I need cockatiel help

[layinlow]

Hi! Yesterday I just got my first bird, a cocktiel I've named Mika. I was told she was almost 4 months old, hand fed and tamed. I'm pretty sure its a girl, for she doesn't squawk very much and is pretty quiet. She's a dark grey with a yellow face and the signature cheeks! I've been slightly worried about her though.. the cage she was in at the pet place had other cockatiels in the same quarters and they were pulling off other birds tail feathers (some to the point of having no tail feathers at all!). She has a pretty decent tail, for there aren't any noticible gaps, though some of the feathers are slightly wonky. I wasn't about to get a bird from a place like that, though my dad quickly wanted to buy her for me. When I first held her she climbed right onto my shoulder, rather friendly and all. I didn't like how the owner picked up the birds even if they didn't want to be picked up, a majority jumping and falling to the floor. Their wings are clipped. Yesterday when we brought her home she wanted out of the cage rather quickly (which we abided to), and when she was out all she wanted to do was be held. She goes right onto the shoulder and loves to snuggle, even letting me give her neck scritches one time. She hasn't ever bit hard or anything, maybe only on the nails. Earlier today she was acting completely fine. Everytime I put her into her cage, she starts freaking out and squawking, wanting to be out again. Today I went on a shopping spree (buying some toys and perches, even setting one up in the back of the cage which she is sitting on now), she acted fine when I got back, but maybe two hours ago or so I was trying to get her out of the cage so I could hold her (my friend who owns a cockatiel says I should handle her and give her lots of attention), though when I reached for her it seemed like she hissed at me. She's puffed up in the back of the cage, so I backed off so she could cool down. She still hasn't though and I don't know if I should let her accommodate to the environment alone for a few days? I've tried feeding her some fruits but she won't have any of it, only eating her seed diet food (since that was what she was fed at the bird place and so I don't stress her out by switching to pellets so quickly), she does love cheerios though! She has been puffing up a lot today, and I don't know if it's anything to worry about, but I've heard her sneeze a few times (she doesn't have any discharge coming out of her eyes or nose though). Sometimes when I tried to pick her up or pet her she'd make a whining / squeaking noise? I don't know if I was hurting her or not.. I don't know what she's mad at me for (if she is, I'm also not expecting full trust because we just started hanging out) , and I really want to fix it and gain trust! Please help me and give tips if you can!

/edit/ I ended up taking her out and she went straight to my shoulder, I ended up setting her atop her cage an hour later and had trouble getting her to step up like usual. Took a while to get her back into her cage.. she's still pretty hesitant!!

/Another edit,,/ Mika is doing pretty good, though she's becoming quite attached to her perch. Should I limit her away from this so we could bond better? As I was cleaning around her cage I had to take her off so the fumes wouldn't mess with her too much,, it's not bleach or anything so it shouldn't hurt her. But every time I walked by it seemed that she wanted back on, help ? I've had her for 4 days at this point

 

[Wasabisaurus]

What are you using to clean up? You must be very very careful. If there are any fumes, stop using it. Birds have very very very delicate respiratory systems. I use the Blue Dawn to clean my bird cages. Other people use cleaners specially designed for use on bird cages.

You need to take her to an avian vet. She needs a wellness check and a vet needs to be consulted about the sneezing. When birds sit puffed up, they are either cold or are not feeling well.
How big is her cage? What kind of perches does she have? Do you have any toys for her?

Just in case you ever think to do it, DO NOT buy anything to put on her body. She will clean herself. Some birds will accepting warm water misting, but don't try that just yet. Don't be in a rush to be friends. Take it slowly. I have the lowest possible opinion of pet stores. Most, if not all, use animals as product. The bottom line is to make money from them.

Do not feed her a cheerio more than once a week at the very most. I was giving one to my cockatiel on occasion and my vet put a stop to that. Bird bodies are not meant to have processed human food. I feed my cockatiels pellets and one Pelletberry a day and a pinch of millet at night.

I am glad you are here. Welcome. Ask us anything. No question is too small, no question is silly.

I have cockatiels for 15 years or so.

 

[layinlow]

Hi! Thank you so much for responding

I was aware to be very careful, I wasn't cleaning the cage but the table around it at the moment. It's a homemade cleaner with no bleach in it and no strong fumes at all from what I can tell. I still took her away from it and left the window open while I read to her just to make sure, I didn't want there to be something I wasn't smelling to affect her.

And yes! I've been wanting to approach a vet, but just getting her has costed quite a bit and I don't know if I have the right finances to pay for a bill just yet. she has been acting a lot better and sleeping on her perches from what I know. She sneezes every so often, but she's been way more active.

Her cage is pretty tiny, but with her being so young and the cage coming with her for free it was what we had to deal with. I wanted to get a bigger one, but I'm told to do so when she grows a little larger. I have her outside of her cage the majority of the day when I get home from school.
She has two perches in her cage, one I attached to the outside of it so she can hang out outside of the cage while I dart out of my room for a moment (she likes this one and is the one I'm curious if I should limit) , and a rope one that I haven't really used yet.
I have toys that are made for her to chew up, a ball thing that came with her, a foraging one, a more cuddly one I guess? Just the more needed ones

Yes, I personally hate pet stores, but this one was a bird shop? They had quite a few birds so it was probably one of the best places where I live. We did try to contact a breeder but she gave all of her younger birds to a swapmeet and those are very risky.

