Question:I have questions...
1. What do they eat?
2. How do I know if it's a male or female?
3. Will it bite me?
4. Are its wings clipped? [how do I tell.]
5. any other info would be great.
Answers:
1. mainly veggie, leafy grassy, green sprouty foods. Fruits should only be as treats, they're too sugary & an unnatural food for tiels. Pellets are an option. I don't offer pellets manily because they're not available to me, my tiel is 100% healthy. DO NOT complelty remove seed, it is not neccessary, just limit the daily intake of seed for it daily.
2. you won't when they're under 6 months unless they're DNA'd. Older than 6 months depends a great deal on the mutation. It has nothing to do with cheek patches!! like people keep saying...What mutation do you intend on getting? If you google cockatiel mutations you'll get plenty of info.
3. Yep, a tiel rarely bites har so it hurts. Usually if it's a painful bite, the bird means business & it should be left alone to cool off. A new tiel will bite, until it's used to you, it's surroundings etc. Slow movements & sweet talking, no grabbing etc will help alot.
4. When you buy the bird, ask the seller.
5. Google. Cokcatiels are so popular that you will find pages & pages of info if you google cockatiels. You'll get everything you want to know about them. Also google cockatiel forums, there's plenty of them around & they will be great help for you.
Look at this link:
http://theaviary.com/cockcare.shtml...
http://www.theaviary.com/cockcare.shtml...
they have good info.
1. They eat seeds. Beware though, seeds are fatty and can cause cockatiel obesity! It is best to feed your cockatiel a mix of seeds and whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Pet stores make you think they only eat seeds. Get them started RIGHT away on healthy food. my cockatiel is used to seeds and does not like to eat food she does not reconize. But she loves cereal, especially cheerios. Bascially feed them anything healthy you would eat, but not spicy, very sugary or very salty foods
2. You can tell the sex of SOME cockatiels. Certain mutations are impossible to tell! the birds that have dark tails, if the underside of the tail is barred, it is female. You usually have to get them sexed.
3. Some bite. if they are scared. Mine will bite but its a gentle bite that never ever hurt me. If you treat them well, they usually grow you love you. If they do not know you well or are scared or are treated badly, they may bite!
4. Some pet stores clip their wings, some don't. You can tell becaues if they are NOT clipped, their wings will touch at the end because of their beautiful lenght
5. The biggest cage is best, they usually require those big expensive cages. They do need a lot of attention, and exercize out of their cage. Male cockatiels are differnet than females. They have MUCH better vocals. Good because they will talk and make cool whistles. Bad because they can be louder and more annyoing
goodlucK! email me if u have any more questions
I hate to sound rude but didn't you read about these things before you got the bird? Well it's too late now.so I'll jsut answer.
1. They should eat bird pellets, that are full of vitamins as well as a little bit of seed mixed in. Like about a 90% pellet 10% seed mix. Seeds are jsut too high in fat to be a main diet. Also provide fruits and vegetables.
2. Some mutations you can GUESS by the virbrant coloring and hwo vocal they are but the only way to tell for sure is taking them to the vet adn having them DNA sexed.
3. Birds WILL bite. Even a friendly bird can be frithened, spooked or jsut being a butt head and bite. A cockatiel's bite isn't too hard though, so don't worry. Also when he/she does bite ignore it. Don't react other than saying No firmly. If you back away or cry you teach them that biting gets them what they want and it will only get worse.
4. If the wings don't look long when he is perches, if they don't touch nor cross they are probalby clipped. Also have him on your hand and move it up and down and have him/her flap their wings. if they fly far or way off then they are full flighted, if they only lift up a little bit or nto at all then they are already clipped.
5. Make sure the cage is big enough adn that you have toys rotated in and out of the cage every week or so to prevent boredom. I suggest having a small "play chest" or bucker or contianer that you can put all the toys in. Also eveyr few days or so mvoe the toys around. Make them think. I'd recommend some foraging toys too, they really stimulate the mind. Please please read up on cockatiel care, for your birds sake. http://www.centralpets.com/animals/birds... There is some basic info on cockatiels but I recommend "Your Happy Healthy Pet: Cockatiel 2nd Edition"
by Julie Rach Mancini It's very easy to udnerstand but tells you everything you need to know! Diet, toys, cage, attention, vet care, grooming, and eeven a few tricks. I really hope you read up on tiels and give your bird the attention it needs.
My cockatiels eat a cockatiel seed mix with grit, grass, cuttle fish shells and try some different kinds of fruit. Individual birds like different things. I had a budgie once that liked lettuce, while another liked apples. Whatever you do, don't feed your bird avacado or potato as they are poisonous. It's difficult to tell whether your bird is male or female, unless they are the original colour cockatiels (males grey with yellow face and bright orange cheeks, females mostly grey with bars under their tails and faded orange cheeks). It all depends how tame your bird is whether it bites or not. If you are keeping it by itself it will generally become attached to you and will become more tame if you train it, but some don't like being touched on their tail or back where they can't see you. You can tell if it's wings are clipped as the flight feathers are shorter than the other side (never clip both sides as it makes the wings even again so the bird can still fly, by clipping one wing the bird can still flap onto it's perches but is unable to fly due to the uneven sides). Cockatiels are really lovely pets and are quite easy to tame. If you want to hand tame them, simply spend some time getting them used to hopping onto a stick when pressed gently on their body above their legs. Once they have mastered that, replace the stick with your hand or finger until they get used to sitting on your finger in the cage. Do this a few times until they will stay on your finger. After that you will be able to take him/her out of the cage and walk them around on your hand or finger. When they are used to you they will sit wherever you want them to perch eg. shoulder, head. If you want to breed them make sure the female has enough food and supplement her with egg mixes to give her protein and make sure she has cuttle fish for calcium. If you hand raise the babies, they will have to be fed every 3 hrs until they are a couple of weeks old and then you can extend the period between feeding them. Also you will need to keep them in an incubator to keep the babies warm. They are very cute once they have most of their feathers and their eyes are open ( they are pretty ugly when they first hatch ). Good luck with your cockatiel. I hope this was of some help!
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