# Neglected Cockatiel



## Wilma

I got my tiel, Pichu from my mom. She neglected him for 4 yrs! He could go on for days without food or water, didn't have toys in his cage, and was not socialized or tamed. To make matters worse, he had an encounter with a ferral cat and since that day never used the lower part of his cage. He perched on his food bowl like there wasn't tomorrow and would bang against the cage bars everytime I visited mom and tried to change his food and water bowls. I had always been a dog person but one day my kids went to a petshop and asked me to buy a beautiful umbrella cockatoo. I wanted to buy it until hubby explained me their beaks could rip flesh off and hurt really bad. He also explained they weren't good for people without any experience on birds.. much less parrots (as I was at that time). Then my mom offered us her tiel to which my children said YES!!

I went on internet and tried to learn all I could. We took him home and switched his diet to pellets (he loved them right away) but would still not walk around his cage. Hubby and I decided we had to change his cage so he could start afresh and while hubby was in a training (he's a soldier) I decided he would also need a same species friend. Soooo my children and I bought Monkey (WF) from a petshop (there aren't any bird rescues where we are stationed at) and a couple of days afterward, while I was cleaning Monkey's cage we saw a yellow pearl tiel (Sunny) in our yard. It was a miracle since we were just getting ready to be hit by a hurricane! I used Monkey's cage and a blanket to trap her and she joined us the same day hubby arrived home from his mission  

That day hubby decided he was going to get them a bigger cage and surprised me with a cage bigger than what I thought we would get. They have been living together ever since and although Pichu and Sunny get along way too much ( I think they're in love) and sometimes get a little mean with Monkey (the baby) life is good for them. Pichu still hisses at me and fans his tail feathers everytime I stop by the cage but it lets me clean the cage and change the bowls. I fed them millet spray through the cage bars for a while and all of them would follow my hand, now I'm starting to feed them with my hand inside the cage and they all come to me. Today Pichu perched on my hand BUT I freaked out and although I didn't remove my hand from the cage I'll have to work again to regain the level of trust he had just showed to me 

I fed them for a while more after the incident but then Pichu turned his back on me, showed off his wings (keeping eye contact), started swaying from side to side (keeping eye contact), and placed his foot on Sunny (keeping eye contact)....soooo in case he was gonna launch at me next.....I re-scheduled the feeding session for tomorrow :blush:


I'm very patient but can't wait to be able to let them out of their cage ( I don't want to towel them to put them back in and there aren't any avian vets in the island)...my children want to play with them but they are also patient  Pichu enjoys his mist showers....never had he felt water in his feathers before he came to our house!

I'm trying to learn as much as I can and by now..I consider myself a hybrid of dog/bird person 

***Hubby said he would hold them so I could clip their wings..although I'm a vet tech I have no experience so I'll have to watch videos and read more before I do so***


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## Kerry78

Aww thats a nice story,
how come you freaked out when the bird was on your arm? lmao
I also got my bird "Teallie" at the beginning of the year he had been in a very small cage for 4 years of his life with no attention, he is a wild boy still but will eat from my fingers,
ive introduced the other 2 birds into his life it was so heart breaking to watch him see another tiel for the firstime it nearly made me cry anyway they got along great!

im totally against people clipping birds wings personally but once you do this make sure you have full supervioson with the birds and your children,
tiels do bite and they do bite really hard if they feel threatened! 

they als bite for all other reasons to though so watch and don't say you never heard it here first


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## braveheartdogs

Hi there,

Two of my cockatiels (I have three) were rescue birds. One of them, Poupon, belonged to my best friend (she was his second owner) and when she passed away her husband let me have him. That was about 10 years ago. Pegasus came in as a rescue bird and I kept him because I felt bad for him. Apparently, his previous owner thought he was loud and kept him in a closet He will step up and doesn't bite but he is clearly not as comfortable as my other two, and that's fine. He can be himself here. 

You are doing the right thing. Go slowly, have patience and always respect the birds comfort level. If he seems afraid, he is. Keep doing the millet that can do wonders for them. I think it's great that he stepped up for the millet. He will do it again, just hold your hand still and let him step up so he can learn what it feels like. He'll hop back off before you know it

Vicki


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## Di_dee1

Often too, 3 can be a bad number as 1 can feel very left out. I find this even when my son's tiel is visiting my two. Getting the bird alone, in a confined space, eg a bathroom may help. There are many great books out there on positive reinforcement to help change behaviours and to tame.


