Hello everyone,
I've been browsing Your fantastic forum for some time now, and have LOVED reading your posts and looking at your photos.
I have two cockatiel's, Bindi who came to me at the beginning of July, and Jamanbread ( ridiculous I know, but started as a joke that stuck), I got as a companion for her a few weeks later.
They were both hand reared, but Bindi was hand reared alone by a breeder of aviary birds, because her parents rejected her. Jamanbread was hand reared with his siblings ( at least four of them).
Bindi was sold to a family before she had been weaned properly ( either that or she regressed), and the children were so scared of her begging noise that they got rid of her. I took her and finished her weaning myself.
When I first got Jamanbread, I tried just letting them loose in a room together. Jamanbread, who was used to being around other birds seemed keen to get to know Bindi, but the way she reacted was so scary ( lunging, hissing etc), that I very quickly abandoned that pursuit.
They were bought large spacious cages that I have placed side by side, and done my best to fill with enriching, stimulating stuff. I spend at least two hours one on one time with both of them, separately each day. I was told that they will still be some kind of company for each other, even through separate cages.
Bindi SCREAMS CONSTANTLY for me pretty much all day long, and now Jamanbread seems to be joining in aswell. The noise LEVEL doesn't trouble me so much, but I find it so upsetting to know that she is not content and happy. It's really starting to get me down big time.
Someone in the know told me that there should be no problem with the two of them sharing a cage, and that all the lunging and hissing etc is a normal part of two birds establishing what is what between them, and assured me that it would never turn into a serious fight- especially as they are both babies.Is this true?She said that they would be sooo much happier together, and that it would put an end to the perpetual, incessant screaming.
I have let them out together for varying lengths of time over three days now, and although the aggressive behaviour is still going on, they do seem more tolerant of each other, and even shared a sprig of millet together the other day.
Yesterday I sat down with both of them on me and they sat quite close together for quite a while ( maybe ten mins or more), with no problem. It was only when they got really, really close together that it got quite hairy- such scary noises!
Does anybody think that I could just put them together in a new cage - I plan on buying them a great big one, and making it a really great space for them- or should I wait until the bickering has completely ended?
The other item of concern- and this should possibly be a separate thread, but it applies to this situation so...Bindi is a really great eater- eats her veg and ate harrisons the first time it was offered. Jamanbread will only eat seeds and dandy lion leaves. He has eaten the harrisons quite readily, but if I put it in his bowl instead of seed, by the end of the day he is screaming bloody murder, begging and crying for seed. I don't know if this is him just messing with me and trying to see what he can get away with, (which is what my avian vet says), or if he is really just hungry. Just incase it is the latter, I always give in and give him a load od seeds. I notice there are a lot of harrisons crumbs left behind, so I'm not sure how much is actually being ingested, but Bindi leaves crumbs and is quite satisfied.
I was told to soak the pellets in peach juice to make them easier to ingest, but would this not be too much sugar??
I don't know how I could keep them in the same cage without Bindi becoming a seed eater??
Can anyone advise?! I am SO anxious for them to be happy!
Any advice most gratefully received!

I would leave them in separate cages for a while longer. I think the problem might be that Bindi doesn't realize she is a bird - she was raised by humans with no other birds around. So the presence of another bird is frightening to her because she isn't sure what it is. She will eventually get used to Jamanbread and stop being so fearful of him, and this is already starting to happen. When she's completely comfortable around him it will be a good time to put them together. You can encourage the 'getting acquainted' process by encouraging them to share millet sprays and hang out together at a distance that's comfortable for both of them. It's possible that she will never want him to be super close to her, but she'll probably learn to accept him a distance that's closer than what is acceptable to her right now.

She's screaming for you because right now you're the only flock member she has. She will eventually form a flock bond with Jamanbread too even if she never realizes that he's the same species as her - cockatiels will form a flock bond with just about anything that moves lol. Try not to reward the screaming, but interact with her often enough that she knows she hasn't been abandoned. Some birds will be satisfied if you simply call back to them when they call for you, because it lets them know where you are.

I doubt that Jamanbread is messing with you to see what he can get away with. If he wasn't previously trained to eat pellets he might not realize that they're food, and might be crunching them up looking for a seed inside without actually eating anything. If you like you can give him just pellets for a couple of hours in the morning to encourage him to eat him, but I would make sure that he has access to seeds for most of the day. In the long run a good diet is essential for good health, but in the short run all that matters is getting enough calories to survive. He'll probably learn to really eat the pellets eventually, and watching Bindi eat them will help.

It's OK if Bindi eats some seeds as long as that isn't all she eats. Cockatiels are seed eaters in the wild and come from an arid climate. Desert dwellers are often adapted to a diet that isn't super abundant in nutrients and their health suffers if they switch to a richer diet. There are some vets who think cockatiels do best on a diet of 30-50% pellets, with seed and vegetables making up the rest. Here's our article on cockatiel nutrition: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... ldiet.html

Hi, and welcome. I look forward to hearing more about your cockatiels.

Hello!

Hey hello! I am happy to see you here, in my opinion there is no other forum where you can get such good and detailed information and help about cockatiels.

You already got great advice!

I am also happy to hear that the two little ones are happy and healhy
It's never a good idea to leave them without a type of food they like and eat, they end up starving for hours and that's not good: they are so tiny!

Please post some pictures!!!

Wow guys, how exciting to get some replies! Isn't it just fantastic that we can type into these little plastic and glass and thingamybob things messages and stuff, and concerns, and have it read by people mega, mega miles away and get replies- so exciting!

You all are clearly crazily loved up with your feathered darlings, and it's so lovely to see, and to be in touch with you. I am just nuts for these little squisham babies. I am crazy about dinosaurs, and having these baby darlings is the closest I will come to being up close and personal with a dinosaur. It just blows my mind sometimes when I look at their little raptor feet.

Tielfan! thank you for taking the time to give me such detailed and sound advice. I will continue with what I'm doing then for a while longer then. It breaks my heart to hear them crying out all the time. I'll make sure I always call back from now on. I see all of you with your happy little flocks and I feel so sad for my two.

Thanks also for the nutrition advice and information. I just worry that Bindi will stop eating her harrisons all together if she has seed on tap! But what you said about getting enough calories to survive trumping optimal nutrition has really put my mind at ease

Tielfan, your flock is AMAZING, and such cool names. It must be so wonderful to be around them all. You must feel a bit like snow white.

Thank you for your welcomes Bluekeet and Diane I have admired your flocks for ages, particularly I must say the budgies. I LOVE them. Exquisite colours.

BARBARA! Hello! Yes this forum is WONDERFUL! I look at it often. Such a lot of activity, and seriously expert advice.
I watched the videos and saw your cockatiel shower. Wow! you are quite the engineer. Your bird room is just soooo fantastic cockatiel alton towers! I felt sad for my little two when I saw what a blast your babies have in there. I SO want them to be friends so that I can give them a lovely big home, and they can preen each other and other bird things that make them happy.

I can't believe how much I love them. They smell SO GOOD. I could kiss them and smell them forever.

Barbara, your signature is so cool

to the forum!

I can't wait to see pictures of your cockatiels!

Thank you!
No fear! there will be plenty of pics. I'm sure my birds must be photographed more often than Kate and Wills.
What a sweet, sweet picture of your little one. I would like to give him a kiss!
Isn't it funny how when you fall in love with one cockatiel, all of a sudden you've got it pretty bad for all of them.
Sweet baby angels