Ahh, okay that sounds about right. I really am hoping to get her switched to pellets soon! I was reading on it and was wondering if there was a good method? I've read about two but they seem rather scary.. one was the mixing it in with the seeds and slowly decreasing the amount of seeds, while the other was just dropping the seeds right off the bat and hoping they'd eat the pellets.

She likes millet seeds but so far is too scared to try the nutriberry balls I've gotten her.

Thank you so much for the welcome! I'm honestly very happy to be here in this bird community!

 

[Wasabisaurus]

I am glad you are happy to be here. Get her a bigger cage when you can. Google the term, flight cage.
My cockatiels each have one. Also get her to a vet when you can afford it.

One of my tiels was completely on seeds and what I did was wein him off by slowly adding more pellet and less seed until I took all the seed away. I did, tho, begin to give the cockatiels a pelletberry a day.

I feel that natural wood perches are best. When you are able to get her a bigger cage, get her a couple more perches. Do get her a calcium perch to chew on or a sort of oblong calcium chew you can attach to her cage. My cockatiels like banana calcium chews. Give your tiel more time to settle in before making a diet change. Give it a week to 10 days and then slowly decrease the seed. Let us know how that is going.
Other tiel people will pop in and give their opinions.

What’s her name? Her age?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Congrats on getting your 'tiel. Always a good idea to bring a new bird to the vet for a check up. Be very careful with cleaners. Most are not bird safe. What is in the mix you use?

 

[layinlow]

Ah yes I was actually thinking of getting her a flight cage! Though, I wouldn't see the use for it right now since the place we got her from clipped her wings
And yes I definitely will get her to a vet when I can!

Ah yes, I was thinking that method of weening would be good, though i've heard of times when the bird would only eat the seeds and no pellets, leading to them being hungry.

and the perch she has a favor towards is a more natural perch! I need to get her nails trimmed so while we wait for that I got her some sand covers for the end of it to hopefully get them to dull down a small bit.
I was thinking on getting a calcium perch, and now I'll definitely be sure to get one for her!

I named my cockatiel Mikaela after a character from Owari No Seraph, but call her Mika for short.
I was told that she is about 3 or 4 months (almost 4 months)
She's plucking out some small feathers which I'm guessing are her down feathers

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Congratulations on your new tiel, She sounds like a real sweetie! The down feathers aren’t really plucked, they just come out when she preens. Perfectly normal. The crying noise sounds like the noises babies make when they want to be hand fed or just wanting comfort. One of my tiels made that noise until they were about 5 months old. I would just stick with what your bird is used to eating for now, but when you do switch, you can crumble up the pellets, add just a tiny amount of water, and then mix them with the seeds. The water will help them stick to the seeds. Over time you can add more pellets and less seed. Cockatiels are not big fruit eaters, so I would try things like broccoli and leafy greens. I would also recommend that you get your bird on a loose schedule, so she knows when it’s playtime. This will help with any screaming to get out. Also, when she is out, it is good that she spends some time by herself. It’s very hard when a bird doesn’t know how to play independently. Most tiels take a couple of naps during the day, especially when they are so young. When they nap they often fluff up and put their head under their wing, but I have two birds who don’t put their head under their wings when they nap. Is your bird napping when she hisses? Most Tiels sneeze a could times day, usually after preening, but it’s important to get a well check from an experienced vet. You can start offering millet whenever she does something you like, and never force her to do anything, but try to find a way to make it her choice.

 

[layinlow]

The cleaning mix,, in all honesty I'm not for sure what is in it. I know it's all natural stuff though. My sister makes it so I'll try and ask her what's in it the next time she makes it!

 

[layinlow]

Oh wow thank you so much!! You all do really know a lot about birds ahaha
Oh okay! She usually tends to make the crying sound when I'm doing something I suspect she doesn't like.. it's definitely not hissing but it's also definitely not a screech or even a quick chirp. It's very quiet. Usually she makes it if I try to give her neck pets or trying to pick her up when she doesn't want it (usually in the mornings before school I take her out to stretch her wings on her outside perch, though when she doesn't step up and Im in a hurry to leave I'll very gently pry up her toes so that she steps onto my finger so I can put her back into her cage- this is the most common tI'm when I hear tools his sound)
That method of switching her over sounds very helpful,, thank you! I wouldn't have ever thought to do that
I've actually never gotten her to really play before! If I show her to something new she's very hesitant and won't come near if I try introducing her to it slowly, so mostly when I'm showing her it she'll run off haha.
She usually naps with her head forward while she's puffed up (I'm pretty sure this is her napping?) Though while she was out on her perch today I did see her tuck her head behind her wing for the first time
She also never really screams, or is that loud for that matter. The only time I hear her chirp is when she sees herself in the mirror (when I first introduced her to it, she bobbed her head and chirped loudly, also making kissy-sounding noises and spreading her wings a tiny bit), the only other time she chirps is if someone leaves the room, she'll chirp a few times before going quiet again.
I'm not for sure if she's napping when she hisses, the only time she's done it towards me she was perked up in a corner of her cage.