I may become a cockatiel owner :o

[Coki]

Hello everyone!

So, as some of you may know, I'm owned by six untamed budgies (aviary birds) and a beautiful little handfed bourke parakeet.

Next December I will be getting another beautiful Bourke to keep my Citrus company. He's an amazing bird, but I do notice he would appreciate company from his specie, and while the budgies can be a bit evil to him, everytime I let him out, he goes and spends the rest of the day on the top of the budgies cage. (for now, I'm not letting them out because they're quite wild and I can't take them back to their cages without having to grab them, and considering how stressful this is for this little fellas I prefer them to stay on their cages. I just moved, that's the reason they're caged).

The thing is I've recently thinking a lot about cockatiels, and while I love my Bourke to pieces (I wouldn't be getting another one if I didn't), he doesn't really play a lot and all he wants to do while he's out is sleep on me, and occasionally chew on my fingers or hair, lol. I really love our "reading" times, where I read and he would sleep as close to me as he can, and accept a head rub occasionally, but not often.

There are a lot of Australian species I'd love to be owned by someday, but while these are interactive, they are not as affectionate as a cockatiel (I'm talking about regent parrots, princess parrots, king parrots, etc).

I'm still moving, but once Im done I have a huge garage I will be turning into an aviary , so if I ever get a cockatiel, they all will share this place during the day, ot whenever they feel like it. I've found my budgies to be quite tolerant to other species and I assume this may be because they were parent raised.

Anyway! The reason Im making this thread is because the breeder I got Citrus from (and from where I will get his partner) also breeds cockatiels' and I'm considering getting one in a few months. I've found albino cockatiels incredibly beautiful, so I may go for one of those! Also, I've talked to a few friends who are owned by cockatiels and I've been given amazing advices as well as descriptions on how living with these little fella's is.

I'd appreciate a lot if some of you could describe me your experience with your cockatiels, I'd also love if you could share what you feed them with as much detail as you can. (my budgies love grains and green leafy greens, and my Bourke barely touches greens, but likes any grain I offer, he turned into pellets in one day, while my budgies decided they don't even want to go near them, lol).

Anyways! Thank you a lot for reading and I'm looking forward to hear your experiences with this amazing birds

 

[LemonGrass]

Bourkes have a similar nature to cockatiels, but as you can tell the budgies do tend to be a bit more aggressive. They often do try to bully cockatiels who are slower in mobility. I would recommend supervised out of cage time, especially with six budgies.

The diet you have going sounds fine for cockatiels. They usually do better on more seeds than pellets so mine are on a 60% seed 40% pellet diet (also fresh veggies daily).

Cockatiels are great birds as pets. Mine are quite adaptive and will happily hang out with me all day or entertain themselves. They usually aren't very destructive...but no one told my guys that! Mine chew through a lot of wood. Noise wise, I do find them relatively loud and have shrill calls (not as piercing though as lovebirds). They are definitely louder than my Senegal.

The one thing I was not prepared for initially was the dust production. I have gotten used to it though with frequent wiping of toys, perches, cages with a damp towel. Frequent baths are a must.

 

[Robyn]

Just be aware that in some species albinos (or fallow as they are referred to in cockatiels) can have several health problems and live shorter lives. Again this is a possibility not a definite thing. As with any mutation it depends heavily on genetics. Make sure you feed them high quality food (any animal really) I have noticed since giving my birds some higher quality foods they are both more active my 17 year old male isn't sleeping as much during the day. They both sing a lot more.

 

[Coki]

Bourkes have a similar nature to cockatiels, but as you can tell the budgies do tend to be a bit more aggressive. They often do try to bully cockatiels who are slower in mobility. I would recommend supervised out of cage time, especially with six budgies.

The diet you have going sounds fine for cockatiels. They usually do better on more seeds than pellets so mine are on a 60% seed 40% pellet diet (also fresh veggies daily).

