Grandma's 18 year old, neglected cockatiel

[finchly]

Grandma is 84

Yeah old enough to be set in her ways, resistant to change etc.

You're doing great though!

 

[Petals]

thank you so very much for what youre doing

 

[LilSprout]

So Fred's been acting a little off today. She didn't wake me up via screaming today. I woke up at 10 and she was sitting puffed up on the floor of her cage. I opened her cage door and gave her some nutriberries and she climbed up and ate them. She then went to sleep on her usual perch as she does and she slept until I went to the grocery store. I came home, she's back sitting on the floor being puffy so I ask her to step up and I put her on her perch and she's sleeping again. She's not as hungry as usual and she isn't having trouble staying on the perch.
She ate some mixed vegetables yesterday and 6 senior nutriberries and I gave her some chamomile tea with some ground ginger in it. The only new thing was the tea, she's had ground ginger mixed into her food before.

If she keeps acting like this tomorrow we'll have to go down to the emergency vet in Guelph but I only want to do that is absolutely necessary so as not to freak her out with the 1.5 hour journey each way.

Now at my grandma's house she used to hang out in the floor of her cage there, she used to lay eggs on the floor and watch over them for a while. I don't know if she can still lay eggs due to her age, could she be doing like broody (if that's the correct word) behavior?

 

[finchly]

Oh gosh. It doesn't exactly sound broody to me. The tea would have made her a bit sleepy yesterday - not today.

I hope nothing is wrong. Maybe she will perk up tomorrow. Keep us posted!

 

[LilSprout]

Oh gosh. It doesn't exactly sound broody to me. The tea would have made her a bit sleepy yesterday - not today.

I hope nothing is wrong. Maybe she will perk up tomorrow. Keep us posted!

After I posted I wanted to get some food in her so I offered her 3 nutriberries (on top of the three she had at 10am) and a small amount of seeds just because I know she will eat those. I also offered her some frozen corn I thawed because she likes that too. She did eat, she ate a decent amount. She's was still quite sleepy as I left for work but she flew around a few times to get to the couch and try and get my cheese string I was eating (she didn't get any) I texted my brother and asked him to check on her and he said she is still ok as of like 10 seconds ago.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I hope she’s okay!

 

[Monica]

She could indeed be broody at her age. It doesn't sound like she is being broody though, it kind of sounds like she isn't feeling well.

 

[LilSprout]

She could indeed be broody at her age. It doesn't sound like she is being broody though, it kind of sounds like she isn't feeling well.

I've never seen a bird be broody so I wasn't certain what to look for.
Got home today from work at 11pm. She was sleeping on the perch she sleeps on at night (she has a night perch and a day perch she sleeps on at different times) I will wake her up around 7 or 8 and see how she feels.

 

[LilSprout]

Fred woke me up at 8 today like she usually does. I gave her 3 nutriberries for breakfast and she's eating them now.
She seems more alert and active today. I wonder what was the matter yesterday

 

[finchly]

Don't know but I'm relieved to hear she's feeling better!
"Fred." lol
Frederica?

 

[LilSprout]

Don't know but I'm relieved to hear she's feeling better!
"Fred." lol
Frederica?

My grandma named her Fred because when she brought her home she thought she was a little boy then she laid eggs one day.
Oddly enough Fred is my father's name so she's just never been creative when naming animals.

She does know her name and she used to be able to say "Good morning Fred" but she hasn't spoken a word in years because my grandma never talks to her anymore. She tried buying like "teach your parrot to talk" CDs and they didn't work because I'd imagine the best way to get a parrot to talk is through continuous human interaction instead of ambient CD talking. Personally I don't care if a parrot can talk or not, but several years ago she kept trying to get me to go on kijiji, find a male cockatiel and ask the seller if he could talk (I never did this for the record, she doesn't need more birds to neglect)
She was obsessed with getting Fred and Greenie to talk (via CD) for a while but she got bored and now she's not.

I'm pretty certain Fred is like, the un-favorite. She hasn't asked for her back and she doesn't ask about her much. She prefers Greenie because he's more like openly affectionate

 

[finchly]

Well! Then it's a good thing you have Fred now!

 

[LilSprout]

I bought a better food processor to grind up Fred's pellets. The new one turns them to dust now. She's still not terribly interested in Zupreem naturals even with seeds mixed into the pellet paste so I'm gonna try Roudybush and see how she feels about that.
Otherwise she's been eating senior nutriberries, Bitty Birdy Blend from Avian Organics and frozen corn because she'll eat all three of those. It's still not an ideal diet but it's a lot better than seeds so we're doing good so far.

Do any of you have experience with a supremely picky tiel and getting them to eat pellets because I'd love to hear what brand you tried. She only likes certain things but thankfully those certain things she likes a lot. Oh also we're going to try sprouts I ordered a new sprouting jar.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

Does she like almond butter or cashew butter are used a mixture of peanut butter and pallets to get my G2 to eat pellets I mixed them in front of him and after a while he would only eat them if I mixed them in a blue cup there and he would eat him out of the blue cup by himself and let me know that he was ready to eat the pellets on his own peanut butter I use before I knew peanut butter was bad for birds

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

PS I eat them in front of him as well

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Hopefully she will take to the Roudybush, my three picky eaters liked it right away. I was amazed!

 

[LilSprout]

Does she like almond butter or cashew butter are used a mixture of peanut butter and pallets to get my G2 to eat pellets I mixed them in front of him and after a while he would only eat them if I mixed them in a blue cup there and he would eat him out of the blue cup by himself and let me know that he was ready to eat the pellets on his own peanut butter I use before I knew peanut butter was bad for birds

I can try some almond or cashew butter. First I'll offer her some almonds or cashews to see how she feels about them

 

[Monica]

I've found that sometimes getting the next size down is helpful for converting birds... so for a cockatiel, I would recommend budgie sized pellets.

You might also try getting some samples from the pellet manufacturers such as Harrison's or Lafeber's.

 

[LilSprout]

I've found that sometimes getting the next size down is helpful for converting birds... so for a cockatiel, I would recommend budgie sized pellets.

You might also try getting some samples from the pellet manufacturers such as Harrison's or Lafeber's.

We ordered the crumble size. She does seem to prefer smaller food.

Today my grandma came over to drive me to work and I was in the kitchen. I hear Fred cry and I run into the living room and Fred is making very frightened noises because my grandma opened her cage and grabbed her like an ice cream cone again. I tell my grandma to stop, she doesn't like to be grabbed or petted and she's just like "Oh she likes it!" When it's painfully obvious that she does not.

I dunno how to teach her birds do not liked to be grabbed like ice cream cones and it can restrict their breathing. She either doesn't believe me or thinks she's doing it gently enough as to not restrict their breathing (she isn't, I've seen Fred and Greenie struggle to get away when she has them in her hand)

 

[Dorcas George]

Oh man, poor Fred. I just do not know what to say about Grandma so I'll say nothing. I was glad to see the update. Been thinking about you and Fred.

Roudybush budgie pellets are VERY small. Smallest pellet I've seen, so might work well. I hope so. My two budgies don't love them, but I think that will get better with time. They eat Zupreem pellets and LaFebre, but the Zupreem is getting phased out (by me).

We are all rooting for you!