# are cockatiels needy?



## Connie (Sep 12, 2007)

We have had Nacho now for over 1/2 year he was 1 1/2 years old when we got him. He would rather be on one of us than in his cage except to eat and sleep is this normal? Not that we mind but I feel awful when we go away for the day and he is cooped up in his cage. He lets you know he wants out of the cage he either knocks on the door or as soon as he sees me come into the room he starts doing his little dance back and forth. If I'm not in the room than he starts whistling and saying pretty bird like crazy until I come in to get him. He is a very loving bird. Am I tramatizing him when we go away for the day? We have parakeets and I have a couple of keets in a cage right next to him so he does have company and I also leave on the tv. His wings are clipped so he does not fly however he has taken off when all the keets take to the air but he just goes from my shoulder down to the floor. Then he has to walk back over to me so I pick him up.

I don't know what the story was about him before we got him. We bought him from local pet store and they told me he was 1 1/2 yrs old he was already finger tamed and said pretty bird. He bonded to us right away and always wants to be either by me or my husband. He does not care to much about the keets.

Anyway just curious to find out if that is the nature of cockatiels to want to be by their owners all the time.


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I think it varies from cockatiel to cockatiel.  When Cookie was an only tiel she was fairly clingy, but then she met the budgies and she liked to play with them as well as me. My tiel cage is in my bedroom, so she was alone while i was at school, and i felt bad so we got Bailee. Bailee is VERY clingy. He has to be on a person the whole time he's out of the cage, or at the very least he has to be able to see people from where he's sitting. He calls and whistles from me from his cage when he knows i'm around.


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## Laura (Jul 30, 2007)

Out of my two cockatiels male and female, my male Ollie is very clingy when he is in his cage he will call and pace back and forth till he is let out and he always has to be on someone where as Georgie we have to force her out of her cage sometimes she would rather stick by her cage either being on it or in it, its funny because I was always told it was the female that was cuddly but in my house its my male who is the cuddle bug.


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## Connie (Sep 12, 2007)

Nacho is a male and he is really cuddly. He really like to get kisses on his belly. Its so funny because when I give him kisses he makes the same noise that I do when he is getting kisses. He just does not care that much about the keets. It sure is a lot different than keets who like to most of the time be just birds and hang out with the rest of the keets. Its like we are Nacho's birds. We enjoy him so much and luckly he likes to be by both my husband and myself however if he knows I'm in the room and I walk out he give out a loud squawk. The only think I feel bad about is when we go away for the day and he has to stay in his cage because he is so use to being out and with one of us most of the time. Tomorrow he has to be in his cage but that's because we have a friend who grows millet for Hartz mountain and we are going to get a bunch of it free and we have to go out of town to pick it. With having 13 keets and Nacho it sure is nice to know someone like that. (Free treats for the babies).
I have also been going out to the field behind our house and picking wild grass seed the keets love it so they will get that as treats until the snow flies.

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f91/tuescher/?action=view&current=nachostand1.jpg
Here is a picture of Nacho


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

Nacho is really cute!  He sounds like a wonderful pet.


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