I would start with one, unless you see a bonded pair in need of a home - if you don't think it's too much to take on. It's my opinion birds need flockmates. Tiels are wonderful birds. I have two males. Generally speaking, they are not demanding.
I have a flight cage for each of my boys. A cage should be at least that big. Natural wood perches are best. If they have only dowel perches, that could lead to foot problems. I feed Harrisons. They get one nutriberry a day and a teaspoon or so of millet. They should not have a strictly seed diet. You can try some fruits and vegetables, but no chocolate, tomato or avacodoes. There is information on this site about dietary needs and experienced tiel people, too. Of course, they should not have junk food or allowed to drink coffee, tea, pop, Koolaid.....those sort of things.
There's a ton of environmental things that are dangerous. Non stick pans can give off fumes we can't smell but will kill birds. No air fresheners or cleaners like Lysol, Pinesol, etc. Blue Dawn is an excellent cleaner. You can always buy Poop-off and/or F-10 if you want a safe retail product for cleaning.
Tiels are dusty. If you have respiratory problems, tiels might not be the bird for you. There's so much I have learned from other tiel people and from this site. Someone else will jump in with more advice and info.
Thank you for not purchasing a bird. My boys are adopted.
Tiels are wonderful birds,many years ago some of My best talkers were tiels.Personally I believe that the males are talkers and females are snugglers.
My tiel is rehomed. He came to live with us when he was 15. So, he's an older bird but you'd never guess by watching him. Typically, males are the whistlers/talkers and females are known to be snuggling. My Sunny didn't get the memo. He doesn't talk and is a complete snuggle bug/momma's boy. He does imitate noises pretty well. Tiels are known to be pretty laid back and usually not nippy. Sunny does well as a solo bird- but that's what he's used to. He's out of his cage all day and really isn't destructive. If I leave something paper out , he might chew it if left unsupervised ( my fiance has lost some covers of books this way) but really leaves everything else pretty much alone. Oh, except electrical wires. All tiels seem to have an obsession over those. Have you read the Good, Bad and the Ugly section under cockatiels? That give a nice over view. And there are a lot of tiels out there in need of homes.
