cockateals

[glitterwing]

I have a few questions about my cockateals that I hope someone can answer. We have two birds, one's hand trained and the other one isn't. One's white and ones grey bu their both really brightly colored. The white one seems to dominate the cage, and pushes the other off of the perches all the time. My first question is how do you tell if they're male or female? Also, one of the birds has started rubbing against one of his perches. We were wondering if that's normal behavior? How often should their nails be clipped? And is it a good idea to clip their wings, because they smash into things when they fly around ? Would it be easier to hand train them if their wings were clipped? I think that's it for now. Thank you for answering.

[birdygirl]

Is the bird rubbing his head or beak on the perch? If so this is to get the food off the beak. Clip there wings because they are smashing into things. Yes it is easier to hand tame them when their wings are trimmed. Also another training tip. Keep them in seperate cages. That way they bond to you and not the other teils.

[Mrs.Birdy]

Glitterwing:

Welcome to the board.

First...how old are the cockatiels. How long have you had them?

Keeping their wings clipped makes them easier to handle, especially since tiels are nervous and "flighty" by nature. Keeping them housed together will encourage them to bond to each other and not you. If you must keep them together, you will have to spend a lot more time giving them individual attention.

Does he rub his head or his "bottom" on the perch. If he is rubbing his head he may have new feathers coming in and they are irritating him, or if he is rubbing his bottom, he may, shall we say, "have that loving feeling"....lol. Spring time is the mating time for most birds.

On the question of gender.....Knowing their age is important because a mature male will have a very brightly colored yellow head (unless he is a white face), and the female will have duller colored head but have a striped under tail.
The males are more gregarious and the females are shyer and more loving.

Anyway, those are good questions you have.

Hope to talk to you soon.

[JSimko]

If you want them both hand tamed, you have to clip the wings and then put them in seperate cages or they will have no interest in bonding with you.

[glitterwing]

Thanks, everybody, for answering, I learned a lot.
This is for Mrs. Birdy
I'm not sure how old they are. I've had them, personally, for about seven years, but I got them given to me from someone else. I think the grey one is older. It's safe to say they're both mature. I'm assuming, by looking at them, that they're both male. That would explain a lot. They don't get along too well.

We do have a spare cage that we use if they have to travel anywhere, butI'm kind of hesitant to use it, because it's not raised like the other one, and we have two cats that would really love to get at Cheify or Angel.

Cheify, the grey bird, is the one rubbing on the perch. He's rubbing his bottom. Poor guy, wish I could find him a female.

Thanks again everybody, I'm sure I'll have more questions coming.

[JSimko]

Have you tried clipping their wings yet? If you have not, but plan on it I recommend that you take them to a vet to have it done for the first time, because they will resent you for a short period of time if you do it yourself.

[glitterwing]

I haven't clipped their wings yet, and I'll most likely take them to a professional because I don't know how to do it, and I don't want to hurt them. Thanks for the advice.

[JSimko]

Take them to a person that feels confident enough to teach you to do it. It will save you money, and it helps to know that they are comfortable with what they are doing.

[Melina]

hi
my name is Melina and I have two cockateals. one is a mature female that is light gray and the other is dark gray and a mature male. they had a egg just the other night and I have no idea on anything with eggs and cockateals. my birds are about 7 years old and this is only the second egg that I am aware of. I need to know about how long it takes for this egg to hatch and what to do once it has hatched. do I take the male out or keep it in? how long do I keep the baby bird in the cage ? any help would be great if anyone wants to give it . Melina

[shorty101686]

Hi my name is Codi and I have a four month old male Cockatiel and I got him Sunday and all he is doing is sleeping, I mean he is eating, and drinking fine and his droppings looks fine but most of the day and night he sleeps. When I take him out side he will chirp for a min but then he ruffles his feathers and the goes to sleep. Is he sick? One lady told me that he maybe be scared cause he doesn't know where he is and that I should just be patient and he will open up to me, is this true? Could someone give me some advise?

[frosty]

whats a cockateals life span how u tell if it s boy or girl and is there a special food it needs