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I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby ParrotsForLife » Mon May 01, 2017 11:22 am

Pajarita wrote:Well, didn't you say that Loki wanted to breed but Rocko was not interested? That's what I meant.

Yeah and it actually started back up again today lol, Just saw Loki on the stand doing the mating dance
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Mon May 01, 2017 12:57 pm

I think that cockatiels make wonderful pets, however they can be quite loud at times. They need a lot more attention than budgies, especially if they are kept alone. They love head scratches although they usually don't like their backs touched. They are very intelligent and are good at learning tricks, although they aren't the best talkers. Some of the males can whistle tunes, but if they learn to talk, it's usually not clear. Since I can't whistle, my tiel has never learned to whistle. Like liz said, if you aren't ready to have your world revolve around your bird, you should probably get two so they could bond with each other.
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Georginia » Mon May 01, 2017 1:09 pm

Thank you for all your replies! I was not asking this question because I want to get a Cockatiel right now, I was just curious to know for the future. Thanks again. :)
I currently have two male Budgies, whom I love very much! I hope to soon expand my bird family and adopt more loving feathered friends into my home!
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby ParrotsForLife » Mon May 01, 2017 1:36 pm

Trick or 'Tiel wrote:I think that cockatiels make wonderful pets, however they can be quite loud at times. They need a lot more attention than budgies, especially if they are kept alone. They love head scratches although they usually don't like their backs touched. They are very intelligent and are good at learning tricks, although they aren't the best talkers. Some of the males can whistle tunes, but if they learn to talk, it's usually not clear. Since I can't whistle, my tiel has never learned to whistle. Like liz said, if you aren't ready to have your world revolve around your bird, you should probably get two so they could bond with each other.

No Parrot should be touched on the back thats something only a mate would do which can make them hormonal
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Mon May 01, 2017 3:51 pm

I was aware of that, only I meant that they don't like being grabbed or flipped over on their backs, that kind of handling in general. I never wanted to encourage people to pet their parrots on their backs like they would a dog or cat. They also hate their wings pulled open, which makes them difficult to harness train.
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby ParrotsForLife » Mon May 01, 2017 5:17 pm

Trick or 'Tiel wrote:I was aware of that, only I meant that they don't like being grabbed or flipped over on their backs, that kind of handling in general. I never wanted to encourage people to pet their parrots on their backs like they would a dog or cat. They also hate their wings pulled open, which makes them difficult to harness train.

Ok well again thats the individual birds preference, Some don't mind having their wings pulled open and some like Loki enjoy laying on their back.You can easily teach a tiel to tolerate having their wings touched which should be done before harness training.I actually was told once that a Cockatiel will get sick laying on their back and I actually believed it for a long time lol.
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Georginia » Mon May 01, 2017 6:55 pm

ParrotsForLife wrote:
Trick or 'Tiel wrote:I think that cockatiels make wonderful pets, however they can be quite loud at times. They need a lot more attention than budgies, especially if they are kept alone. They love head scratches although they usually don't like their backs touched. They are very intelligent and are good at learning tricks, although they aren't the best talkers. Some of the males can whistle tunes, but if they learn to talk, it's usually not clear. Since I can't whistle, my tiel has never learned to whistle. Like liz said, if you aren't ready to have your world revolve around your bird, you should probably get two so they could bond with each other.

No Parrot should be touched on the back thats something only a mate would do which can make them hormonal


ParrotsForLife, wow I never knew that. I've always pet Skittles on his back, but no wonder he also starts squawking when I do, I thought he just didn't really like it (although he did tolerate it a lot of times).
I currently have two male Budgies, whom I love very much! I hope to soon expand my bird family and adopt more loving feathered friends into my home!
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Pajarita » Tue May 02, 2017 9:16 am

It's not that they get sick, it's that they cannot breathe so well on their backs. I think it has to do with the fact that their lungs are so different from mammals... theirs are rigid (ours flexible), they have no diaphragm to bellow them (they use the flight muscles for it) and are much larger than ours (they take up 1/5 of their body cavity while ours are only 1/20). If the bird is OK with it, it's OK for a few seconds but it's not something that should be done for long periods of time or often. It's kind of like with horses laying down for too long and getting reperfusion from it. Nature made it so horses and birds even sleep on their feet (meaning an upright body) so changing the rules that evolution set for a species doesn't work well (you don't fool around with mother Nature).
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Tue May 02, 2017 9:27 am

I have a question about harness training. I'm currently trying to harness train Ducky, and he will stick his head through the loop with the help of the target stick. He will always take his head right back out because he isn't comfortable with it around his neck yet. Once, he put his head all the way through and got the collar around his neck. He hated it!! He couldn't stop trying to get it off, then he tried to lean back to wiggle out of it but ended up falling off his perch and hanging from the leash with the collar around his neck, then he managed to wiggle out of it and fly off in a panic. Now, after his bad experience with the harness, he flies away at the sight of it and I can convince him to go near it with the target stick. My question is, how can I get him comfortable with the harness again and get him used to the collar around his neck? He isn't comfortable with his wings pulled out or his neck grabbed. It would be really nice to take him outside with me, but if it takes too long, maybe I should just forget harness training for now and go back to it later.
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Re: I Met a Cockatiel at a Store, Are They Good Pets?

Postby Pajarita » Tue May 02, 2017 10:09 am

You will need to go back to square one and start getting him used to seeing it first. Once he no longer reacts to the sight of it, start dangling it in front of him. Once he doesn't fly away from this, start coxing him to get his head through the loop - but take it away immediately after you praise and reward him for it. Then, as the days go by, start leaving it on for a few seconds and then longer and longer. Once he is fine moving around with the loop around his neck, start working on getting his wings in but, again, VERY slowly, VERY gradually and never for more than a few minutes at a time or whenever he balks at it -whichever comes first. It just takes patience and time.
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