Is 8 weeks young for a cockatiel?

[OfficerI]

As some of you guys know, I am getting a beautiful pied male cockatiel. You can see pics of him on my profile in previous threads. He is now 8 weeks old, nearly weaned, is this considered too young to bring home?

Also, when will his real behavior come out? Right now he bites a lot! He uses his beak and nibbles on everything, he also sleeps a lot and enjoys scritches. He makes the baby dinosaur noises and bops his head a lot, but doesn't chirp that much. He only chirped once when he was with me and he chirped up a storm!
He is also pretty clumsy.
So I am wondering, when will he become more "Adultish" and start exhibiting more normal behavior and talk more?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Wait until he is fully weaned. In fact it can be a good idea for the breeder to keep the baby for a few days after he/she is weaned just to be sure. Cockatiels can wean anywhere from about 8 wks of age and sometimes up to 12 weeks. Depends on the bird. Baby birds can be clumsy. Do you have a cage for him already?

 

[OfficerI]

Wait until he is fully weaned. In fact it can be a good idea for the breeder to keep the baby for a few days after he/she is weaned just to be sure. Cockatiels can wean anywhere from about 8 wks of age and sometimes up to 12 weeks. Depends on the bird. Baby birds can be clumsy. Do you have a cage for him already?

Will do! And yes I have a cage, playstand and harrisons high potency pellets, seeds, everything for him!

 

[iamwhoiam]

What kind of cage is it? A tall cage may be an issue in the beginning for a young bird. It all depends on the bird. You may need to keep perches low, pad the bottom of the cage with non stringy towels or non-pilling fleece, and make sure that there is easy access to food and water.
Congrats by the way. Do you have any photos that you can post?

 

[Princessbella]

I agree with @iamwhoiam. 8 weeks is too soon. I got Bella when she was 7 weeks old because the breeder's furnace broke and I had to hand feed her for 5 more weeks. Bella was also very clumsy. I started her out in a smaller cage (which now I use as a hotel cage) because it took her a while to get the climbing thing Besides pellets, the sooner you get him to start on veggies, the better. Also you may want to start him on soft foods like rice, pasta, millet, and oatmeal if the pellets are too hard. I don't know if you had birds before but avocado, rhubarb, raw onions, and chocolate are poisonous even if eaten in small amounts and too much salt and fat are also bad. Congratulations! I am partial to tiels and as the board knows, my tiel thinks that she rules the world.

 

[OfficerI]

What kind of cage is it? A tall cage may be an issue in the beginning for a young bird. It all depends on the bird. You may need to keep perches low, pad the bottom of the cage with non stringy towels or non-pilling fleece, and make sure that there is easy access to food and water.
Congrats by the way. Do you have any photos that you can post?

Yes no worries, It is a Vision M01 cage which I will upgrade once he gets more steady. He will spending most of his day outside the cage.
Here are pictures:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet <--- these are from 2 weeks ago

Imgur: The magic of the Internet <--- Recent

 

[Princessbella]

What a cutie! What is his name?

 

[iamwhoiam]

He is beautiful! Do you have other perches for him so that you can toss those green plastic ones? I almost bought a Vision cage but I read that you have to lift up the entire cage to get to the bottom tray in order to clean.

 

[OfficerI]

He is beautiful! Do you have other perches for him so that you can toss those green plastic ones? I almost bought a Vision cage but I read that you have to lift up the entire cage to get to the bottom tray in order to clean.

I tossed out both green plastic ones, I got a manzanita wood perch and a pedi perch, wooden ladder and kabob shredding toy. I am going to get 2 more perches and maybe another toy if I can fit it in. Also, lifting it up isn't too hard, you just detach two clips and it's very light! I think it's one of the best cages for the money.

 

[OfficerI]

What a cutie! What is his name?

I named him Wall-E! Lots of collaboration between friends and family was needed to get to that name haah!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

He’s just precious! I would also wait a bit if you can. All my tiels came home at 12 weeks. (Except for Niko who I got when she was five).

 

[Princessbella]

I named him Wall-E! Lots of collaboration between friends and family was needed to get to that name haah!

I love that name!

 

[Spirit Warrior]

Mine was 8 to 10 weeks when i got storm. He was eatting fine. Thought they keep him longer coz his sibling (first hatched) died after he started eatting on his own

 

[Tara81]

Best to wait until fully weened. That is, two weeks of eating on their own without need for formula. Not when they just, eat on their own.

Getting a tiel that is not taken from its siblings / parents / caretaker too soon helps prevent the tiel from regressing, helps the tiel become more independent as it gets older. It is always best to nurture the bird as much as possible while it is young, there have been studies that have shown that birds that spend more time with their parents / caretaker / siblings while young creates them to become more independent, better to take on stressful situations then birds taken as soon as possible.

Even when the bird is fully weened and taken to a new home, they need to be nurtured and loved. It is very important to be gentle and spend time with your new bird, either by just being in the room if it is scared, or spending time with it outside of the cage.