New potential owner - Looking for supplies and info.

[crimson]

Hi and welcome aboard

good info from everybody, not much I can add to this other than from a breeding perspective...
...I have been breeding cockatiels for quite some time, every bird has their own unique personality, but to generalize a cockatiels, they are great pets. most of mine are my pets but like to experience the excitement once in a while
some like to be scritched more than others, ride your shoulder, prune your hair, and talk.
I have a male here that is 2 years of age named Dexter, he is my pet and I adore him(he's actually my favourite out of the 5 that I own), but when he is ready to mate, watch out, he bites, and I can't go near him due to the hormones.
After he's finished raising his chicks, he returns to his normal self and is a real ham.
sometimes 4 months go by without me handling him, which is a very very long time, but after....he steps right up and we carry on where we left of, getting kisses, and talking.
I also have asthma, but also own 3 dogs, 4 cats and many birds. some give me reactions more than others, but it's manageable.

they LOVE swings, dangling toys, bells, and shred type toys

As for the cage, here is one I would love to have, and very reasonably priced, similar to abigal7 suggested.

HQ Flight Bird Cage - Presented by BirdsComfort.com

 

[crimson]

just wanted to add something...some cockatiels will accept new owners without any issues, ie...biting, flying off etc...and will remain calm and tame with their new owners
but some won't and will not want anything to do with you and will initially be frightened. I've had both scenarios.
I would get a young cockatiel, approx. 8 -9 weeks of age that was hand fed AND hand tamed.
it will make it an easier transition for both of you, and you can develop a good bond while they are young.

Male cockatiels tend to start singing and talking as early as 4-5 months of age.
I'd had females here that sing,and whistle like a male, but don't talk.
if you are more comfortable with one that is older, then just make sure they are hand tamed and comfortable with new people.

 

[Abigal7]

I want to add I got my cockatiel from a small private pet store. It was tame and did not bite me. It did fly when it got startled so I never took it ouside. Strangly, it did more flying then the green cheek conure I have now or the one I had as a child. The cage you showed in the link is fine. But the cage crimson showed you is better and would give the bird more space and that would be a plus if your bird is more of a flyer.

 

[SDSU_Aztec]

just wanted to add something...some cockatiels will accept new owners without any issues, ie...biting, flying off etc...and will remain calm and tame with their new owners
but some won't and will not want anything to do with you and will initially be frightened. I've had both scenarios.
I would get a young cockatiel, approx. 8 -9 weeks of age that was hand fed AND hand tamed.
it will make it an easier transition for both of you, and you can develop a good bond while they are young.

Male cockatiels tend to start singing and talking as early as 4-5 months of age.
I'd had females here that sing,and whistle like a male, but don't talk.
if you are more comfortable with one that is older, then just make sure they are hand tamed and comfortable with new people.

I would get a younger one but as I said before, to me having a male is very VERY important. A HUGE reason why I want a cockatiel in the first place is because of the whistles and words they can learn.

 

[Birdlover11]

just wanted to add something...some cockatiels will accept new owners without any issues, ie...biting, flying off etc...and will remain calm and tame with their new owners
but some won't and will not want anything to do with you and will initially be frightened. I've had both scenarios.
I would get a young cockatiel, approx. 8 -9 weeks of age that was hand fed AND hand tamed.
it will make it an easier transition for both of you, and you can develop a good bond while they are young.

Male cockatiels tend to start singing and talking as early as 4-5 months of age.
I'd had females here that sing,and whistle like a male, but don't talk.
if you are more comfortable with one that is older, then just make sure they are hand tamed and comfortable with new people.

I would get a younger one but as I said before, to me having a male is very VERY important. A HUGE reason why I want a cockatiel in the first place is because of the whistles and words they can learn.

Females can learn words too, it's just males can more likely. You shouldn't get a bird solely because you want it to mimic, as some tiels can't. Also, did you find a vet ? You could use the link to paumonauk vetinary clinic

 

[SDSU_Aztec]

just wanted to add something...some cockatiels will accept new owners without any issues, ie...biting, flying off etc...and will remain calm and tame with their new owners
but some won't and will not want anything to do with you and will initially be frightened. I've had both scenarios.
I would get a young cockatiel, approx. 8 -9 weeks of age that was hand fed AND hand tamed.
it will make it an easier transition for both of you, and you can develop a good bond while they are young.

Male cockatiels tend to start singing and talking as early as 4-5 months of age.
I'd had females here that sing,and whistle like a male, but don't talk.
if you are more comfortable with one that is older, then just make sure they are hand tamed and comfortable with new people.

I would get a younger one but as I said before, to me having a male is very VERY important. A HUGE reason why I want a cockatiel in the first place is because of the whistles and words they can learn.

Females can learn words too, it's just males can more likely. You shouldn't get a bird solely because you want it to mimic, as some tiels can't. Also, did you find a vet ? You could use the link to paumonauk vetinary clinic

I did find 2 avian vets — I have a family vet for my rabbit...but he is not specialized in bird care— Vets are not a big problem around here, but they will be when I move away from the San Diego Area in about a year. I am going to move to either Laramie WY or Missoula MT. I don't think there will be many avian vets in those areas.

 

[jugoya]

For cage sizes..

I went with something I could afford that was still a decent size. Though truthfully as my bird is out of his cage ALL the time.. he doesn't need as big of one. He goes with me pretty much everywhere and we have perches ALL over the main room for him, he has a grand old time flying about the room and then zooming BACK to his cage for a quick snack.

I just like cages with a larger surface on the top that he can wander around on.

As my bird PREFERS a shorter cage I actually got This one for him for the moment.

Granted my Chevron wing is a little smaller than a cocketiel so...

I wanted a cage that could break down easily and go with us when we travel as we travel quite a bit, and the cage is quite sturdy and a nice buy for the price.


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Petco-Designer-White-Finch-Flight/dp/B004I2KCF4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366039055&sr=8-1&keywords=finch+flight+cage]Amazon.com: Petco Designer White Finch Flight Cage: Pet Supplies[/ame]

 

[Richelle]

Hi welcome! I had a male and female cockatiel before. I found the female (she was a beautiful cinnamon pearl) outside by the grocery store one rainy day. Never did find her owner but she had a lot of issues. I bought a male (whiteface) to breed her with but she was too old i think. Anyways he was completely wild when i bought him--he hadn't had any real human interaction but even though he was in the cage with his female I managed to train him to come to my hand and step up and I also got him to spread his wings. Cockatiels are easily trainable (from my experience) and the males are more vocal and they can definately be affectionate! You can buy an inexpensive large cage on ebay a lot of times with free shipping. That's what I did. Unfortunately I did have allergies to the cockatiels (I had 3) and the amount of dander they produce is much greater than most birds (except cockatoos) but you can get this spray at the pet store that called dander down that helps with that situation. Best of luck to you!

 

[kenzie]

I agree with Birdlover11. If the main reason you want a tiel or any parrot is because they talk/whistle, then honestly you shouldn't be getting a bird. Not all birds talk, so I hope you know that a male tiel may not talk. Once you make the commitment, its final (unless you throw him in a shelter or sell him). Sorry for pre-judging but you emphasized that you want a male wayyyyyy too much, and mentioned that talking was a main reason you waned a tiel.