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.
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.