Hello! I'm new here.

[liquidnitrogen6]

Greetings! My name is David and I'm planning to adopt a bird in the near future.

I used to own two cockatiels, a grey named Henry and a lutino named Hypocrates (I know, a strange name for a bird but I just called him Hypo). Unfortunately, they both died earlier this year, most probably from the horrible conditions they we're kept in at the pet store, despite my efforts to help them. I had Henry for about 6 months and Hypo for about 4. Hypo might have been older than Henry, since he was way more aggresive towards humans and slightly larger. They rarely ate greens/fruit, and would prefer their old seed-only diet. I know it was a mistake to buy and not adopt, but at that time I wasn't informed... I did my best to give them proper love, care, (many) vet visits, diverse food, toys and everything.

Now I miss my avian friends, since Henry got quite close to me and was a calm bird. I came to this forum so I can get informed and more educated about bird care, since I have finally been able to gather my courage to adopt another bird and I want my experience to be different.

I thought about getting either a new tiel, or an IRN. What would you recommend? Thanks!

[Pajarita]

Hi, Liquidnitrogen, and welcome to the forum! Thank you so much for adopting instead of buying AND for doing research before you acquire the bird.

As to which species... well, it depends on what you want from the bird. Both cockatiels and IRNs are aviary birds (not companions) so in order for either to be really happy, you would have to have a male/female pair. Because they are both aviary, they are not naturally cuddly birds so, although they can become very tame (both species are VERY sweet-tempered birds), the most that you can expect from them is for them to perch on your shoulder as you walk around the house as neither species particularly likes to have their body touched (but you can scratch their heads). Their diet is not the same because cockatiels are more granivore than anything else and IRNs are fruit eaters but they both like their greens and do very well on gloop and raw produce (the IRNs would need large pieces of fruit) for breakfast and a low protein seed for dinner (IRNs do best on finch seed and tiels do best on budgie mix). Male cockatiels call mostly during the beginning of breeding season but are mostly quiet the rest of the year and IRNs have several different vocalizations which they do every day but they are not incessant unless they are overly-hormonal (something that you need to watch for because both are very opportunistic breeders so a super strict solar schedule is essential).

Did that help?

[liquidnitrogen6]

Thanks a lot! I still have some preparations to make since I just moved out for college and, when everything is ready, I will go and adopt a pair. I haven't decided yet on the species, but I have a slight bias towards tiels.

As a side note, Henry was very cuddly. Whenever he had the chance, he would jump to my shoulder, sit next to my neck and chew on my ear.

I'll write about my new birds when I get them.

[Pajarita]

Yes, some tiels do become affectionate but they are the exception to the rule and it only happens when they are overly-hormonal - which is not good at all for them! But even the ones that are not overly-hormonal can learn to 'give kisses' (the ear thing were kisses).