Thinking about getting a cockatiel soon...

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chicken4prez

chicken4prez

Free Ranging
9 Years
Jun 14, 2015
3,293
5,154
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Ontario, Canada
Hi there.

This fall I'm planning to get a hand-raised cockatiel. I'm wondering if I could keep it with my budgies (there's five and the cage is meant for big huge parrots. They're very spoiled :p) with the cockatiel.

Also what's unique and what are some things I should know before I get one? Can they eat the budgie food?

Thanks!
 
Cockatiels are great! I love them.

They can't live with budgies. Even though they are bigger, budgies are more aggressive. There have been a lot of cockatiels that live with budgies end up losing toes. Better to keep them separate to be safe :)

As to whether they can eat the budgie feed, that depends on what you're feeding your budgies. Are they on a pellet diet?

Cockatiels are usually very friendly and love to be with their people. They are very, very dusty though, so if you can't deal with a lot of bird dust, they may not be the bird for you.
 
Pyxis said:
Cockatiels are great! I love them.

They can't live with budgies. Even though they are bigger, budgies are more aggressive. There have been a lot of cockatiels that live with budgies end up losing toes. Better to keep them separate to be safe :)

As to whether they can eat the budgie feed, that depends on what you're feeding your budgies. Are they on a pellet diet?

Cockatiels are usually very friendly and love to be with their people. They are very, very dusty though, so if you can't deal with a lot of bird dust, they may not be the bird for you.
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Oh good! I've been reading lots on them and they seem like such sweet birds. :)

Ah okay. I've seen some videos and articles that they can live together but that's good to know. Do they need a big cage? I'm homeschooled and we're here very often so it would get attention and be out lots.

They're on a seed diet. I'm pretty sure that the bag that the seeds come in has a picture of a cockatiel on it.

We vacuum pretty much every day because we're such a big family so dust wouldn't be a problem. :-D Would you recommend a gender or are they both the same?
 
They really are very sweet birds! If I had room for another parrot, it would be a cockatiel. Alas, my Quaker Fizz takes up all of my time and space, lol.

They have long tails, so they need room to maneuver in their cages. I'd say you want something that's at least 24" long by 18" wide, and 24" high. Also, you want to make sure the bar spacing is around 1/2" to 3/4" to prevent injury when they climb around it.

Definitely not seeds. An all seed diet is very bad for a bird. They develop fatty liver disease and die. That's how my first cockatiel passed away - I rescued him from a bad home where he had also been on a seed diet his whole life. I switched him over to pellets but the damage was already done and he passed away three months later.

As for gender, I have always had males and love them. Not on purpose, it's just that every parrot I have ever bought without knowing gender has turned out to be a male, lol. They can learn to whistle and talk, and mine have always been friendly and good natured. However, some males can get hormonal once they hit breeding age during certain times of the year and that can cause them to develop a bit of an attitude. Some people prefer females for this reason, though then you have to worry about egg issues like egg binding, so there is a trade off.

If you have time, check out this site, it's got so much good info: http://cockatielcottage.net/
 
My mom had a male cockatiel that lived for 20 years. Even on an all seed diet. I grew up hearing his wolf whistle everyday. He was always a bird's bird, not so good with being handled. They do best with a mate, unless they are aclimated to and given enough human attention. He outlived 3 mates, but died about a month after his last girlfriend did. Broken heart, I guess.
 
I have had a male cockatiel for 14 years now, I love him! He is such a great pet, really friendly. He whistles and talks all the time. He can say his name(George), good morning, and dumb dog! He is really dusty. Their down feathers actually turn to dust and it gets on EVERYTHING! He is on an all seed diet. I had a cockatiel before that actually choked on pellet food and died so I feed seed. If you supplement his food with fruits and veggies, seed is fine. Cockatiels are hook beaked so they do not need grit. Grit is actually very bad for them. I suggest you get a male, they whistle and talk better than females, though every bird is different. Enjoy yours!
 
Abriana said:
Cockatiels live for a really long time! Many outlive their owners and become depressed and die when they are left. So before getting one consider how old it already is, how long you will want to keep it, and How old you already are.
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Cockatiels don't live nearly as long as bigger parrots. 25-30 years is a pretty old cockatiel. Bigger parrots can live to 80 years or more!
 

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