# New Cockatiel baby



## qwerty303 (Jan 9, 2013)

Hi, i'm getting a baby cockatiel soon !! "he" is 6 weeks old and was the only one in the clutch so he is taking longer than normal to wean. i am looking for name suggestions and " someone to take me under there wing haha and teach me some basics of being a new cockatiel owner. i have done tons of research, but am sure there are things that are not out there that are best learned from real people. thanks so much !!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

When will you be getting him? The normal weaning age for a tiel is 8-12 weeks of age. Its better to take them older because they have less chance to regress. I'm not good with names but if you go through our sticky library you will find a lot of good info.


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## OOwl (Dec 5, 2012)

Congrats on your first baby. Taking him later is good advice. I recently added a cockatiel hen to my flock and she came home at six weeks (she'd been eating on her own for a week then), which ended up being a little early. She reverted and I'm STILL offering her hand-weaning formula at night before bed (although I'm suspecting this is now just a bad habit because she is maintaining her weight herself just fine but "asks" for baby food at night). The breeder offered to immediately take her back until she was fully weaned but my godfather used to raise parrots so I had a lot of hand-feeding experience and I just did it myself. Lots can go wrong, though, so I'd totally wait until fully weaned if you are able. 

While you're waiting, there are a lot of good cockatiel books. I really like the Bow Tie Publications Popular Birds series "Cockatiels" magazine (available at Petsmart or your bookstore). It has some really updated, relevant information and great articles. Sometimes cockatiel books from the bookstore (especially the used bookstore) tend to be really outdated information. Good luck!


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## Shayla Fortune (Nov 29, 2012)

I agree with what everyone else is saying about the age... 6 weeks is pretty young; I didn't get my baby until she was about 11 weeks. I'm still pretty new to 'tiels, but I'm sure waiting will not only be better for him physically, but also psychologically as well.


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## Erinsmom (Sep 7, 2012)

Just to reinforce 6 weeks isn't "taking longer to wean" its actually quite early. They start eating at 3-4 weeks BUT they still need feed till 8 weeks to ensure the best possible start in life and some will not wean until 10-12 weeks. eating for a week isn't in my opinon enough time and your begging for problems.


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## qwerty303 (Jan 9, 2013)

Thanks everyone ! that is reasuring news


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## qwerty303 (Jan 9, 2013)

> When will you be getting him?


 I guess whenever the breeder thinks he is weaned and ready !!!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Do you have a gram scale? If not I would invest in one, its very common for babies to regress when they move to a new environment and its easiest to monitor this when you are able to watch their weight.


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## BabyMoo (Dec 19, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> Do you have a gram scale? If not I would invest in one, its very common for babies to regress when they move to a new environment and its easiest to monitor this when you are able to watch their weight.


Congratulations! The above advice is something I recommend as well. My tiel is an older tiel and a scale has come in handy. It is good to know their baseline weight and to get them used to getting on the scale. They'll have to get on it when they go to their vet appointments and it makes it easier.


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