New

[karlyryan]

Hello I am new to this site and I am from Melbourne Australia. I am looking for other Australian cockatiel owners/breeders.

I have a 13week old tiel his name is Ashh unsure of the mutation he has very odd colouring so if anyone can help please let me know. I also have a female, unsure of age her name is Aleta (meaning winged) and she is a cinnamon split to pied.

Cheers, hope to hear from you guys soon (^^,)

[White Wolf]

Hello Karlyryan, welcome to the group. Could you post a picture of the cockatiel in question for us to see what it looks like and maybe one of us can identify the mutation for you. I live in Maine USA, good luck finding others nearby, blessings Ruth

[cherylrowland]

Karlyryan,

I echo Ruth's welcome and would love to see pictures of your cockatiels. I live west of St. Louis, Missouri and someday would love to see Australia.

[dianedel]

I have a tiel I bought last year Male, Sammy and he is great! I want to add a female, what is the right way to go about the intro. thanks

[cherylrowland]

Diane,

You should place two cages side by side to introduce a new bird to your family. This allows Sammy the opportunity to decide whether or not he is willing to share his cage with another bird. Whenever you are home, open the cage door for them to visit each other, once you see that Sammy is comfortable then you should be able to put them in the same cage with no problems. Although you will still need to keep an eye on them to ensure that he doesn't bully her. Aare you willing for them to breed? Because by introducing a female to the mix, you might have baby cocktiels, depening on the age of Sammy and the female that you purchase. If not, then you can get another male. I have three males in one cage and they get along great, grooming each other, etc.

Look forward to hearing more from you.

Cheryl

[conure]

Hi,

I bought my first cockatiel about 13 days ago. She/he is really cute but hardly chirps and never plays with toys. It just sits in front of its food tray and eats. Periodically, it will come out of the cage and perch itself on top. I am wondering if I should return it because I think it might be sick or not have a playful personality. I owned two lovebirds before and they were very playful. Are cockatiels less playful than lovebirds?

[cherylrowland]

Sometimes when a bird is moved he/she will go through a period of adjustment. Did you get the bird from a birdstore, petstore or a breeder? If you got it from a birdstore or breeder, I would talk to them to see what they think about this lack of activity. If from a petstore, I would take the bird back and ask that they pay for a Avian vet to check the bird out to ensure that you were sold a healthy bird. Another reason, the bird might be acting the way it is, was he/she is a cage with a lot of other birds; If so, he/she may just be mourning the loss of its playmates. As long as it is eating, drinking and passing waste, I would say that it is okay. But this is totally your call as I am not a licensed vet to give you advice. Let us know what you decide to do.

[conure]

Thank u soooo much 4 ur advice. I really lové her & don't Wang 2 stress her out. I git her from a petstore. She was only @ petstore 1 day b4 i bought her & they said much of what ur saying. That she is trying 2 adjust 2 anoth new environment.
Thank u 4 helping me!!!!

[cherylrowland]

You are welcome. I'm just glad that she is not sick.

[valerienewton]

I am new to this site. I had a cockatiel for 15 years. He landed on my head in November 1995 just before a big freeze! I did not interact with him that much as I got my cats around the same time. My Birdie died 10-13-08 and this November 3, 2009, I obtained another by way of him needing a home. I named him Humpy - 2 guesses why! Anyway, he is mean to me. He will not let me touch him! He was fine at first, but now I guess he's got my number. Any suggestions? I really am a cat person - my cats are 15 now and they could care less if the bird sits on their head, but I do provide a good home with clean fresh food & water & cage every day. I take could care of him, but he doesn't appreciate it very much!

[cherylrowland]

Humpy could have developed a cage territorial personality. You need to change up his toys, food dishes, perches and anything else that is in his cage. I'm not sure if this suggestion will work, but keep us informed and if it doesn't maybe one of the long term breeders will have another suggestion.