Cockatiels are great birds as pets. Mine are quite adaptive and will happily hang out with me all day or entertain themselves. They usually aren't very destructive...but no one told my guys that! Mine chew through a lot of wood. Noise wise, I do find them relatively loud and have shrill calls (not as piercing though as lovebirds). They are definitely louder than my Senegal.

The one thing I was not prepared for initially was the dust production. I have gotten used to it though with frequent wiping of toys, perches, cages with a damp towel. Frequent baths are a must.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, Lemongrass! I'm happy to hear your guys go through wood easily! I would like a parrot that was a bit more destructive. Bourkes don't go through toys, but I already knew that! A friend's tiels are quite destructive too! And since I love toys I made some for them with slim wood slices, bamboo and the such and they loved it! (you get no toys in ny country, so you either do them yourself or you just don't give them toys).

Dust! Yeah I'm kinda concerned about dust. In fact I've heard some people got allergic to their birds after years of keeping them that scares me a bit. I wouldn't mind vacuuming daily though. How much dust they produce?

Just be aware that in some species albinos (or fallow as they are referred to in cockatiels) can have several health problems and live shorter lives. Again this is a possibility not a definite thing. As with any mutation it depends heavily on genetics. Make sure you feed them high quality food (any animal really) I have noticed since giving my birds some higher quality foods they are both more active my 17 year old male isn't sleeping as much during the day. They both sing a lot more.

Really? Oh that makes me doubt a lot if I want an albino. They are beautiful but I couldn't stand if I got one and it died due to genetic problems. If it is normally like that, why people keep breeding them anyway? I'll look into other mutations. Thank you for letting me know!

 

[Robyn]

Most of the time I don't think they aren't bred to be albino they happen to turn out that way. For example in Rileys clutch there were two spilt pieds (appearing to be normal greys with a few yellow feathers on the back of the head) Riley is a white-faced male there was also a luntino and a fallow (albino)

 

[Chihuahua]

i have not heard anything about albino tiels having extra problems. albino rats can also be long lived for a rat. it really depends on the species.

i have a tiel coming friday. good to know about the pellets v s seeds. does the same go for budgies?

 

[Robyn]

Yes the same seed/pellet balance goes for budgies. As I said a lot of it depends on genetics but albinos in general tend to have poor genes

 

[blewin]

In my experience, 'tiels are very affectionate birds. Buddy just really wants to be around us all the time. She's not very destructive, although she will go through phases where she chews on everything. She's not "playful" like some other breeds seem to be, but she is a real sweetheart and loves being scritched.

 

[sunnysmom]

Albino cockatiels really aren't "albinos". They're either a clear white faced pied Pied - Just Cockatiels! or a white face lutino which is usually the one that people refer to as albino Lutino - Just Cockatiels! Some lutinos have a bald spot due to a genetic flaw and some lutinos used to have health issues because of improper breeding. I think that was really more a problem years ago as most breeders are now aware of what mutations should be bred together. If you have a good breeder, I wouldn't be concerned about getting an "albino" tiel.

As for cockatiels themselves, they are wonderful little birds. Males tend to be more vocal than females. Females are known for being more snuggly but my boy tiel didn't get the memo because he's a little snuggle bug. They tend not to be overly destructive but you do still need to keep an eye out. My tiel did manage to chew a hole in our chair while my fiancé was supposedly watching him. And he will chew any paper he can get his little beak on.

As for food, as was said, tiels need seed in their diet. An all pellet diet is too hard on their kidneys just as an all seed diet can be too hard on their livers. I feed about 50-60% seed, 10% pellets (actually senior nutriberries) and the rest grains and vegetables. Tiels tend not to be fruit eaters although there are exceptions. But in the wild, they don't eat fruit.

In general, they are just wonderful, laid back little birds.

 

[Robyn]

Females are known for being more snuggly but my boy tiel didn't get the memo because he's a little snuggle bug.

Riley didn't get the memo either he is the cuddliest bird I've ever seen

 

[blewin]

Buddy didn't get the memo about eating veggies...we have to sneak in dried into her diet