How long do cockatiels live?

[mr.mc.]

my best friend's cockatiel lived to be 20 years(on a seed diet!

).

 

[nchapman]

A friend of mine owned a pet store; this was in 1982, He asked me to build him an aviary for a military Macau that he had named Lurch who like to eat his way through the wall of the pet shop and into the Mexican food restraunt next door. As payment he gave us a cockatiel who was a few weeks old; we named him Bob. Bob is older than my oldest child by five years, He's the oldest being in the house besides my wife an me, which includes four adults, two dogs, and Bob. He was a few weeks old in the late summer of 1982 and he's still here. We had to line his cage with chicken wire a couple of years ago because he kept falling off his perch and we'd find him on the floor of his cage; he couldn't climb back up. Bob is doing fine; we talk daily, but of course, I'm expecting to wake up one morning soon and find that he's departed as the record, as far as I know is 31 years. It doesn't appear that he's going anywhere soon though.

 

[j64ply383]

We had Hobie, my little shoulder buddy, for 27 years, He almost always joined us for diner and got just about anything he desired. Loved, corn, peas, green bean seeds, pasta, popcorn, crackers, mashed potatoes, fish, chicken, bread crust. Was out all day on weekends, and all evening after work and got plenty of exercise We were lucky that he didn't become a wood work chewer. Miss him something fierce.

 

[Herp Lover]

My girl is only about 3 years old right now but her cage mate died at 11 years old. I think he was just unhealthy from the seed only diet that the people I got him from had him for 7 years and also the unsanitary conditions they were living in before I got them. I feed my girl 1.5 tablespoons of seed a day along with all of the soak and cook mix, veggies, fruit & pellets she wants.

 

[Desirai]

My cockatiel Gabi (Gabriella) is 10 years old this year and going strong!

 

[Krabby]

My tiel Molly is 13 years old and Disco Stu is just over a year old. Great friendly birds who have given lots of love and are spoiled.

 

[animal-lover99]

My cousins cockatiel lived to 30 and all he ate was parakeet food and table scraps (vegetables, fruit, some pasta, crackers) he died of a tumor under his wing

 

[theoldchick]

I've had this one for 20 years. He came to me as an adult who had a self mutilation problem. He is now very arthritic and needs occasional help with cleaning feces from his tail feathers.

 

[dotsey]

I put my bird Charlie down yesterday. He was 23. I got him directly from a breeder in 1990 when he was 3 months old. I was 22 at the time, so I've lived with him for over half my life. I fed him Hartz cockatiel diet his entire life. I put him down due to a large tumor before he was in any obvious pain. RIP CHARLIE!!!

 

[ddjr]

My male cockatiel lived 20 years five months. He died yesterday. I feed him mainly the cheapest Walmart pet food and water. He seemed to be going fine as ever, very talkative and whistling, but I changed his perch location to something totally new and when I came back, ten minutes after the change, he was on the bottom of the cage. So I do know if he just dropped from old age or hit his head on the perch, I suspect the latter. So I feel slightly guilty about that, but he had a good run. Spoke many words too, that's why I got a male bird. Of course all the ten or so phrases he used were learned in the first year of his life, but he continued to learn alll the sounds around him like doors opening, laughs, etc.

So I definitely think cockatiels can live 20-25 years. I feed mine a seed diet and he maybe only a handful of times left his cage the last five years. RIP Birdy.