Eep!

[EmberSanja]

I was originally going to get a cockatiel/similar sized bird, but a CAG came up for $250 and my father jumped on the chance before I could blink! I'm worried about how the bird will adapt, since she's coming from NJ to WI to a whole new family (but same cage, food, toys, etc. though I'm going to try to get her off of the Lefeber's fruit blends and onto TOPs)
She's three years old and will be here in about two days! I'm a little worried about how well I'll be able to care for her, so I'd appreciate it if anyone would look at my update next week or so (maybe even the day after I get her) in the "General Parrot Care" part of the forum about how everything is going and what I'm doing so you can catch any bad behaviors of mine early on.
Any tips right away? How much do I feed her? Like, two tablespoons in the morning, some to munch on throughout the day, two more tablespoons at night? (Of pellets, fruit/vegetables will be offered at the same time as the pellets and throughout the day)
Three means no puberty, though she won't be fully sexually mature until six, right? What behavior can I expect from that? Ah!
Thanks for reading, and any possible advice!!

[Wolf]

She should have gone through puberty, so the personality that she develops should be the way that she remains for the rest of her life, but know one can really tell you what behaviors to expect because this is an individual bird type thing and you have the individual in question. I will tell you that if she chooses to bond with you that you will need to spend lots of time with her, as you will become her mission in life.
Pellets should only be fed as her evening meal and I would say that it would be about 1/4 cup of pellets.
you should feed whole grains and fruits and vegetables to her in the morning making certain that there is enough to nibble on throughout the day.

Once she decides who to bond with then she will want to be with that person all the time and will mostly ignore or bite everyone else.

[EmberSanja]

Thank you so much Wolf! You have been very helpful since I've joined. We currently have carrots and cucumbers for vegetables, and apples for fruits. I'll be sure to get more of a variety ASAP, and hopefully my garden grows for fresh, safe foods. Could I also cook some white rice for her?

About 1/4th cup pellets at night, and as much variety of fruits/veggies/grains as possible in the morning and throughout the day. Got it!

Any grain suggestions? There may be some on the list of safe and toxic things you often recommend (I've had the link for a week or more) so I will be reviewing that also.

[Wolf]

You can feed white rice, brown rice, old fashioned oatmeal, not the quick cook or instant, pastas etc. there is a list of them on the list that you have the link to. Make special note that any beans that you give her must be thoroughly cooked first. And no avocadoes, ever.

[EmberSanja]

Great! Got it it seems I have more grain options than fruit/vegetable at the moment.
Avacado being bad is one of the first things I learned. I've also seen tomato being controversial, so things like that probably won't be offered. I'm too worried to risk it, hehheh.

Thank you very much for another quick, informative reply!

[Wolf]

My birds eat tomato, just not any of the green part of the plant, just the fruit.

[Pajarita]

Rice is OK for parrots but it needs to be brown rice. White rice is nothing but empty calories. There is actually no nutrition in it and should only be fed when a bird is too skinny to help it gain weight. Organic brown Basmati, Himalayan red or Japonica black are good. As to oatmeal, don't use the 'regular' kind if you can avoid it, try the Irish (aka steelcut) one, instead, but only if you can't get oat groats. All kinds of whole cereal grains can be bought over the internet (try Barry Farms in Ohio).

[EmberSanja]

Okay, got it!

All the advice is greatly appreciated, but it turns out the bird is no longer available. I'm slightly relieved, since I wasn't ready for such a bird, but also greatly saddened. Thankfully the cockatiels are still an option, hehheh. Now I just need to get me rather as excited about them as he was the CAG

[cml]

Dont worry, cockatiels are wonderful birds and quite the characters when they want to . As any bird, they do best with a friend though, something you might want to consider later on.

[Pajarita]

I have several different species and have had from budgies to macaws but, personally, I think that cockatiels are fabulous birds. They are beautiful, smart, hardy, the sweetest-tempered of all parrots and easy to care for... what more can you ask from a bird?!