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New Baby Cockatiel - Welcome Advice

melodydee

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Our new little cockatiel will be coming home in the next week or two once she ready and able to feed on her own. We have a little cage for her to come home in and stay for the first little while until she's ready to go into her larger cage. We have had budgies and a senegal in the past, so I am familiar with birds, but not the cockatiel specifically. We chose this bird as it will be my 11 year old daughters first bird and we wanted her to have a wonderful first experience and felt that the general nature of most cockatiels would provide that. I've been doing a LOT of research online, at the pet store, from avian owners and as you can imagine, I'm getting a tremendous amount of conflicting advice. I'd love to hear your feedback on a few questions I have.

1. What age would a baby cockatiel be ready to move to a larger cage?
2. What would the best/min/max size of a cage be for cockatiel?
3. Pellets vs. seeds and fresh/fruit veggies. So much debate on this topic!
4. Advice for my daughter as she moves forward on this new adventure?
5. We've been told the bird is most certainly female but we will be DNA Sexing to find out what it is. I've posted a link to photos of this pretty little bird below. We've been told the mother was lutino and pearl. What would that make this little sweet bird based on the photos?

New Baby Cockatiel - Google Photos

I welcome your thoughts, feedback, advice and look forward to this new adventure with our new family member. Tentatively named "Tango".
 

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sunnysmom

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Welcome to the forum! Your tiel is adorable!

Baby tiels are pretty clumsy in general. I would probably move her into a bigger cage as soon as possible but keep the perches and food down low in case she falls. Cockatiels are granivores. So I believe they need seed in their diet. An all pellet diet can be hard on their kidneys just as an all seed diet can be hard on their liver. I fed mine about 50% seeds, 15% pellets (actually nutriberries) and the rest fresh vegetables and rice, etc.

I would tell your daughter to give time for the little tiel to settle in. She may want held right away. She might not. It's important to never grab a tiel unless it's an emergency situation. Letting the tiel to choose to come out of the cage on her own is usually best. Spending time sitting with the tiel, talking to her and even reading to her are good ways to get her used to her new person in a nonthreatening way.

Something to watch out for, it's not uncommon for newly weaned tiels to regress under the stress of a new home and need hand feedings. So make sure your new tiel is eating okay on her own. :)
 

EkkieLu

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Welcome Aboard! So glad you're here!
 

Zara

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Welcome to the forum Denise :)

I love the name you guys chose!❤

You can move the chick to the bigger cage once she is able to perch well and not fall so often, Start by having the perches in the bigger cage low down.
The best size cage is as big as you can get. But the minimum sizes are listed here: Cage Sizes | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum :)
 

melodydee

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I'm struggling so much finding the right cage.

Either one is large enough across, but not deep enough. Or I find one 24 x 24 x 32 and the bar spacing is .66 or 5/8 inch. I find ones that are 30" wide but only 18" deep. It's so frustrating. I can't afford to buy one that is practically an aviary and no space to put it...

What is everyone else doing or using? I feel there are so many options out there but none that work for the cage size list.
 

Zara

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melodydee

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Bar spacing 5/8 is ok. (1.5cm)



I have this cage for my special needs lovebird, it is way too small for a Tiel I´m afraid.
so do you think the one that's 24"x24" would be wide enough? I agree that the 18" deep seems too small and why I'd rather do the square 24", if that's not too small?
 

melodydee

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I'd love to know... it seem so tall and big though? Also the bars are vertical and not horizontal. I've been reading about needing horizontal bars? Thank you! I just want to do the best for our little friend!
 

Zara

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melodydee

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@Zara I believe those are the outer dimensions. The inside is 24x24... so a little less than the one wide 30" recommended, but wider than others I've seen... not sure with her wings being clipped if that's a better choice as it has horizontal bars on two sides. I'll wait for the other Tiel owners to help out, but I really appreciate your input!
 

Tiel Feathers

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melodydee

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Or one like this:
Amazon.com : Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Flight Cage with Stand F040 Black Bird Cage, 31-Inch by 20-1/2-Inch by 53-Inch : Birdcages : Pet Supplies
You might be able to find it in white too.
I like cages that are wider than the 23” you posted. The cage I have is from pet supermarket and I can’t find it online anywhere.
It doesn't matter that the depth is a lot smaller than the recommendation at only 20 in? what about the fact that the bars are vertical? Does that matter? Thank you!
 

Tiel Feathers

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I think if the width is large and the overall area inside is still big, it’s okay. Many people on here tend to have flight cages because the proportions are better than other cages. It’s hard to find a good size cage with mostly horizontal bars. My tiels climb all over their flight cages that have mostly vertical bars. Once you add perches around the cage it should be fine.
 
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