Might be getting a Cockatiel

[iamwhoiam]

My 'tiels get Volkman Cockatiel no sunflower, Caitec Oven Fresh Bites small size, cooked mixed frozen veggies (I generally remove the lima beans.), spray millet (not often, though) and Lafeber avicakes and popcorn as occasional treats. They get more seed than pellets.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I feed my tiels Goldenfeist Australian blend, which they love. They even eat all the extra goodies in it because they are so small. I also give them Roudybush pellets, sprouts, and fresh and dehydrated veggies. They get nutriberries and Avicakes as treats, and popcorn, birdie bread and Higgins Worldly Cuisines once in a while.

 

[CeciliaZ]

For seed, I feed my tiels Volkman seed - the no sunflower mix for tiels and also Dr. Harvey's cockatiel seed. I also feed them Zupreem fruit and also the natural pellets, nutriberries. Fresh food - sprouts, veggies, greens.

 

[Jenw12]

Alrighty, it is final!!! We are picking him up tomorrow afternoon!!! Pictures will be coming soon

 

[blewin]

I feed my tiels Goldenfeist Australian blend, which they love. They even eat all the extra goodies in it because they are so small. I also give them Roudybush pellets, sprouts, and fresh and dehydrated veggies. They get nutriberries and Avicakes as treats, and popcorn, birdie bread and Higgins Worldly Cuisines once in a while.

We give Buddy the Goldenfeast Australian blend, too. It's got a pretty complete blend, and everything is small enough that it's difficult for her to pick out only what she wants. She also gets nutriberries as her "out of cage" food. I always leave a couple on her regular food as well, just because she likes them.

 

[Tara81]

I am pretty sure cockatiel seed mix and budgie mixes are the same except for sunflower seeds which are fatty anyways , shouldn't free feed them from what I've read.

 

[zoo mom]

Congratulations.

 

[Jenw12]

Here is Mickey Dallas!!! (Call name is just Mickey)

He is sooooo sweet but very hand shy. I will definitely need to do some research and learn more on how to tame him. I did some already before I went to get him, but any advice would definitely help!!!

He didn't even have a name when I got him, other than being called "that *dang* bird" from his old owners. The foster people had no idea what they were doing and let him chew on a broom... But they really cared. I just bought like 60 dollars worth of toys and food for him, should come in a couple days. Thankfully he came with food for a few weeks.

They were right in that he LOVES to dance. As soon as I got out my ukulele and started singing, he was all over the place haha. And my friend started dancing and he looked like he was in heaven haha.

Here is a picture! It won't let me upload my videos

 

[Tara81]

Awww I wish my cockatiel could dance haha he is handsome and very lucky to have u how old was he again? Do u know if he was ever handled? He might just be shy because of the new surroundings. If not u will have to entice him with millet sticks or his favourite food to slowly get him closer and closer to your hand or his favourite toy. Which hopefully won't be a broom haha unless he is going to be a witch this Halloween :?

 

[CeciliaZ]

Welcome Mickey!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

He's such an adorable little guy!! How fun that he likes to dance, I would love to see a video after you figure out how!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Mickey is very handsome. Congrats!

 

[Jenw12]

Awww I wish my cockatiel could dance haha he is handsome and very lucky to have u how old was he again? Do u know if he was ever handled? He might just be shy because of the new surroundings. If not u will have to entice him with millet sticks or his favourite food to slowly get him closer and closer to your hand or his favourite toy. Which hopefully won't be a broom haha unless he is going to be a witch this Halloween :?

He is two years old and they have no idea if he has been handled or not. He is fine with people around his cage and will dance if you whistle, dance, or anything really, but as soon as you enter his cage he hisses.

So just work with him as I would when I brought home my parakeets? I have had so many different ideas thrown at me, I have no idea where to start. On YouTube they say after three days, *take* the bird out of their cage and start working on step up immediately. And I think that's stressful on the 'Tiel. I just want to do it right, and slow and easy wins the race sometimes.

He's such an adorable little guy!! How fun that he likes to dance, I would love to see a video after you figure out how!

I will definitely try tomorrow to get some videos uploaded

 

[greys4u]

Your baby just needs to chill for a bit, his world was turned upside again. Birds can get aggressive about their cage or it may bring back unpleasant memories for him, so for now just sit by him, read to him, give treats like millet. Sounds like he has a few issues and he just needs time to adjust, patience, patience, patience! One more thing, is he in quaratine?

 

[zoo mom]

What a cutie.
I think you have to upload videos to you tube or another hosting site before uploading to here.

 

[Lwalker]

Welcome, Mickey!

 

[Tara81]

I would not take him out for awhile yet. If u want him to come out to be less aggressive, try waiting a week or two then putting his food out of the cage in the morning where he can see it. Try making the experience of leaving the cage not too hard, by placing it right next to the door. Have a perch near the door so he can do this hard step easily. Sounds like he is scared of hands or is cage bound. (Never been out of cage enough so feels he has to protect it because he is scared)

Move slowly while in his cage when changing his food and water.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I think your instincts are correct in that taking him out of his cage after three days and making him step up is a bad idea. Just take it slow and do everything at his pace. Remember never to force him to do anything, but try to find a way to make everything his choice. Leaving his cage door open and having a perch and some tasty treats right outside his door might entice him to come out when he is ready. Right now dropping treats in his food cup every time you walk by, reading to him, etc. is the way to go.

 

[Tara81]

Yeah it really sucks when they are scared of you, he loves your attention so he will come around if you take things slow and are gentle with him .

For this week try feeding him lots of variety to see what he likes most. Your mission is to find his favourite treat while getting his diet right the more u talk to him the sooner he will realize u aren't so scary and will want to be with u more.
Keep up the dancing and fun!

I would also try putting millet just outside the cage too to see if he comes out that's a great idea. Once he stops hissing while ur servicing the cage, u can then put ur hand in the cage with a Long stick of millet and just leave ur hand in the cage while looking away from him. If you do this 2-5 times a day for 3-5 minutes he will come to ur hand for the millet, if he likes it, I'd say within a week unless he was super traumatized by hands. Once he does that, make the stick smaller every 2nd day. Til he's near ur hand. From there start offering seeds from hand or try to manuvear he millet so he must walk on hand to eat it.

 

[Jenw12]

Your baby just needs to chill for a bit, his world was turned upside again. Birds can get aggressive about their cage or it may bring back unpleasant memories for him, so for now just sit by him, read to him, give treats like millet. Sounds like he has a few issues and he just needs time to adjust, patience, patience, patience! One more thing, is he in quaratine?

Unfortunately, he couldn't be quarantined like I wanted him to be. He has had a vet check up a couple weeks ago and has never been around other birds, so hopefully that is a plus. Usually I do quarantine, but this time I couldn't. But he had to be saved from that situation.

I will definitely try to get him to eat some grains and veggies tomorrow. Today he started eating and drinking this morning!!!! And he kept following me as I walked around the room. If I get close with my face to the cage and talk or whistle he gets as close as he can to me. But as soon as he sees my hands he hisses and backs away. Same if I open the cage doors to put food. I think he was traumatized...

Here are some videos I posted on my YouTube channel. I may start one just for him and show YouTube how I try to tame a scared and neglected cockatiel. That would be pretty fun! I could get advice and give advice as our journey and bond grows.

(the mirrors are gone now)

I need to get a better video of him dancing. He will spread his wings and stomp his little feet, lol.