# What age do cockatiels show their true personality!



## FallowBaby (Jan 23, 2011)

I am currently raising two young chicks. One is 5 and a half weeks and the other is closer to 8. The younger one is the clamest little thing I have ever seen. The older one is much more wild!! Lol. But I am not sure if the calmness is just due to age or true personality difference. BTW she has been vet checked and is heathly. Let me know if you know when they show their true colors, I am just curious.


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## crazy4tiels88 (Aug 10, 2008)

Usally When They Are Between 3-6 months they start showing lots of personality!


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## olive juice (Mar 30, 2009)

Once they hit puberty, they can be real brats for awhile.

Echo was the sweetest, calmest, quietest little baby ever. I couldn't even IMAGINE him biting everyone. He loved people and was so gentle and sweet-tempered.

And then he became a teenager, and all of that went out the window.  He bites now, not often, but often enough. He is bossy and assertive and does what he wants. I'm still not completely sure if this is his permanent personality, or if it will calm down once he's not a teenager anymore.

Basically, hormones and age can largely determine and change a bird's personality. So even if they start to show a new personality as a teenager, that's not to say that's their "real" personality, you know? Just like people, birds have "stages" of personality as they grow and develop. Certain aspects (being shy, being adventurous, etc) can stick with them, though. (Echo still doesn't scare easily, and he still loves people.)


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## Autumn (Dec 12, 2009)

I was going to say as soon as you notice, which could be early. But I agree with the above, they do show their true colours at puberty. One of mine changed similarly. Used to be really quiet and at the age of 8 months he became much more vocal and that hasn't changed.


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

FallowBaby, I think their base personalities stay more or less the same. I'll bet your wild baby will always be wilder than your calm one, but they could become more/less affectionate, more/less vocal over time. I had baby birds this summer. Sadly, only 1 of my babies survived (the other 4 died at 10 days, 14 days, 3 weeks and 14 weeks- it's a long and sad story that has a huge thread in the breeding subforum), but they all had/have personalities. Phoenix (the survivor) is almost 8 months old now and he has been a feisty little brat since he was only a couple days old  He hissed at me for wayyyy longer than the other babies and took about 3 days to get used to handfeeding when I started at 14 days and was always kind of a pain to feed. His personality has not really changed though he is of course much more vocal now. His siblings, specifically Izzy (the one who made it to 14 weeks) was always very sweet and super easy to hand feed. I think she would have been a darling little bird if she had survived.

I've noticed that they seem to be less affectionate after going through puberty. My Little Bird LIVED for love and affection from me until he hit puberty, then he went through a bit of a bratty phase (not too bad), and when he was an adult he was still very affectionate, but not as much as when he was a baby.


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## FallowBaby (Jan 23, 2011)

Thank you everyone. I think I need to change my name from Fallowbaby to Pearlbaby. when I signed on I thought I was getting a Fallow and ended up with a pretty little pearl instead. Lola is the calm one and the one we are keeping. The other wild little pied who really has stolen my heart is going to a friend of the family. 
OliveJuice, I think I know exactly what you mean.....my other bird is a three year old parrotlet and he became a little moody monster from a year and a half old until just the past three months. I think that was his teenage phase.
Berdnerd, I am sorry to hear about your loss. After years of handfeeding, I just lost one I got recently who had come to me with a slow crop. We brought her to the vet and tried everything, it was too late and absolutely heartbreaking. I can imagine your pain with that happening to 4 babies. I will look up your thread. 
I am eager and excited to see what Lola's personality will be. Thanks again for the info!!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

FallowBaby, here is my thread if you want to see: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=13878 It's 97 pages long! It was quite the ordeal and a very painful time. Also I lost 5 babies, don't know why I typed 4. I miss my babies, I put so much into them... I may try breeding tiels again (NOT Arthur and Poppet!) sometime in the future since I am now fairly experienced. Pretty much any outcome would be better than the outcome my babies had. I remember before the first clutch hatched, I said I would be happy if just 1 baby survived. 1 baby did survive and I'm VERY glad for that because at least I have Phoenix and the whole thing was not for nothing, but I so wish more of them had lived! I wonder what they would be like now. 

Sorry for hijacking your thread! Do you have pictures of your babies to share? I'll bet they're super cute!


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