cockatiels?

[krrc]

does any one keep these birds? how are they as far as noise factor and how much attion do they need ect. thanks!

[jaybox_reptiles]

well i dont no too to much about them but my sister used to breed them............. and i think as far as noise they make it just like any other bird but i dont think it is quit as bad as some like prakits.............. i no to cut the noise down when you have people over or they are screeming you can put a tall or blanket over their cage and that should help................ hope this helps

Jay
Box

[Pontus]

they are VERY social animals

[snakemann87]

Yep:) I use to keep theM!@ THey arent very noisy at all. Except the chirp quite often. Attention wise........ALOT. As with any bird/parrot they need loads of attention, love, and care:) Lets just say they're no snake or lizard.

[krrc]

ok well the reson this all started is cuz i work at petsmart. (yes, petsmart) it's not a bad at people make it out to be but I still wouldent buy a reptile from them do to the fact they are low quility <-sp. well anyways the birds have really grown on me and i would really like a gold capped conure but I'm kinda short the $500.

P.S. my first day working with the reptiles they told me I could do whatever I wanted to the cages and if I needed anything just pull it off the shelf. :) how do you like that? :)

[LISA127]

cockatiels are not noisy at all. they just chirp and sing. no loud screeching like the bigger parrots. they need more attention than a reptile, but again not as much attention as the bigger parrots. the are very friendly birds, and like to be scratched behine the head.

[DarkHunter]

Ahhhh a bird question....now this is my field :)
Cockatiels are generaly quiet but can be noisey at times...they need about 2-3 hours of handling time a day...give or take...Make sure if you want to be able to handle it, you get a "handfed cockatiel" they have much stronger bonds to humans as they were raisssed by human parents instead of theirs. Although they might have a higer price range its definitly worth it!!! Most people dont know this but try to keep Mirrors out of the cage, this will cut down the talking as well, birds think its another mate and try to sing to it....Mirrors also make birds sick...they get too attached to them and they can actully get depressed...freaky eh? If your worried about noise....try your best to get a female...its about $50 blood test to sex a bird through Health Gene... they cut the nail too short so the quik bleeds, put it on a card and send it away, your results should be back in a week or two. Males sing more to intise mates...and are also the better talkers. If you dont want to spend the money on blood tests...females have lighter colouration on the cheeks and when they are older, on the underside of the tail if you look closly the tail feathers will be stipped and if its male they will be solid.
Whatever you do...try to stay away from circular cages! Bad bad bad idea...It can make a bird motion sick, they need a corner to feel safe in!
Hope i help if they're any more questions let me know
~Shannon

[snakemann87]

Your cockatiel isnt gonna be as noisy as the conure by any means! My worst nightmare is having a Nanday Conure in the same room as I trying to sleep....AAAAAAAAAH!

[DarkHunter]

oh god....Snakeman - you think a full grown nanday is bad....i raised 5 from hatchlings...that annoying pitched chirp/scream is ever WORSE as babies :s!!!!!!! im not going to sleep tonight now :( hehehe

[sapphire_moon]

ok as for the people saying that they aren't noisy, then you must have had an exception, EVERY cockatiel that I have EVER owned has been a loud singer/chirper/screecher. The last two I owned were loud as well, as to why we had to get rid of them because we are getting ready to move. ALL birds have to have TONS of attention, BIG cage (about twice the length of their wing span). NEVER put them above eye level, to them above eye level= they are superior.......And if you happen to get one that is not loud, they all have the possibilitie of being loud.

If you get one bird it may look to you as it's mate, there for will has a good possibility of absolutely hating your partner. And if you decided to keep your partner (yes your partner not the bird) then your bird could get really stressed and start pulling out his/her feathers. Or get EXTREMLY violent/ biting, screaming, not letting you or anyone else touch it. They can and will stop eating.....think HARD about getting something like a cockatiel or any other bird........They are not as easy to take care of as a snake.

