Question about pet store birds

[TexasWade]

So I went to the neighborhood pet store twice today, hahah. They had two cockatiels there this morning and only one this afternoon. They said it's a male and about a year and a half old. The let me hold him, which was a first for me. Never touched a live bird before!

Here he is on my finger, check out that hairdo!

There are a couple things that concern me about this bird. One, the price. It's too cheap I think... Seems like I see tiels around $100 or so but he's only like $50? Also I saw someone holding both the tiels this morning and again this afternoon someone was holding this bird so I basically had to wait in line to see him... Wouldn't that be kind of unhealthy for the bird? I guess maybe it's not a problem if he's already been there for a year and a half but it worries me a bit. You see in one pic his eye is nearly closed. Seems like he was pretty sleepy and when he got back on his perch he rested his head on his wing and close both eyes. Seemed like a pretty calm little guy but I can't tell if he's just sleepy or if he's not feeling well.

I suppose if I got him I'd find out about any kind of health guarantee and then take him to the avian vet for a full well bird checkup immediately. Does that sound like a good plan, or better to wait and maybe get a baby bird from another place?

 

[SailBoat]

Been too many years since I had a tiel around, so I'm not going to address the question of whether its a boy or a girl. The dusty color would suggest a girl, but like I said, way to long for me.

The 1.5 year old has likely not been in the pet shop for that long. Tiels commonly turn fairly quickly, so it is likely looking for a second home. Unless there is a leg band, whether its 1.5 or 4.5 yrs. is anyone's guess.

Well, being that your last visit was in the afternoon, it is likely that the tiel was just tied.

Very good for having a list of questions, which includes questioning whether there is a health warranty and your plans to see an Avian Vet.

Target seeing the tiel Saturday morning and see if it is still overly sleepy.

Please take the time to visit the Cockatiel forum, which is part of the Parrot Forums, great people there!

Welcome to the Parrot Forums!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome, in my opinion, a teal from a pet shop that is already hand tamed is very unusual!

 

[TexasWade]

that sounds pretty encouraging! I think I'll go back tomorrow for some more info and to see how the bird behaves earlier in the day =)

 

[JerseyWendy]

I very well could be wrong, but if you do a Google search 'grey cockatiel male/female', I'd say this is a boy. And a VERY pretty one, too.

Good luck when you go back tomorrow. Please let us know how it goes. He looks to be quite the sweetheart. :heart:

 

[texsize]

The low price might be because of his age. Most pet stores prefer to sell them younger and a 1 1/2 year old cockatiel at a pet shop is strange.
going back in the morning to see if he is more active sound like a good idea.
It sounds like a good deal to me because he is already so tame (or he really likes you).
at that price I think I would not have left the store without him

 

[2greenconurestostart]

The low price might be because of his age. Most pet stores prefer to sell them younger and a 1 1/2 year old cockatiel at a pet shop is strange.
going back in the morning to see if he is more active sound like a good idea.
It sounds like a good deal to me because he is already so tame (or he really likes you).
at that price I think I would not have left the store without him

I have to agree! We got our GCC at Petsmart because I couldn't stand to leave him. He was 50% off! banded but no paperwork. He was flighted when we got him and within 2 days of me talking to him he was stepping up and is the biggest sweetheart still. He would fly right to my arm. He is very healthy and I know I might be lucky.

 

[TexasWade]

I guess he's pretty tame then! I saw him walking on at least 3 different people so I don't know that he's particularly partial to me

 

[TexasWade]

OK I went to the pet shop this morning and saw the tiel again. He was still pretty sleepy even at 8:00 and I was the first one looking at birds today.

Here's what I observed:

Sleepy bird, seemed to have a hard time keeping his eyes open even when I was in his space. Seems like he would be very alert at that time!

He fluffed himself up several times and seemed to like to stay fluffy - it didn't feel cold to me in the shop

He seemed to be chewing quite a bit on nothing that I could see. I couldn't hear any beak grinding noises and didn't see him regurgitate anything though.

I saw him waver on the perch a bit. He was steady most of the time and was surprised to see what looked like catching his balance one time. May be very normal, I haven't been around birds...

