A Cockatiel found me!

[Psydrith]

I'm new to these forums but I figured I'd post here first since I am now sitting next to a Cockatiel. I've read these forums for quite a while and have read about parrots for the longest time and decided to look around. I visited him a couple times at a local Petco and just brought him home today. I'm aware of the stigma of pet stores, but the people in their bird section seemed to genuinely care for all of their birds well being and I talked with them for quite a bit before getting him. I haven't came up with a name for him yet, as I'd like to interact with him a bit more and really find something that fits. He of course was very nervous upon first arriving in his new home, but I have done everything to make him comfortable and he is already starting to relax and warm up to me a little. Well, that's my introduction. I'll keep you guys updated

 

[ann]

hello and welcome, youll love it here! i too just got my first birds today so i know how you feel, i keep looking at the cage worrying about every little thing, thinking of names, i just cant stop thinking about them!, your cockateil will be an absolute joy im sure and i hope you think of a name for him, also i agree not all chain pet stores are bad, there are somerly nice ones. good luck with your new fid !

 

[Rio Mom]

Welcome and Congrats! We would love to see a picture of your new friend.

 

[Psydrith]

 

[Psydrith]

I will try to take better pictures when he is more comfortable . For now I'm giving him his space though ^^;

 

[MikeyTN]

You've got a male! Has he started singing yet???

 

[Psydrith]

He's been very quiet so far, I don't think he's comfortable yet. Been doing my best to talk to him as much as possible. He seemed to be feeling more comfortable last night. He got really angry last night when I put the cover on his cage and was hissing (not from my proximity just to clarify as he lets me sit close to the cage and talk to him). Should I not cover his cage until he's more comfortable and just let my room be naturally dark or is there another solution here?

 

[YNAMomma]

Congrats and welcome!

 

[Nakiska]

How exciting! We purchased 2 of our cockatiels from Petco and they are wonderful!!

Our female lutino we named Chiquita she came from Petco..sweetest girl, totally in love with my spouse.

Our Male Pied we named Chicken Little from Petco and he's an excellent talker. Within 3 weeks he was wolf whistling, saying his name and "him a good boy?" Now he says Hello, what'cha doin', Hello Charlie (Our other male tiel's name) He whistles "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands..and for the "clap" he CLUCKS. He's soo much fun!

Congratulations on your purchase and we also have a cage just like that except ours is brown

Take care,

Toni

 

[Psydrith]

Update: He's beginning to play a bit inside his cage and is starting to act a LOT less afraid of me. I guess it's good I've had today and yesterday off from work so that I could spend most of them with him

Still a bit uncertain about the issue with his cover that I posted earlier though ^^;

 

[Nakiska]

Oh, yes, I was going to mention on the cage cover thing.

I personally do not cover my birds cages, the first night we tried it, they hissed and in the morning when we went to remove it, they hissed...so I decided NOT to cover.

The ONLY time I do cover their cages is if they are getting too noisy past bed time, I'll partially cover to quiet them down some. Especially
Charlie, he's the most talkative and I dearly LOVE to listen to him, but sometimes, enough is a enough and he quiets right down when I cover the top of his cage. I keep it so he can see out the bottom 1/2.



Good Luck with your new tiel and be sure to let us know when you've decided on a name.

Toni

 

[Psydrith]

 

[Psydrith]

Look who decided to come out and have a look around. I was watching youtube videos of cockatiels and he seemed really interested so I turned the monitor toward him and he eased his way up to the door, so I opened it and backed away. He eventually edged onto the table and I diced up an apple in front of him and saved part of it for myself to eat. After eating it in front of him he decided to try it a bit and seemed to like it.

 

[Remy]

What a cutie!!

I'd never heard of cage-covering until a little while before I got Puck. He doesn't seem to really need it covered, but I just put a blanket over the top of his cage to help give him more darkness... We share a studio apartment, and I'm often up later than he is.

When I first had him he used his happy hut, but now he sits on a high perch and often leans up against a toy. lol.

 

[MikeyTN]

You can cover them, for one, cockatiels tend to get night fright VERY easily!!!! I tried to wean night light off my babies and they flop in the cage in the middle of the night where they got bloody wings. So I started leaving night light on for them. It's bad when there's multiple birds together, when there's just one, it's not as bad. They tend to get cranky before bed time. Keep repeat the process of covering and they'll get over it. You don't have to cover, but it's an option to keep night fright at a minimal. All you have to do is walk by the cage while the lights are out or a car head light going through your house, that's all it takes for them to freak out. Your other option is a night light. And no birds don't need complete darkness to sleep, I have night light on all the time for years....

 

[Psydrith]

I think I'll go with the night light for now. He seemed a lot more comfortable with that last night. Both when I put the cover on and took it off the first night he was a lot more disturbed by that.

 

[Remy]

I never covered my cockatiels' cages. The only time I can remember them getting spooked at night was when there was an earthquake. Lol.

 

[Mamanda]

Congratulations on your new tiel!

 

[Psydrith]

Update: I've been just turning the lights off in my room and putting on a night light and he's been sleeping fine with absolutely no night fright

 

[roxynoodle]

My Nanday conure used to hate having her cage covered at first. Or she just hated going to bed! Then when night I asked, "Are you ready to go to bed?" and she answered, "Okay." Ever since then (and this was like 10 years ago), she has started saying "Okay" when she wants to go to bed. And she's always right at 10pm like clockwork. If I ignore the "okays" then she gets crabby and starts screeching. She also says "okay" in the morning to indicate she wants to be uncovered.