[DarkHunter]

Sapphire moon - your right...birds are very much diffrent than reptiles!!

i have 5...2 bigger ones...my cocaktiel and a macaw....birds are a huge commitment and cockatiels live about 14-20 years....make sure you want one and its not just a phase 'cuse birds can die from seperation anxiety if you decide to tell :(

[Yve]

my parents have a cockateil, Blue which has been around for over 20 years.....and still kicking!.....I never found him to be overly noisy....he does have a mirror in his cage and always has, this is the first time I've heard that mirrors aren't a good idea but at this point I wouldn't take it away and he seems content with how things are.....he will whistle and chirp at it a couple times a day the chirping isn't loud the whistling is....its entertaining to hear him going at it!:P...He's out of his cage every day and has a few perching areas designed for him.....leaves poop where ever he goes though..;). I think they vary in noisiness and temperament...ours is quite agressive and will actually try to entice you to scratch his head by putting it down and then tear at your finger!lol....I wouldn't recommend whistling at it because they learn what they hear and the loudest noise Blue makes is a whistling tune my dad taught him (great if you don't live in an apartment;)). A happy parrot is one that gets ALOT of attention otherwise they will get depressed....I saw a show on t.v. about parrots and there was a worse case scenario of a large parrot that was put in a room away from people (so they wouldn't have to hear him:() and because of the isolation started to rip feathers out of his chest and mutilate himself in depression. :(

[Siretsap]

By the way 500$ for it is quite expensive. They sell for about 150$ here.

[krrc]

$150 for a gold capped?
Thanks guy for all your help

[tHeGiNo]

Very interesting! My friend has a cockaeil and he has a stripe down his chest without feathers. I was wondering why this was until I saw Yvonnes post. Is this the cause of it?

[Yve]

i don't know if thats the cause....i'd ask your friend about it though...

[sapphire_moon]

Yes it could be the cause of it! Birds can easily get depressed and die from seperation anxiety! Don't be surprised if he starts pulling feathers out from other parts of his body. Actually I read in a cockatiel manual (don't remember the name) that cockatiels can live about 40+ years and McCaws can live 100+ years.......

[tHeGiNo]

I know he doesn't pay a load of attention to the bird, but its a fairly straight line. Do they do that?

[DarkHunter]

Saphire moon - Ive been working with birds for a few years now...ive never seen a tiel make it to 40, but if you have thats pretty cool im not saying its not possible...
Macaws yes, 100 years plus for sure :)


If the line is farily stright and right down the middle of the chest chances are the bird is a little under weight and thats his chest bone comming through, that would cause a little bit of a bald spot in a straights line.

[Yve]

thats a sad thought DarkHunter....its not tough to keep a birds belly full.

[sapphire_moon]

Really DarkHunter......I could swear I read it somewhere.....maybe I'm thinking of something else.......atleast I got the mccaws right, and if it is straight down the center and there is enough food take him to a vet. something is wrong, and it COULD be that they don't pay enough attention to him........

[DarkHunter]

Yvonne, unfortunitly ive seen it alot :( it is sad...sometimes its not that the owner isent feeding him enought its that hes feedig him to much of the wrong stuff...Cockatiels should be kept on a pellet based diet but make sure to offer them seeds too...any variety seed mix for tiels is good, Hagen is one of the better ones.

Sapphire moon...Perhaps your thinking Cockatoos they live upwards of 20 years though its closer to 40 or 60...possibly 80...\

The bird should be taken to the vet a very common problem in birds are crop infections more common in babies but i mean if he/she isent acting wierd maybe you just have an over active bird? Try offering him treats like crackers and some fruits (BE CAREFUL SOME ARE TOXIC!) this should help with the underweight problem! Hope it helps
~Shannon

[aaron]

krrc,

If your thinking about getting a gold capped conure and your concerned about noise and attention DO NOT get a gold cap!!!They are very loud screechy birds and especially if they want attention! Cockatiels are an excellent choice as they are very friendly and not near as noisy as MOST of the conures with the exception of the green cheek conure which happens to be the quietest of the conures. Most birds require a fair bit of attention unless you keep them in pairs but if you want a personable,loving companion keeping a single bird is your best bet as they will more often than not prefer the company of another of their own species. There are the exceptions to the rule as I had one that wanted nothing to do with any of my other cockatiels and reqiured and demanded human interaction. The life expectancy of a cockatiel is on average 15 to 20 years with some making it to the 25 year mark.

