Help with a cockatiel

[Angela_2]

Hello everyone.

A dear friend of mine bought a cockatiel. She decided to take him/her because they were in really bad situation, bad feather and weak body. It seems sadly they previous owner didn't take care of them. The cage wasn't clean at all and the food wasn't good for a parrot. So , she decided to take care of him/her to make them home and give the best she could do for them.

So i'd like to have advices for her since it's her first parrot. I gave her mine based on my experience with Tweety. But i'm no expert nor familiar with cockatiels

We see that she/he doesn't eat veggies nor fruit, only seeds despite anything she tried. Also there's a bald spot under their beak (and there's no broken feathers in the cage button or anywhere, it doesn't seem to be plucking i think it's due the lack of poor diet and caring) and they make a noise that seems to be a young bird

The feathers look bad as well as the tail. they have their wings unclipped but never fly

They were very stressed in beginning but then they seem doing fine and whistling a lot nicely.
she's going to buy them pellet and other stuff and go to the vet once it's possible.

What can guys advise in this situation? anything the she can do to make them feel better and convince them to eat veggies


note: here's a link she sent me to post here of what they look like. She isn't sure yet about if she's a she or a he nor about their age

 

[Sunni Tiel]

By the looks of it that's a tiny baby that should still be on formula. I may be wrong, but this isn't good. @Zara ?

 

[Zara]

They do appear to be a very young bird, but I don´t know.
@Tiel Feathers @SandraK @Monica @Birdbabe

Is there no way to find out some more info on them? A rough age for eg? Their prev. diet¿
I wouldn´t try to push to eat a certain food, like veggies, if they don´t want to but rather focus on them eating anything for now. It´s important that they don´t stop eating.
You can try mashing some warm cooked sweet potato and offering it on a spoon, if they don´t take it, put it on a plate or in a bowl. They might like the warm food, even if the bird is an adult, it´s a comfort thing.

Does your friend have this bird? Remind her to keep track of the little ones weight.

 

[Monica]

If they are indeed young, they may benefit from some handfeeding formula.

As mentioned, make sure they are eating and maintaining weight for now. Pellets can be left in the cage but don't make it a big deal to convert for now. Sprouts and mixed finely chopped vegetables can be added to a separate dish.


Photos of the actual bird may help.

 

[Angela_2]

Photos of the actual bird may help

Is this good enough to guess its age?
* beak is messy with food *

 

[Ripshod]

This isn't plucking. This tiel needs a vet.
Sorry, I can't give any more advice than that.

 

[SandraK]

Definitely a baby - it still has that baby look. Probably about 6-7 weeks old? If I were you I'd pick up some fledgling formula and try feeding with a small spoon. It looked like it was bobbing a bit for a feeding. When I sent my baby tiels to a new home I stuck with a minimum of 8 weeks old and would sometimes wait until they could fly before they could go to a new home.

 

[Angela_2]

Definitely a baby - it still has that baby look. Probably about 6-7 weeks old? If I were you I'd pick up some fledgling formula and try feeding with a small spoon. It looked like it was bobbing a bit for a feeding. When I sent my baby tiels to a new home I stuck with a minimum of 8 weeks old and would sometimes wait until they could fly before they could go to a new home.

Oh yeah i bet it looks like a baby but my friend said they can fly and their wings are seemingly full grown.
I'll sent her your reply hopefully she can help him/ her better.
Thank you so much

 

[SandraK]

Oh yeah i bet it looks like a baby but my friend said they can fly and their wings are seemingly full grown.
I'll sent her your reply hopefully she can help him/ her better.
Thank you so much

Let me look through some of my baby tiels old photos & see what I find.

 

[SandraK]

Oh yeah i bet it looks like a baby but my friend said they can fly and their wings are seemingly full grown.
I'll sent her your reply hopefully she can help him/ her better.
Thank you so much

I meant to also say - the smaller the bird the faster they develop. It's how they'd survive.

 

[Sunni Tiel]

Probably about 6-7 weeks old?

Agree.

 

[Angela_2]

I meant to also say - the smaller the bird the faster they develop. It's how they'd survive.

I hope so, i really feel sad for their

 

[Monica]

Chicks that are still weaning can be fully feathered and flying... so that doesn't necessarily mean much.

Has the weight of the bird been tracked?