Cage, toys and a million other things!

[Yogagirl]

My cockatiel was partially hand raised meaning the parents fed them up to about two weeks old and then the breeder took the chicks away and finished the process.
Generally, breeders who want to sell tame, human friendly babies either either completely hand raise after two weeks, or hand feed to supplement parent feeding. Sure, parent birds raise their own babies in the wild, but they raise wild babies not companion birds.

People may disagree with me, but I think you can't beat hand fed vs completely parent fed for baby parrots including cockatiels. A hand fed baby goes it its new home completely trusting its new humans because humans were its "parents". A hand raised baby is generally more expensive because of the time and attention it requires but it's only about four to six weeks of work, so I think it's worth it. In many countries outside the US, especially in the far east, babies are sold at about four weeks old, unweaned, and the new owner is expected to take over feeding and weaning. This is a terrible practice! Most people do not have the training or experience required to safely hand feed baby birds and they frequently die soon after they're sold. NEVER buy an unweaned baby bird, and don't buy one from a breeder who will sell you one.

A stuffed animal provides a lot of comfort to a baby bird, and doubles as a rubbing object for an adult male when he's feeling "affectionate".

oh...A Stuffed Animal is Brilliant . Thank you !!!

 

[CowardMan]

IF you get a male..He will need something to run on if you are only getting one bird. If you are getting male and female...They are lovable expect babies ..If you get one bird be prepared to spend a lot of time with your bird because Cockatiels do not like being alone ...This is the Big One....You have prepared the cage inside well ...Now for the outside...I have a cover a cotton sheet over cage to prevent drafts ...Your cockatiel should not stage in cage 24 hours a Day...Let Him walk around on the floor if you do not have other pets and on your shoulder...I have perches outside of the cage too....Birds were not meant to live in a cage all its life...My cockatiel has access to come inside of his cage and. Come out....I also have a humidifier especially in the winter because the air gets dry and my cockatiel feathers are dry....My Baby will start crying..I know his Wings are dry ...I get his spray bottle out and spray him and also make sure his humidifier is on high....Again my bird has access to get out of the cage and stand in the area were the humidifier is release the warm mist....Get use to holding your baby while He is young ..This is enough advice for now...

Thanks for the tips, yeah the plan is to get a lone male though from what I see both of the aviaries I'm going to don't DNA test their babies and are quite open that they can't be 100% with the sexing but can give educated guesses, maybe in the future I can introduce another same sex friend but we'll see how it goes. Pretty much my idea is if I'm home the cage is open, I have a playstand in my amazon basket as another special spot he can go to and I have spots around I can hang some branches/rope perches around for him to use. Thankfully I know I don't go out all the time, just for work and whenever friends plan things on the weekend but realistically I only go out twice a month and that's in the afternoon so plenty of morning time to come out and spend time together.

Thankfully being in England we spend a lot of the time very humid, I do have a misting fan for my own sake in summer already so that's covered thankfully.

 

[Yogagirl]

Wonderful !!! You are Prepared

 

[CowardMan]

My cockatiel was partially hand raised meaning the parents fed them up to about two weeks old and then the breeder took the chicks away and finished the process.
Generally, breeders who want to sell tame, human friendly babies either either completely hand raise after two weeks, or hand feed to supplement parent feeding. Sure, parent birds raise their own babies in the wild, but they raise wild babies not companion birds.

People may disagree with me, but I think you can't beat hand fed vs completely parent fed for baby parrots including cockatiels. A hand fed baby goes it its new home completely trusting its new humans because humans were its "parents". A hand raised baby is generally more expensive because of the time and attention it requires but it's only about four to six weeks of work, so I think it's worth it. In many countries outside the US, especially in the far east, babies are sold at about four weeks old, unweaned, and the new owner is expected to take over feeding and weaning. This is a terrible practice! Most people do not have the training or experience required to safely hand feed baby birds and they frequently die soon after they're sold. NEVER buy an unweaned baby bird, and don't buy one from a breeder who will sell you one.

A stuffed animal provides a lot of comfort to a baby bird, and doubles as a rubbing object for an adult male when he's feeling "affectionate".

I think here it seems to generally be one or the other, I'll ask the place I plan on going at the weekend exactly how they do things. Thankfully both places here say they don't let their babies go until they're completely able to eat solid foods on their own and if they revert you can bring them back in until they're ready again so no risk of needing to feed formula.

haha that's not a bad shout, I actually have a parrot stuffed toy, think it's meant to be a military macaw but is a decent size so good for cuddling up to when newly home. And good for some special time when a bit older!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Thanks for the tips, yeah the plan is to get a lone male though from what I see both of the aviaries I'm going to don't DNA test their babies and are quite open that they can't be 100% with the sexing but can give educated guesses, maybe in the future I can introduce another same sex friend but we'll see how it goes. Pretty much my idea is if I'm home the cage is open, I have a playstand in my amazon basket as another special spot he can go to and I have spots around I can hang some branches/rope perches around for him to use. Thankfully I know I don't go out all the time, just for work and whenever friends plan things on the weekend but realistically I only go out twice a month and that's in the afternoon so plenty of morning time to come out and spend time together.

Thankfully being in England we spend a lot of the time very humid, I do have a misting fan for my own sake in summer already so that's covered thankfully.

Some color varieties of cockatiels are sex linked and you will know the sex even as a baby because of that. I need to do more reading to be able to be more specific about which colors.

 

[CowardMan]

Some color varieties of cockatiels are sex linked and you will know the sex even as a baby because of that. I need to do more reading to be able to be more specific about which colors.

yeah I think reading it up it's the Pied types that are harder to sex but another one to look into, it's atleast nice for someone not to go "yes we know their sex definitely" and at least say they can make an educated guess

 

[DonnaBudgie]

yeah I think reading it up it's the Pied types that are harder to sex but another one to look into, it's atleast nice for someone not to go "yes we know their sex definitely" and at least say they can make an educated guess

I just saw a video by an avian vet holding a baby cockatiel explsin8ng how he can sex babies by holding the bird, extending its wing, and examining the barring marks under the flight feathers. He said that baby males have the barring pattern of adult females (barring under all primary flight feathers) and baby females have a similar pattern but the barred flight feathers extend farther back into the wing to include the secondary flight feathers in addition to the primary flight feathers.