Question: New Bird Behavior

[iSean88]

Hello,
I am a biology major, avid bird lover, and new dad to beautiful cockatiel -Dakota, a normal grey cockatiel. He arrived at the local bird store on Wednesday, was hand-fed and is approximately 6 mos old. I brought him home yesterday afternoon. I am concerned about him a bit as is what normally happens when you read on the internet. He is extremely quiet, puffed up, and sleeps all the time. Stools, eyes, nostrils all look good however he is constantly puffed up and sleepy. I have read anywhere from "he is sick, take him to the vet" to "he is just stressed and needs time to adjust". I welcome any feed back. I have had birds before however generally adopt them and they come to me at a mature age - he would definitely be my first juvenile bird purchase (I promise I looked all over my area to adopt an unwanted cockatiel first, he was the last one in the metropolitan area)

Thank you fellow bird lovers for the advice,
-Sean

 

[Midnight]

Hello Getting a bird from a bird store may be a little risky since you probably won't know where it came from and the conditions of its previous home. Did he look puffed up like that in the pet store? Puffing up for long periods of time usually means that they are cold or sick. If he is quiet it might be that he is adjusting or he might not feel so well since you mentioned him puffing up. When he sleeps does he look relaxed? Ex. Sleeping on one foot and putting the other one in his feather? Does he seem to have a stable grasp on the perch or does he seem to be rocking and losing his balance? If he has a stable grasp and he didn't puff up in the pet store then maybe watch him carefully for another few days. If he look even a little but worse or isn't getting better, take him to a vet immediately since birds are very sensitive. If your house is cold try turning up the heat too since bird don't like the cold.
Hope that helped a little

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hello Sean, and welcome to the forums.

Many congrats on your new family member, Dakota.

Midnight has given you some solid advice there.

Question: Was Dakota the only cockatiel, or was he surrounded with flock mates (other cockatiels)? How is his appetite?

Remember, he only came to the store a little while ago, and that move was stressful. Then a very short time later he was moved again (when you brought him home). Birds don't correspond well to stress, and it's possible he's quite stressed at the moment.