not that familiar with cockatiels

[bittybo]

i received a throw away cockatiel when i purchased my rescue red lored amazon in july 2023. i was told the amazon was very old. i was told nothing about the cockatiel. i have had a budgies, toucon, conures, severe macaws and even a wild blue jay i saved and it lived for 16 yeas. i was not worried about the cockatiel because he would receive the best care from me. my husband and grown obsessed with this cockatiel who is extremely cute (not my husband the bird). i always cover my birds at night with a bird cover i sewed my self. the cages are only covered on the top part so the birds do not feel isolated but secure while they sleep and can look out the bottom every time they are covered. all my other birds go to bed when they are suppose to. the cockatiel will stay up as long as he hears any activity in the house. 3am in the morning and he is still on the lower perch watching.lately he has begun flapping around violently in his cage whnever we cover him. i have a friend in california who just recently lost a cockatiel because it flew around so violently in its cage it broke its eg and wing. vet could determine no cause for the violent flapping around. my concern is should i continue to try and cover him (Pinky) or leave him uncovered at night. my husband and i are getting into very heated arguments over this. my husband also has insisted on leaving lights on so the birds are not in the dark. i just installed a digial light thing in my aquarium which really lights up the room at night so my husband hasdecided maybe we dont need to leave the alllamps on. you must understand we both love animal very much and both have our own opinion and i m asking for ny expert opinion from parrot forum. i bought 2 really large kings cage for my amazon and pinky. so it isnt the cage size. when i got pinky he was in an extremely tiny tiny cage and it took her few months to acclimate to her kings cockatiel cage. then my husband has decided pinky is lonely so i contacted a parrot rescue who coME TO THE HOUSE and recommended i get an even bigger cage for pinky if i get pinky a friend. there is one more cage size up in kings cages for cockatiels but at this time i am running a little short of money. therefore they wont give me their 14 year old rescue until my cage is at least 30X36.. also we are letting pinky out 3 or 4 times a day. she has taken short flights and will step up when she lands somewhere but gets very territorital when yur hands go close to his cage. we have 3 cats which we lock up when ever the birds are loose. also pinky will not eat his salad with shaved carrots or any fruit. it can take these birds a long time to try something so he gets fresh everyday with harrison tiny pellets and cockatiel food. his favorite is the ice cold bottled water he gets. any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. pretty sure pinky is a male becuse pinky whistles and mumbles and does boy things but i guess he still could be a girl. my severe macaw died at the age of 31 and it almost killed me. she had cancer and i created a hospice at home to care for her and took her every 4 days for 1 year to the vet to drain fluid. it took me over 2 years to get a new bird and the amazon is a first for me but he/she is very sweet other than the few times he/she has nailed me. sorry this post is so long.

 

[LaManuka]

i received a throw away cockatiel when i purchased my rescue red lored amazon in july 2023. i was told the amazon was very old. i was told nothing about the cockatiel. i have had a budgies, toucon, conures, severe macaws and even a wild blue jay i saved and it lived for 16 yeas. i was not worried about the cockatiel because he would receive the best care from me. my husband and grown obsessed with this cockatiel who is extremely cute (not my husband the bird). i always cover my birds at night with a bird cover i sewed my self. the cages are only covered on the top part so the birds do not feel isolated but secure while they sleep and can look out the bottom every time they are covered. all my other birds go to bed when they are suppose to. the cockatiel will stay up as long as he hears any activity in the house. 3am in the morning and he is still on the lower perch watching.lately he has begun flapping around violently in his cage whnever we cover him. i have a friend in california who just recently lost a cockatiel because it flew around so violently in its cage it broke its eg and wing. vet could determine no cause for the violent flapping around. my concern is should i continue to try and cover him (Pinky) or leave him uncovered at night. my husband and i are getting into very heated arguments over this. my husband also has insisted on leaving lights on so the birds are not in the dark. i just installed a digial light thing in my aquarium which really lights up the room at night so my husband hasdecided maybe we dont need to leave the alllamps on. you must understand we both love animal very much and both have our own opinion and i m asking for ny expert opinion from parrot forum. i bought 2 really large kings cage for my amazon and pinky. so it isnt the cage size. when i got pinky he was in an extremely tiny tiny cage and it took her few months to acclimate to her kings cockatiel cage. then my husband has decided pinky is lonely so i contacted a parrot rescue who coME TO THE HOUSE and recommended i get an even bigger cage for pinky if i get pinky a friend. there is one more cage size up in kings cages for cockatiels but at this time i am running a little short of money. therefore they wont give me their 14 year old rescue until my cage is at least 30X36.. also we are letting pinky out 3 or 4 times a day. she has taken short flights and will step up when she lands somewhere but gets very territorital when yur hands go close to his cage. we have 3 cats which we lock up when ever the birds are loose. also pinky will not eat his salad with shaved carrots or any fruit. it can take these birds a long time to try something so he gets fresh everyday with harrison tiny pellets and cockatiel food. his favorite is the ice cold bottled water he gets. any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. pretty sure pinky is a male becuse pinky whistles and mumbles and does boy things but i guess he still could be a girl. my severe macaw died at the age of 31 and it almost killed me. she had cancer and i created a hospice at home to care for her and took her every 4 days for 1 year to the vet to drain fluid. it took me over 2 years to get a new bird and the amazon is a first for me but he/she is very sweet other than the few times he/she has nailed me. sorry this post is so long.