If you've got a lot of time to spare and noise isn't an issue gold caps are very beautiful, playful,entertaining and affectionate when handfed.(and loud) The choice is yours so I hope this helped and good luck!

Aaron:D

[krrc]

I'm leaning tord the cockatiel now but I have one more question if they dont have the leg band what does that genraly mean? I thought it might mean it came from another sorce than a breeder?

[Oliverian]

Ahh... cockatiels. They make good pets. Sadly, my brother left the cage door open when the cage was outside, and ours flew. (not very well, I might add) We have heard him around the neigborhood a couple of times, but he's always been up in a tree. Saw him yesterday and tried to get him to come down. He obviously recognised us but he flew away... I'm not sure if he meant to fly down to us but wasnt that good of a flyer, or he wanted to be free. Lol.. kind of sad. He looks pretty beat up. The good news is that he can fly a lot better now. :) But yea, they're better than many of the other pet birds i've seen. Get a nice looking one! :) ~TR~

[damzookeeper]

We have cockatiels here and it can get loud at times, mostly in the early morning cause they are used of coming out for breakfast. Our birds are our most of the day, they are clipped and very well mannered. They do whistle on occasion during the day back and forth to each other but not often. We have a couple that are noisier than other but some you barely hear a peep from. Of course the noisy ones are the males. We breed them and do not put bands on them. I was once told by a breeder of 30 some years that bands are not good for tiels, because they can don't make them small enough to go on their leg properly so they are lose and could be a danger to your tiel more than an asset. I have one recscu tiel with a band and I can see what she means, it is quite lose on him!
Here are some of our birds...

Mom and dad with babies. The babies didn't have all their feathers yet, that is why the yellow one looks bare around the neck.
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-06-13birdiefamily.jpg

Here are the babies at a couple weeks old.
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-06birdsbabies.JPG

and a little over a month.
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-06-28babytiel.jpg

Popa feeding babies.
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-07birdsbabies.JPG

ANd here is one of the babies (Alley, actually a male and loud mouth. lol) with my special needs tiel Quasi.
They love visiting each other!
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-07-10quasiscratch2.jpg

ANd one of my favorite pics of Quasi. First time climbing a latter, he has mangled feet but that doesn't stop him one bit!
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-07-12quasi2.jpg
this is why he decided to go down the latter.
http://www.reptilerascals.com/bird2003-07-12quasi.jpg

Before you decide you are definately going to get a bird make sure it is the right decision for you. They are a lot of work, they need lots of attention, and they bond to mostly one person. We have a couple rescues that love almost everyone, probably because they were neglected in their previous home and just love any attention! But we also have a couple that are bonded to just me, just my father and just my mother. (my parents live beside us in a douplex but we have access to their place inside the house, we are a close nit family. ;) )
You will also have this bird for about 15 years if well taken care of and fed properly. cages need to be cleaned thouroughly every week and lots of toys are a must! Toys can get expensive for birds. Toys should be changed every few months for variety for your bird and must be introduced before putting in the cage or they could be afraid of it.
Tiels are by far one of the quietest birds I have known from working in an aviary for nearly 3 years. But again, they do have their very loud moments and this should not be taken away from them. IMO they should not have towels or blankets put over their cages eithor, some get more frightened as they feel they are being trapped.
If your bird gets night fright you will have to give him/her a nightlight. There are so many things to learn about birds I could go on and on, probably write a book.lol, Oh, look, I'm off to a great start! lol, Ok, I'm done now, one more thing, though, before I leave. Birds NEED routine! They can get stressed or cranky if you change their routine.