We've found a friend for Rocky! :D

[thesilversakura]

Forgive me Wolf, I wasn't clear - Peach is very much her own lady, I wouldn't dream of putting another bird in her cage unless she wanted it herself, i.e. her mate if she ever ends up having one. I've heard the horror stories and I know her personality, she may be pretty well behaved with me but boy is she feisty I was referring to the bird room we'll soon have, and the transition to putting all the birds in one room when we end up getting the new cockatiel (she hasn't told us his name, still waiting for that call) and he's out of quarantine.

Rocky comes out of quarantine on the 29th, but to make it easier on both of them we're probably going to wait until they're in the bird room on the 2nd or 3rd to put them in the same room and really let them see each other. I was just wondering what the best way would be to introduce Peach to Rocky, and vice versa. The room is quite big so putting a cage on each end of the room at first will be no problem. Would the meeting between Peach and Rocky, and Rocky and the new cockatiel, be any different? Meaning, do you still go through all the same steps despite the likelihood of the two tiels getting on being much greater?

[Wolf]

Sorry about the misunderstanding.
Two cockatiels would be pretty easy to introduce to each other. I don't have any of them, but they are very flock oriented and I would place them in the same room as soon as quarantine was over and in just a matter of a few days have them next to each other. They will take it from there and if after you get them next to each other if you open their cages at the same time and watch them just in case it will probably only take two or three days and they will likely try to go into the same cage all on their own. The parrotlet is a bit different and although mine are all in the same room as each other I am just beginning to take Keeta, parrotlet out when the three larger parrots are out. She is very good about staying on me, which could present a problem as that is also where Kiki, Senegal and Kookooloo, CAG want to be most of the time. Kookooloo doesn't want to share me with anyone at all and tries to run Kiki off. Kiki will allow Kookooloo or Keeta to be on me at the same time but I do have to be very watchful as Keeta will attack anything that is within range, she is fearless and doesn't realize that Kiki is also fearless and could easily eat her.
Due to the size of the room and the nature of the cockatiels that you have and will have, you could probably let Peaches out in the same room, but I would not be lax on keeping a watchful eye on her. I don't think the cockatiels would attack her but I can't say the same of Peaches. If you let her out with the cockatiels, I would remain near the cockatiels but not with them. That should place you close enough to intervene if you need to.

[Pajarita]

No, the tiels will not attack her. I can pretty much guarantee that. They will stick to each other and completely ignore the plet. And I doubt she will bother them... she might if she sees one of them on your shoulder and she's loose because plets, needing company as much as they do, want to be on you all the time when they are without a mate. But, as long as you let the tiels do their own thing (which is what I always recommend as they are sooooo much happier on their own) and you concentrate on her, she will be fine.

The tiels will bond very easily and fast. It's the way they are.... they always want to be with other tiels. They might not be big on preening each other and such but you will see that they will eat and perch together and, when one flies from point A to point B, the other will follow almost immediately. They are VERY flock oriented and love been with other tiels. Much more so than other species.

[liz]

Cockatiels are so passive even Budgies can bully them.

[thesilversakura]

Wow, so much has happened. Sorry it's been so long everyone!

We moved house on the 2nd, and it went...fairly smoothly. Managed to get the birds in without a problem, Peach seemed to love the excursion as usual. They have a conservatory and a small room off to the side to themselves, but unfortunately the conservatory has panes of glass which would give Rocky a blinding headache, he's such a clumsy flyer (and not very street smart, haha). Peach is so much more refined, she just hovers. We're waiting to get some screening material over the glass, then they can be allowed in there. For now they have their little room. I'll get some pictures of it all as soon as I can.

Peach and Rocky...don't like each other. The first few meetings were just before we moved, they would eat on my lap from opposite ends of a spray of millet, but Peach would lunge at him if he got too close. When he sits on top of her cage (can't let them out together in this room) she tries to bite his toes, and rightly so if it were my house! Safe to say they're not friends

We finally have our new cockatiel! His name is Charlie, originally Chico. Took us a million years and quite a few days over schedule to get him, but my mother drove up there eventually (she caught labyrinthitis, and I'd just taken a plane to visit my boyfriend, where I am now...talk about a rush) and got him. He's a sweetie apparently, does all sorts of bird impressions and my mother swears he tries to talk sometimes. We don't think he was ever let out of his cage by his old old owner, the last time he tried with the lady who had him before it was very panicked and scrappy flying which he only attempted once apparently. As soon as I'm sent a picture of his wings I'll check if he's clipped. So far he's only comfortable with sitting on the edge of his cage door, and is not good with hands at all. He's gonna take some work, but that's okay with us. Rocky goes nuts whenever he hears him, really excited, and they talk to each other all the time. We've bought them a giant flight cage in preparation for when quarantine's over.

