alicat
Rollerblading along the road
Me and my boyfriend got Piper Monday night.. its now Thursday. She's a just weaned, hand fed baby cockatiel.
( I've posted a lot of pictures of her, if you havent seen them you should probably check them out )
It's starting to make me a little nervous because all she'll really eat is millet.
I *stupidly* didn't buy the seed they weaned her onto, because its just typical cockatiel seed and I thought I had some at home.. turns out I didn't. My boyfriends going to go pick some up today. We bought TOP seed mix that we want to switch her onto. She also hasn't been drinking a lot of water..
I don't know what to do!
I don't know if its because she doesn't spend a lot of time in her cage?
This is our day recently:
Wake up around 9, uncover her cage. Let her hang out in there a little while we wake up, her food and water are sitting in dishes on the floor of her cage. (Food dish has seeds and pellet mixed, then millet sprinkled on top). Sprig of millet on the ground. After a little she starts running back and forth in front of the door and hanging on it asking to be let out, so we let her out and put her Petco Playgym on the bed, with her seed bowl and water bowl on it. Millet goes on top in the little treat bowl.
She'll climb up to the top and pick at the millet occasionally but won't eat the seeds from the bowl. She won't really drink either... The only time I've seen her really drink is when I put the dish up to her and she started drinking it.
Then she climbs all over me and my boyfriend, but won't really go back for food unless we put her back..
And she'll eat the seeds if we feed them to her one by one sometimes.. othertimes she just doesn't seem interested.
If we leave the room or go out, she goes back in her cage. He's had off the past 2 days so she's mostly been out, otherwise there would be 3 hours where she'd be in there when both of our work schedules overlap.
Will she eat and drink if she's hungry?
Do cockatiels just not eat as much as lovebirds? My lovies went through SO much food I feel like.
Could it be that the dish is too tall? I feel like it IS a little tall but my lovebirds were able to get down in it without a problem and they're a lot tinier than her!
Could it be because she's out with us most of the day and not just sitting in her cage? We have a big room so there's a lot for her to look at and explore. (She seems to watch everything, even the walls sometimes)
I don't want to take the millet away because its all she really eats.
Also, she seems happy just sitting on mine or my boyfriends back/shoulders for like 2 hours and just napping. We just got her on monday, are we rushing this?
From day one she seemed okay with it. She'll get a little nervous if our hands come at her too fast, but she'll generally step up without a problem.
She also picks at our hair if she's on our shoulder and makes the little clicking noises, which means she likes us? But I'm not sure if I'm reading her wrong because its so fast!
She fluffs up a few times a day too, but its usually when she looks sleepy or relaxed, or after she cleans herself. Our apartment isn't cold, I can wear jeans a a Tshirt comfortably.. is it okay if she does it a few times when she's not preening?
Its actually super cute when she does it so I hope it doesn't mean she's sick? I've read if they do it a lot it could mean they're sick, but I don't have another cockatiel to compare it to. Is a few times a day okay?
Sorry for the rant.
We're just worried new parronts!
( I've posted a lot of pictures of her, if you havent seen them you should probably check them out )
It's starting to make me a little nervous because all she'll really eat is millet.
I *stupidly* didn't buy the seed they weaned her onto, because its just typical cockatiel seed and I thought I had some at home.. turns out I didn't. My boyfriends going to go pick some up today. We bought TOP seed mix that we want to switch her onto. She also hasn't been drinking a lot of water..
I don't know what to do!
I don't know if its because she doesn't spend a lot of time in her cage?
This is our day recently:
Wake up around 9, uncover her cage. Let her hang out in there a little while we wake up, her food and water are sitting in dishes on the floor of her cage. (Food dish has seeds and pellet mixed, then millet sprinkled on top). Sprig of millet on the ground. After a little she starts running back and forth in front of the door and hanging on it asking to be let out, so we let her out and put her Petco Playgym on the bed, with her seed bowl and water bowl on it. Millet goes on top in the little treat bowl.
She'll climb up to the top and pick at the millet occasionally but won't eat the seeds from the bowl. She won't really drink either... The only time I've seen her really drink is when I put the dish up to her and she started drinking it.
Then she climbs all over me and my boyfriend, but won't really go back for food unless we put her back..
And she'll eat the seeds if we feed them to her one by one sometimes.. othertimes she just doesn't seem interested.
If we leave the room or go out, she goes back in her cage. He's had off the past 2 days so she's mostly been out, otherwise there would be 3 hours where she'd be in there when both of our work schedules overlap.
Will she eat and drink if she's hungry?
Do cockatiels just not eat as much as lovebirds? My lovies went through SO much food I feel like.
Could it be that the dish is too tall? I feel like it IS a little tall but my lovebirds were able to get down in it without a problem and they're a lot tinier than her!
Could it be because she's out with us most of the day and not just sitting in her cage? We have a big room so there's a lot for her to look at and explore. (She seems to watch everything, even the walls sometimes)
I don't want to take the millet away because its all she really eats.
Also, she seems happy just sitting on mine or my boyfriends back/shoulders for like 2 hours and just napping. We just got her on monday, are we rushing this?
From day one she seemed okay with it. She'll get a little nervous if our hands come at her too fast, but she'll generally step up without a problem.
She also picks at our hair if she's on our shoulder and makes the little clicking noises, which means she likes us? But I'm not sure if I'm reading her wrong because its so fast!
She fluffs up a few times a day too, but its usually when she looks sleepy or relaxed, or after she cleans herself. Our apartment isn't cold, I can wear jeans a a Tshirt comfortably.. is it okay if she does it a few times when she's not preening?
Its actually super cute when she does it so I hope it doesn't mean she's sick? I've read if they do it a lot it could mean they're sick, but I don't have another cockatiel to compare it to. Is a few times a day okay?
Sorry for the rant.
We're just worried new parronts!
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