He did step up easily when I put my finger to his belly and was gentle on my hand. Didn't really feel unsteady but maybe a little nervous? Again, maybe perfectly normal.

When he was on his perch and I put my hand nearby he would give me a gentle squawk with his open beak aimed at my finger but he stayed put. He had plenty of room to move away or come to me if he wanted.


So I didn't get a really great feeling about the bird this morning, but maybe this is normal?

Also from all the stuff I read on sexing cockatiels I would says he's a male. The tiny hairs in his cheek circles are yellow, not grey and there are no spots on his flight feathers or tail feathers. Besides, The shop owner said yesterday that it was a male and I'll be he knows a lot more about it than I do!

 

[RavensGryf]

He's a really pretty bird! Lots of yellow in the face. Even with your thorough explanation it's hard to get an accurate account of exactly what he's doing without being there to see (or at least on video). Hm, sounds like a good bird, great price (and I believe it's because of his age, although still young).

Have you been looking anywhere else? I'd recommend taking any new bird, regardless of looking healthy or not, to an avian vet for a thorough new bird exam. Keep us posted, I'm looking forward to seeing who you end up bringing home.

 

[TexasWade]

Maybe I'm just being overly cautious but I don't think I really want to chance it. If he can't stay alert even while a stranger is in his face, that doesn't seem right to me.

I did see a few more today but they were babies. Also $200 or more at the other store! I can afford a $200 bird ok, but that seemed a bit steep to me for a normal cockatiel. Am I wrong there?

I did manage to pick up a beauty of a cage at Petco however. Um, probably too big really but the bar spacing is only 5/8" (16mm) so I won't have to worry about the fid getting his little head stuck. Needs toys and stuff but I got the basic birdie condo ready at least. Also need to do some bird proofing around my place. As it is now I'm sure he'll find plenty of interesting stuff that's not good for him!

This one... http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...d-accessories/you-and-me-standing-parrot-cage Seems pretty solid, latches work well and I found only positive reviews on it.

 

[RavensGryf]

That's a nice cage. That is a popular one, several members have that same Petco cage. It's one of the only ones out there that has that large of an interior space while still having 5/8" spacing.

Good call I think. I hope that tiel will be okay though.

I think I've seen some normal tiels for around that much. It varies, and might be sort of on the high side for a normal gray, but if it's a quality baby from a good environment then that's more important than shaving off $50 or so imo.

 

[TexasWade]

I'm definitely not worried about $50 here or there but I'll try to be smart about things. It's easy to argue "how can you put a price on friendship?" well... You have to at some point, or folks would be shelling out big bucks even for common budgies . As for $200 tiels? Eh, maybe that's ok!

I think that (privately owned, non-franchise) store does have a very good reputation and they had a lot more birds with sold tags on their cages than without so they're probably not too far out of line. I feel like being local and taking good care of customers and their pets is important, so I may yet be willing to spend significantly more in that store than I would from an online place or Craigslist breeder ad.

Actually I think both of the small stores I visited have good reputations, it just happens that the one I went to first has a few small birds along with rodents, reptiles and fish. The other fancier one specializes in birds and has some very interesting stuff. Also the lady at the fancy store says she'll have an Alexandrine and a Mustache Parakeet soon so now I have even more to think about!

 

[gracebowen]

Hi is Denton near Dallas. Out of curiosity I did a craigslist search and there are several tiels listed.

 

[TexasWade]

Hi is Denton near Dallas. Out of curiosity I did a craigslist search and there are several tiels listed.

Yep, I saw them and may yet contact some of the people on there. Most are unweaned babies though and I don't want to finish weaning, so maybe I'll look again at those breeders more closely in a few weeks. Also there are a couple of pairs available and I want an only fid, haha. There is the one 2 year old tiel in Mansfield that looks interesting except the cage doesn't look so great in the pics. I'd be inclined to toss that cage out. Mmm, and probably the toys too, haha. Then there's always the nagging question of why someone is rehoming their adult bird. The real reason, not the story Maybe I'm just too distrusting.

Mostly I think I have to keep myself calm and wait for the right bird to pop up on the radar. It's just about the hardest thing for me to not be impatient but I'm taking that 20+ year commitment seriously so careful is going to be my middle name for a while..

 

[Flboy]

Please, add him to your home!