I believe it's official

[JessiMuse]

If anyone remembers my unweaned cockatiel named Alex, then you might know what I'm about to say.

Alex is officially weaned!

It took a long time, but for the past few days, I worked on getting him to eat it from the spoon. He eventually started accepting less from the syringe and more off the spoon. Eventually, he stopped accepting the syringe altogether. Even then, he didn't eat a whole lot out of the spoon.

So yesterday, I wanted to see how long he could go without the regular scheduled feeding. If he starts making the feed me cry, I would feed him.

Well, even when the microwave went off, he didn't make any noise aside from a couple of flock calls. Other than that, I carried on the day like normal

I felt kinda bad for going that whole day without feeding, so this morning I prepared his food. I was honestly surprised about how it played out. He didn't cry at all, not even when the microwave beeped. I held the spoon in front of him, and he ate a few bites, and didn't even care if it was cold. Then he was done. Just like that. And now he's eating solid food by himself with no problem.

So I think he might officially be weaned. I'll be honest, out of all the cockatiels my mother has raised in the past, I do not remember one taking as long as Alex did, considering that I'm pretty sure he's passed the fledgling stage. Though I was ok going his pace, it seems getting him to eat it himself off the spoon was the one push he needed towards weaning. Now I just need to make sure there isn't a relapse, or anything.

I've also managed to get all of the dried baby food off his face and chest by hand, and now he looks so much better. I'll get pictures soon.

[Pajarita]

Good job! You know why he took longer, the poor baby, it was because of his rough start in life. Just offer a soft food daily for a while longer to make sure. Better safe than sorry, right?

[JessiMuse]

Indeed. He's still crying over things like scritches, but not as bad as it was when I first got him, so he might actually grow out of it. Then again, some cockatiels just don't, it seems.

He's doing very well though. Aside from being a little clingy, he's starting to act like a normal cockatiel: busy and mischievous.

Sometimes I wonder if he knows if he's a bird. Judging by how he acts around Lucy (I'll admit, I did end quarentine a little early when I saw them both as healthy enough), I kind of doubt it. Lucy being co-raised, is much more flock oriented with other birds, and what Alex does, she does. Alex however, doesn't care if Lucy is in the same room even, let alone of what she's doing. On the other hand, he more concerned on what I'm doing. On occasion, he may be curious on what Lucy's doing, but for the most part, he ignores her altogether.

He may have that flock mentality that every cockatiel shares, but it seems he's more flock oriented towards humans, rather than birds. I wonder if that will go away. Though the way he likes to sit on my arm while I'm typing here is endearing, I would like for him to learn how to be a bird. I'm hoping Lucy will help with that.

[Pajarita]

He's still a baby, wait until he becomes sexually mature and you will see the 'flock mentality' taking over.

[JessiMuse]

I'm sure of it. Though I don't think he's completely ignoring Lucy. The way they both try to get into whatever I'm doing seems almost as if they're working together. Alex was often the distraction while Lucy goes in and eats, chews on, or does whatever she needs to do. I thought they would each be occupied with what each other is doing. Of course, I should have known by now that "double the tiels" means "double the trouble".


I have noticed that Lucy has been more "cuddly" since I got her back, as well. Asked for scritches twice after that incident, whereas she never directly asked beforehand. I was wondering if she was just thanking me for "rescuing" her so to say, but then I noticed she asked to be preened by Alex. So I'm thinking that it's just because she's getting older, and might be looking for a mate. Well, Alex seems too young to understand, and may have tugged on her crest, thinking of it as a toy. He didn't pull any feathers out, though. Haven't seen them preen each other since then.

Though since he weaned at a later age, does that mean he might experience horomones at a later age too?

[Wolf]

Since I have no experience with cockatiels, I am not the best source for answers and, indeed, some of the things that I express as my concerns could also be taken as questions as well. One of these is that with most other parrots a juvenile and an adult parrot being together usually results in the two ignoring each other for the most part. However, sometimes it results in injury by the older bird when it is ready for courtship and breeding and the younger bird does not yet understand these things. Is this something that you need to be aware of and keep watch for?

Sometimes, I think that being weaned a bit later may have an effect on when they start to first experience puberty, I don't know if this has ever been the topic of any research or not. I also am not very sure of an answer to this as most of the birds that were born in captivity are weaned at much to early of a time in their development as from what I read most birds care for and feed their young far longer than we do before they are weaned. I don't know if this would increase or decrease the age that they experience puberty.

Maybe I should apologise for replying to this as I really can't say that I have any answers for you and have only added to the question you asked about. I am interested in the answers and think that to a large degree the answer would apply to more than just cockatiels.

[Pajarita]

Hey, no, don't apologize. I, for one, love it when people kind of think out things out loud -or, in this case, writing them down. I think it helps everybody to hear the musings that go on in somebody else's head

I would think that it would be the opposite though, that they would reach puberty sooner. This is not based on any kind of data I have found anywhere, mind you, it's nothing but my opinion but this is why I feel this way:
1) We do know (from postings and comments made by breeders and bird keepers) that birds in captivity would, sometimes, breed much earlier than the ones in the wild. We certainly have heard here on this site comments from people who have very young birds that are already showing breeding behaviors.
2) And we also know that all hand-feeding formulas are soy-based and that soy has estrogenic side effects.

So, in my mind, it seems that, if anything, it's sooner than later.

[JessiMuse]

It's ok Wolf, no need to apologize.

I would think that kind of situation is dangerous, though in reality, Lucy and Alex aren't that far apart in age. Lucy hatched on April 30 (coincidentally on my birthday), and Alex somewhere in the beginning of December (I think). I don't know for sure if Lucy attention seeking is because she's looking for a mate or not, I was just making a semi-educated guess.

A couple days ago, I was afraid Alex was going into a relapse already. I had him and Lucy out with their daily vegetables, and decided to get some food for myself, since I it was around lunch time. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and sat down at the table where they were eating. As soon as I took a bite, Alex started crying and bobbing his head. Turned out he just wanted my food. I tore off a tiny piece of bread that didn't have any peanut butter on it (big enough for him and Lucy to share), and he stopped crying.

Now I'm gonna have to be careful every time I eat a sandwich.

[Wolf]

Since, according to what I have read, cockatiels will reach puberty, in most cases in their first year of life, at this time it seems to me that nine months is a substantial difference in age. Later on after they have both reached sexual maturity this difference become pretty much null and void, but for now... I would definitely keep a watch on them for a while.

It is very common for your birds to want whatever you are eating as this is the natural way that they maintain their bond with their flock, well not the only way, but an important one to them. Also since they bond with us as well they know that we are supposed to share with them. All of my birds always want at least a bite of everything that they see me eating.

[JessiMuse]

indeed that is true, but it seems mine want it directly from the source. Yesterday, I ate another sandwich (ham and cheese), and though Alex didn't do the whole "feed me" cry and head bobbing again, he obviously wanted some. I break off a piece of untouched bread, but that wasn't good enough apparently, as he just decided to take a bite from the sandwich itself. Lucy-butt, being the butt that she is, does this all the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if she taught him to do that.

I have discovered that Alex has picked up the habit where, if he can't get to my food on foot (because I keep him away from it), he will try to fly to it. Yesterday, he almost landed on my sandwich, and one morning he almost fell into my cereal. And I thought Lucy was stubborn.

There are times where I can't let them have what I'm eating, because what I eat is not good for them. So if I eat while they have my vegetables, I'll have to repeatedly shoo either one of them away. Chances are, I might have to start getting used to eating more vegetables at some point though, so I can share. I made it a resolution to improve my health, after all.