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Newly hatched cockatiel-owner :)

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  sunnysmom 
#1 ·
Hey! I'm Julianne and I'm from a very small town in norway.

I have a cat and I've had two zebrafinches before. One died of old age, the other one, my vet suspected liver decease. Anyway, although I will never forget or stop missing my dear finches, I've recently moved on an bought a cockatiel.

I bought him at a petstore because there were no breeders anywhere close to my area (in fact I would have to take a plain-ride..)

I've had him since last thursday and I'm worried that I might be doing something wrong.. I've been reading alot on Cockatiel Cottage, but I feel like the advice given there is only for handfed, tame cockatiels. So here's how it's been going:

Thursday: Brought him home and put him in his cage in a corner in my room (I spend all of my day there, I even started eating most of my meals there because cockatiel cottage said that was best). I left him alone, whistled a little bit, talked to him a little bit, but mostly left him alone. He was facing the wall the whole day.

Friday: Talked even more to him, gave him fresh water and changed him sheet. Sang to him for a while to, but he was scared. At this point he had turned around and was just sitting at him perch.

Saturday: I got to hear his beautiful voice! He chirped a few times and I felt happy that he was safe enough to express himself. However; his food bowl had NO EMPTY SHELLS? I found that scary, but the internet said he might not eat the first days (it was the same food the petstore fed him and his friends) I sat by his cage most of that day, at first he was frightened but he calmed down after a while and seemed interested in my donald comics which I read out loud to him.

Sunday: What in the name of egg-yolks is this sound? Oh, he is flock-calling! Kind of annoying but natural I guess. I ignored it, at advice from the internet. Continued to sit by him at my computer and I put my hand in his cage. He was startled at first but accepted it after a while as long as I kept it still. After about 2hours of this, I decided I would let him (and my arm) rest and I sat a few feet away from him. Still no eating, droppings looked fine though there weren't a lot of them.

Monday: More flock-calling, about an hour of having my hand in his cage, tried to find empty seed-shells but none where found (btw I had been giving him alternatives everyday before that, half a banana which he didn't touch, corn which he didn't touch and sunday, crumbled crackers that I think he MAY have eating? I thought I heard him eating under his blanket) so I decided to try to find those tiny seeds that have been recommended (those on a cob or whatever it's called?) and try to get an appointment at the vet; I couldn't find the seeds anywhere so I guess I have to go back to the petstore and the vet said he seemed fine as long as his poop was normal, I had no reason to take him in.

Tuesday: Well it's almost 9am here, he is still sleeping. I'll update you when I get home from work in a couple of hours.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum! Cockatiels tend not to be big fruit eaters. Try offering him some vegetables intead. My cockatiel's favorites are broccoli and snow peas. Do you have millet sprays where you are. Most tiels love millet and that can be used to help tame your tiel. If you hold a piece of millet in your hand, he may come and start nibbling on it, etc. And continue to monitor if he's eating or not. Although a new tiel might not eat right away, he obviously needs to eat.

Here are some helpful links: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27080

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479

Food Bribery - http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=28661

Taming lperry82 version - http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073

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