New bird, and I need help

[kelsiebug]

okay here soon im getting me a cocketial. i can not wait! before i get him\her(i wanna him but i have a question on that)...... i need help. if you can help me please do so! ok im goin to ask some questions!!!!

do i need male or female??? are the males more calm or are the females??? i want to teach them to talk so. i need to know whichn's easier to deal with

how do i know if im picking the right healthy baby?

will it get along with our dog, lovebirds, and the finches?

how big of cage do i need?

how often do i clean the cage?





i really hope yall can help! if you wanna give me some names...... but if you will put them seprate males and females. thanks.

[dlambertz]

i love cockatiels!!! i have had several and love them all male and female.
males are more colorful. easy to tell one the grays gets a little tricker with the pieds and pearls, pretty hard if it is an albino. the albino's may tend to have a bald spot on the head though i know they have been trying to breed that out.

males are generally a little easier to teach to talk... if you can raise the pitch of your voice they will learn easier. you will not have to worry about egg binding or a female just laying infertile eggs. they are very social and like companionship. my cockatiels always got along with other birds and the dogs too :)

you will notice when they need the cages cleaned...go to your pet store and ask them about a cage good for a cockatiel and than you can search for better prices after you know what you are looking for. i will tell you that i think if your bird spends a lot of time out of the cage you can probably use a smaller one.

i like to keep the wings clipped but that is a personal perference. if you ask your pet store personal they can show you how to clip them yourself.

also check with your animal shelters... the last and one of the best tiels i had was found and not claimed....a beautiful pied.

names... hmm i always left that up to the kids :)

[kelsiebug]

thankyou so much!
i saw a beutiful albino one and she was gorgeus....... ive had a cocketial named sparkey,:( he was my baby......

i was really wanting a male and now since i know the males are easier to train to talk i am definatley getting the male! im thinking of names.......hmmmmmm.....
my bird will be in his cage only when im not there but after hes trained he'll be out alot more. i have a pretty big cage........
there wings will be cliped because of all of my moms crystal she has, do you know if the lovebirds will get along?

[dlambertz]

i don't kelsie. i only had the tiel with finches, keets and dogs.

i love tiels...they are so friendly and fun :)

[kelsiebug]

hmm........... well i can not wait until i get my baby! i need names!

[kelsiebug]

is 50$ a good deal on a cockatiel or is that to much or not enough? the male one i looked at is 50 and he is 6mnths old.......



need nAmes!

[lassie]

theyre about £10 over here so dont know. What colour have you decided on . I had a yellow one. One of my dogs hated it.

[kelsiebug]

well im decideding on the gray w\ the bright yellow head and bright cheeks. i believe there the cutest thing!

[dlambertz]

if he is handtamed that is about the going rate here in the midwest for a grey male. the lutino, pied go higher as do the pearls but the male pearl will look like a normal gray after they are about a year old, after their second molt.

i love the pieds and lutinos but the greys are also very pretty. ....names? hmmm i hate one named slyvestor and we had a male named doodad

[Sara]

When I was doing a bit of searching for a new cage for my rats, I came across a pet shop called Animart. They had a pied, 1 yr. old cockatiel for $115. I don't know much about them, because we had a large Cockatoo before, and I've only been around the larger parrots...but that seemed over priced to me. Especially since it was scared to death of me. (Sorry, that was a bit off topic, just had to share)

[ChessieLvr]

Hi Kelsie...
Did you know there are also bird rescue organizations? These are a great places to get a bird. Many birds in the rescues do not have problems, but have simply outlived their owners (many birds can live 80+ years). Often they are already tame and talking. Most of these rescues require owners-to-be to take a class of two on avian care.
If you do purchase a bird from a pet store, be sure NOT to go to a Petco/Pet Smart type store. Their employees often know very little about birds, and as a result many of these birds are sick or old or malnourished. Try to find a store which exclusively sells birds and bird supplies or go directly to a breeder.
I have three birds. I pulled my lutino teil, Sunny out of a trash can on trash pick-up day. Can you believe some people?! Sunny loves to picked up, but doesn't like to be pet or touched. She'll sit on my shoulder and preen my hair all day if she could.
I also have a Pacific Parrotlet and a Jenday Conure.

Here are a couple bird rescues in Alabama:
http://www.parrotsr4ever.org/
http://www.birdtoyoutlet.com/Bird-Rescues/bird-rescues_a.htm

And some links to bird stores/breeders in Alabama:
http://www.naturechest.com/index.html
http://www.merrisbirdsnsupplies.com/
http://www.thebreedersdirectory.com/Cockatiels/Cindy's_Birds-93-284-0-0.html

[kelsiebug]

kool i'll see about checking them out! i had a cousin who taught her bird to talk. she was so cute!