We're still having a problem with Rocky biting our hands. It really does seem like a defiance now, since when the mood takes him he will step up with no fuss, and clambers up and down our arms and our shoulder, and eats our hair (or tries to). Perhaps it's the stress of moving, but he hasn't progressed in the last three weeks or so at all. We don't overstep the boundaries by trying to touch him, nor do we chase him round the room. It's just a case of bribing with something nice, and even that's starting to fail. When I say biting, it feels like a warning bite. Hurts like hell, doesn't break the skin, and he makes a lot of angry little noises. We react to the bite, saying 'no' firmly and keeping our hand still (or 'ow' if it's a bad bite haha) but he lunges at it like a champ. Is it just a case of letting him settle in and keep doing our best?

It's now apparent to me how important it was getting Charlie. If, when they get together, they're happy, I'm happy. They'll probably never be as tame as Peach, but that's fine by me. Charlie needed a good home and I hope we've given him some lifelong company out of his tiny cage, it worries me the way he might have been kept before. Cockatiels really are sweeties aren't they?

[Wolf]

I can't say that I am surprised at Peach's behavior towards Rocky. She, being a parrotlet is much more aggressive than he is as well as being very territorial about her cage as it is her nesting area which she will definitely defend against anyone. Keeta is rather nippy, especially when she first comes out of her cage, but she calms down pretty quick so it isn't too painful and then despite being highly excitable she is very gentle and loving. Parrotlets seem to use nipping and biting partly as a means of communication. Since you were last on here I have gotten a male parrotlet for Keeta and they are now living together and are doing very well together. His name is Rajah and he is a 5 year old retired breeder. I can't handle or even touch him yet and am fine with that as he is for Keeta and not really for me. I will keep on working with him and hopefully he will eventually come around and at least trust me a little, but I am not overly concerned if he doesn't.
I am not really sure what to say about Rocky as I don't have any cockatiels and don't know a lot about them, funny how that works, isn't it? I can't help but thinking that his continued aggression might be due to being hormonal. Cockatiels are such opportunistic breeders that even a few days of rain and then a day or two of it clearing off can get them started on another breeding cycle. Yet light schedule and diet are just about the only things that we can really control well enough to do anything to help them with the drive to reproduce and the resulting hormones.
Any way it has been quite a while since we have heard from you and about your birds. Glad that you are back. Maybe we will get to hear more about them and your new friend, Charlie. By the way when is he due out of quarantine?

[thesilversakura]

I'm glad to be back too, thank you Wolf. I'm currently on the other end of the country sitting in my boyfriend's mother's car, so as you can imagine I won't be able to give as in depth updates for about a month or so until I'm home. I ask after the birds every day, and my mother does a wonderful job with them. She knows the gloop recipe, and we've found a good seed for them that they all love so I think they're settling in well. I've asked for more photos of Charlie so I can post them on here, he's such a cutie.

As for the hormones...would a ~16 week old cockatiel be hormonal? They have their own room so we do not cover the cages anymore, they're on a completely solar schedule and go to bed/wake up when the sun tells them to. Their diet is as good as I can get it, I think. Gloop, fruit and veggies for daytime, and seed for dinner every day. If there's anything I'm missing please let me know.

Is it possible that since he was aviary bred and raised for the first 10 weeks of his life he just won't see humans the same way no matter what we do? That he'll just be better and happier interacting with Charlie, since despite partially gaining his trust he still sees us as a threat some of the time? Then again, maybe the stress of moving has halted any progress we could have made. Sigh, I don't know. We'll just keep doing what we do unless anything comes to light.

Charlie arrived home on the 7th. He did not have any other birds with him in the other lady's house, and she had him for about two weeks. I'm desperate to cut quarantine short in light of this, since Rocky is so desperate (he still screams his head off every day...) to be with him, but I know that's not advisable. I sure wish I could though...

[Toggsy]

I'm right in thinking teils mate for life or was it something I just misread.
I've got 2 teils in the aviary White faced Male named Ernie and Pearl Female named Hetti being aviary birds not hand tame but they do respond to their names.

[liz]

When Shadow's mate died he became a home wrecker and stole Tammy from Tommy. So I guess they can separate.

After many years together Curley started beating on his mate Sunny. She had "battered wife syndrome" and could not stay away from him. He was ripping her feathers out and pecking her. I put them in separate cages but she cried for him. I had to rehome her to save her life. One of my mother's Hospice CNAs had two males so she took Sunny home to see if she could bond with another. She said one of her males had love at first sight and won her over. So they can forget the old and accept the new.

[Toggsy]

Cockatiels are so passive even Budgies can bully them.

Budgies are little agro rats for a little bird they can be down right nasty