Cockatiels are, unfortunately, a species that is quite prone to "night frights", they're quite notorious for it actually. I always leave a night light on for mine, and I do cover the cage but I always have probably about a third of it uncovered, just making sure that the light isn't shining directly in their eyes at night. The other thing I find helpful is toys with stainless steel bells on them - I'm a pretty light sleeper so if I hear those bells going in the night I come a-runnin' and can stop the 'tiels thrashing around in their cage before they injure themselves. Keeping the cage only partially covered and having a night light on has cut the incidents from about once a week way down to around every few months or even less. I hope this helps you!

 

[bittybo]

Cockatiels are, unfortunately, a species that is quite prone to "night frights", they're quite notorious for it actually. I always leave a night light on for mine, and I do cover the cage but I always have probably about a third of it uncovered, just making sure that the light isn't shining directly in their eyes at night. The other thing I find helpful is toys with stainless steel bells on them - I'm a pretty light sleeper so if I hear those bells going in the night I come a-runnin' and can stop the 'tiels thrashing around in their cage before they injure themselves. Keeping the cage only partially covered and having a night light on has cut the incidents from about once a week way down to around every few months or even less. I hope this helps you!

Thankyou

 

[LaManuka]

Thankyou

You're most welcome, and I'm so glad to know this little one now has a much better life because of you!

 

[Sandy57S]

i received a throw away cockatiel when i purchased my rescue red lored amazon in july 2023. i was told the amazon was very old. i was told nothing about the cockatiel. i have had a budgies, toucon, conures, severe macaws and even a wild blue jay i saved and it lived for 16 yeas. i was not worried about the cockatiel because he would receive the best care from me. my husband and grown obsessed with this cockatiel who is extremely cute (not my husband the bird). i always cover my birds at night with a bird cover i sewed my self. the cages are only covered on the top part so the birds do not feel isolated but secure while they sleep and can look out the bottom every time they are covered. all my other birds go to bed when they are suppose to. the cockatiel will stay up as long as he hears any activity in the house. 3am in the morning and he is still on the lower perch watching.lately he has begun flapping around violently in his cage whnever we cover him. i have a friend in california who just recently lost a cockatiel because it flew around so violently in its cage it broke its eg and wing. vet could determine no cause for the violent flapping around. my concern is should i continue to try and cover him (Pinky) or leave him uncovered at night. my husband and i are getting into very heated arguments over this. my husband also has insisted on leaving lights on so the birds are not in the dark. i just installed a digial light thing in my aquarium which really lights up the room at night so my husband hasdecided maybe we dont need to leave the alllamps on. you must understand we both love animal very much and both have our own opinion and i m asking for ny expert opinion from parrot forum. i bought 2 really large kings cage for my amazon and pinky. so it isnt the cage size. when i got pinky he was in an extremely tiny tiny cage and it took her few months to acclimate to her kings cockatiel cage. then my husband has decided pinky is lonely so i contacted a parrot rescue who coME TO THE HOUSE and recommended i get an even bigger cage for pinky if i get pinky a friend. there is one more cage size up in kings cages for cockatiels but at this time i am running a little short of money. therefore they wont give me their 14 year old rescue until my cage is at least 30X36.. also we are letting pinky out 3 or 4 times a day. she has taken short flights and will step up when she lands somewhere but gets very territorital when yur hands go close to his cage. we have 3 cats which we lock up when ever the birds are loose. also pinky will not eat his salad with shaved carrots or any fruit. it can take these birds a long time to try something so he gets fresh everyday with harrison tiny pellets and cockatiel food. his favorite is the ice cold bottled water he gets. any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. pretty sure pinky is a male becuse pinky whistles and mumbles and does boy things but i guess he still could be a girl. my severe macaw died at the age of 31 and it almost killed me. she had cancer and i created a hospice at home to care for her and took her every 4 days for 1 year to the vet to drain fluid. it took me over 2 years to get a new bird and the amazon is a first for me but he/she is very sweet other than the few times he/she has nailed me. sorry this post is so long.

Cockatiels are prone to night frights, if a car light shines through a window it can scare them. TV lights can scare them. If you are up until 3 in the morning, your very sleepy bird wants to be up with you- with their flock. Covering all the cage may help prevent night frights. Careful placement of the cage or a sleeping cage in a quiet room with a small night light might work. It sort of all depends on the traffic flow of your home.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Cockatiels are, unfortunately, a species that is quite prone to "night frights", they're quite notorious for it actually. I always leave a night light on for mine, and I do cover the cage but I always have probably about a third of it uncovered, just making sure that the light isn't shining directly in their eyes at night. The other thing I find helpful is toys with stainless steel bells on them - I'm a pretty light sleeper so if I hear those bells going in the night I come a-runnin' and can stop the 'tiels thrashing around in their cage before they injure themselves. Keeping the cage only partially covered and having a night light on has cut the incidents from about once a week way down to around every few months or even less. I hope this helps you!

Years ago, a rodent (unknown rat or mouse) get into my budgie's cage at night scaring the poor bird so badly that he started screaming and flapping all around his cage, breaking one wing so badly the bone was sticking out. We were at the avian vet within hours. He saved my bird but he never flew again.