Cockatiel questions

[ChickenCharmer]

How do you tell the difference between male and female cockatiels?

Are males aggressive with each other; can you keep two males together?

How do you train adult cockatiels to stand on your finger/ be tame?

what is a cockatiel's lifespan?

Thanks for answering!

 

[clickie]

Hi, with tiels you can keep two males together. I have 6 of them. 3 females and 3 males, but two males will do fine. you can keep two males, or two females together, it does not matter.

to train them, it is best to go in the cage a little bit every day and put your hand near them. after awhile they will trust you and you can work on placing your finger under them. hold them in the cage for a little bit, then gradually try to take them out, while they are on your finger.

they can live as long as 20-25 years.
female tiels usually have stripes on their tale. some tiels will be able to learn to talk, and whistle. I have 2 that will sing differnt songs.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

in addition to what was already said, males usually r more brightly colored while females r duller and paler color but on some mutations u can't tell sex by colors. sometimes dominant females r colored like males so there is exceptions to the color rule too. males r usually always the ones that sing, whistle and talk, females r quiet. on mutations some r sexed link colors but if u don't have the parents to know who through the color it still won't help u to know what sex ur baby is.

on hard to tell ones i check pelvic bones. boys will have a little space between the bones where u can't put ur finger between them. on females they r wider apart allowing for ur finger to easily fit and lay between them. females r spread wider to allow for eggs to drop. however this method only works if they r at least about 3-4 mths old or older but it has been right with every bird i've ever used it on. i was taught it by an 80+ year old breeder and i have used the method with pigeons, chickens and other birds and have never had it be wrong.

i have 3 males in a cage now. at times i've had up to 18 tiels in one aviary cage. i've never had a problem with anyone fighting in colonies. however if u get a bird who has been by it's self in one cage for a long time and is used to being alone don't expect to be able to just add another bird to it because it would be dominant over the cage. u'd have to ad them both together to a whole new cage so the dominant bird is not teritorial.

i agree with the tameing them only thing i do different is i place my hand up under them flat and get them used to my had first or else they bite ur fingers. once they r comfortable with perching on my hand and r trained hand touches chest i go up on hand. we turn our hand sideways and eventually learn just to use ur one finger. the more time u spend handleing them and in and out of their cage and you talk to them the more tame they will be.

life span- this is a copied part i found doing some research

The Cockatiel's lifespan in captivity is generally given as 15-20 years, though it is sometimes given as short as 10–15 years. there are reports of Cockatiels living as long as 30 years, the oldest confirmed specimen reported being 35 years old. In Colorado, a cockatiel named Sundance lived a long, full life of 29 years. A cockatiel lived to be 27 years old in Manchester, UK. There are reports of a cockatiel living 26 years in Salem, Alabama. There are reports of a cockatiel living 56 years in Bahrain.Diet and exercise, much like in humans, are often major determining factors in cockatiel lifespan. In Chesapeake there was a Cockatiel that lived to a full happy life for 97 years.

hope the info helps ya,
silkie

 

[clickie]

In Chesapeake there was a Cockatiel that lived to a full happy life for 97 years.

Wow!, is that true. must have been one lucky bird lol. I agree with what you said about getting them used to your hand first then, fingers.​

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i copied it from wikipedia so i asume that it is true.