanks again, sorry about me editing the post lol. I've just been taking him around the house with me when I'm home. Tonight, though, we had him downstairs while watching Star Wars and he started falling asleep so I took him upstairs to his cage and put him on a perch. He jumped to the floor of the cage and went to the corner and fell asleep there though! I kept trying to put him on his perch and he kept jumping down. I know this is a sign of illness, but since he is a baby does it mean the same thing as it would if he was an adult?! Please help, I'm really worried!! We took him to the vet last Wednesday and he was fine!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post a question

[Chantilly]

Thanks again, sorry about me editing the post lol. I've just been taking him around the house with me when I'm home. Tonight, though, we had him downstairs while watching Star Wars and he started falling asleep so I took him upstairs to his cage and put him on a perch. He jumped to the floor of the cage and went to the corner and fell asleep there though! I kept trying to put him on his perch and he kept jumping down. I know this is a sign of illness, but since he is a baby does it mean the same thing as it would if he was an adult?! Please help, I'm really worried!! We took him to the vet last Wednesday and he was fine!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post a question

It is fine where you asked it, My lorikeet sleeps on the bottom of her cage, it is a habit for her. It might also just be a habit for you baby, just keep a close eye on him
Oh, also welcome tothe forum! Its great to have you here!

[liz]

He was sleepy but knew if he went in the cage he would be trapped an unable to get to you when he woke up. My Amazons want to be with me all the time. I don't think it is because they are afraid. I don't remember the last time I went to the bathroom alone.

I closed the door once and when I opened it there were 2 dogs, 1 cat and Rambo waiting for me.

[Wolf]

Yes, it would mean the same thing regardless of the birds age, but there are usually other signs that you can see at the same time that the bird is remaining on the bottom of the cage. In the case of your bird, he is just more comfortable with sleeping on the bottom of the cage, it is more like sleeping in a nest for him so he just feels safer and more secure. When he feels more secure he will move to sleeping on the perch all by himself, so you don't need to keep putting him there, just let him sleep where he wants to.

[sarahof]

Okay, thanks! I'll let him be for now. Whenever I leave him in the cage and leave the room, which I hardly ever do, he always panics and when I come back there is always poop smeared somewhere on him. I came back recently today and found this



Is poop stuck to his feathers there a sign of disease or just cause he was scared or what?

He also makes this small screechy noise and bobs his head. I read that this is a baby thing but what does it mean?

[Wolf]

If there is not a grate on the bottom of the cage then he is able to walk in his own poops. If that is the case then it could be normal if he panics.
The noises and the head bobbing behavior sounds like he is begging. He could be begging because he is hungry, do you feed him any soft food or weaning formula. He probably needs either of them twice a day. He could also be begging for attention, so how much time does he get with someone each day?