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## Wilma

@ Kerry thanks for the insight. I have mixed feelings about clipping their wings. Hubby says is ok but I feel it would be like cutting someone's arms....then I also am afraid I might lose one of them if they escape..which is really selfish but I want to think they might not survive if they do so. When I got Sunny from the yard her feet were pale and she couldn't stop shaking...she slept for two days straight and only woke up to drink and eat some seeds. When her feet turned a gray color she started to play with the toys, eat pellets with seeds (she likes pellets better now) and show off how wonderful she is. She bosses the others around!

@Braveheartdogs what a wonderful thing you did for your friend! Thanks for the encouragement..I need it!!! They are now looking at me like a huge spray millet and I'm trying to calm down so I can repeat the drill. I've never been bitten by a bird in my life so I know I got to be ready for that... although Pichu is a bit territorial he's a glutton for attention so I might have to play that card on him 

@Di dee I was thinking the same. I don't know if I should get another tiel though. We are a military family and have to move in a year or so (we are overseas) and moving the dogs and the birds to the states is not gonna be cheap. I always planned to have two BUT Sunny came along and she's the queen now  I'll try to let them lose in my bedroom and see what happens...I'm afraid is gonna be time for me to pick the kids up from school and they will be flying around the house so the bedroom might keep them safe 'till they decide to go back to their cage or hubby comes to help me get them :S


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## Tony's Tiels

Hi Wilma, 
Have you checked about bringing birds into the states ?
If you were a regular citizen, it may take a full year to get permission..If it is possible at all.
I am not sure exactly, So I am inquiring to help you, as well as learn if it is possible.
I sure hope so for you !


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## Wilma

*Bringing birds to the states*

I'm an American born citizen and not technically in other country. I'm living in a US territory (Puerto Rico) so the laws to transport animals from here to the states are the same as if you were to transport a bird via airplane within the continental US. There aren't any quarintine laws neither and they travel either as cargo or with me in the cabin. Up to two in one cage (if is big enough) and they charge you as one animal. But we would have to transport two dogs and three tiels which could mean $300-$400 on their tickets without adding up the vet costs!!!!!!!!!!! I better get a job ASAP!! LOL


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## Kerry78

Animals coming into the UK go through a 6 month Quarantine,
I know someone who brought there dog over here from the USA she was so upset and wanted her dog badley, when she went to collect him oh god she was hysterical 

I guess im against Clipping due to the the fact that I lost my Pet Goose years ago,
she used to go flying of in neighbours gardens and one time she vanished and I got a call from the RSPCA who returned her tome they told me to clip the wings they did it for me at my house, a few days later she was savaged by a fox to death she wouldn't come in the house at night time, and I didn't even know there were foxes about cos i'd never seen them which made my suspicions grow to think a neighbour killed her!

ifyou keep doors and windows closed when there out then they wont escape,but will give you a run around when it's time for them to go back in the cage 

I think it's nice seeing them flying there so happy doing so


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## tielfan

> I have mixed feelings about clipping their wings.


Personally I think that in most cases clipping is a good idea for a bird in a new home. A new bird isn't likely to be very calm or cooperative the first few times it comes out of the cage. It's much safer to let them out if they don't have the ability to fly around smashing into things in a panic and possibly hurting or killing themselves. It also makes it possible to get them back in the cage with a lot less chasing and drama. Clipping is temporary so you can let them go back to being full flighted later if you want to. By that time they will be familiar with both the home and the family, and it will be a lot safer to let them fly around at that point.


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## Kerry78

Clipping a Young tiels feathers isn't nice though,
they need there wings to balance and learn.. Clipping my Sandy would kill him he's just prone to the wing, yes he's a naughty little boy but believe me he loves having his flying out time 

I would certainley re-consider clipping your birds!
it's like cutting of a arm or leg for us 

there are other ways to make a bird get used to you in theory!!!!


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## xxxSpikexxx

Kerry78 said:


> I would certainley re-consider clipping your birds!
> it's like cutting of a arm or leg for us


I don't think of clipping as being that harsh after all our legs or arms would not grow back  If you want to compare it to something we do to ourselves I would look at it more like a hair cut or a nail clipping. I like to think of it as more of a hair cut seeing as we have to clip our tiels nails for their safety. Just as some people clip their tiels wings for safety/training reasons.


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## Wilma

@ Kerry OMG! Is so sad what happened to your goose, I too think it might have been a human and not a fox..specially if there are no foxes around 


@ tielfan we had to clip their wings yesterday  I didn't want to but we had to! I let them fly in my bedroom but they kept bumping on the walls so when hubby came he helped me by holding them with a leather glove (which they bit with enormous strenght!) gave them millet to keep them busy and I clipped their wings. They are still a little shaken so they are won't go out today but once they become their old selves they will go on the PLAY GYM...no more bouncing on walls! I felt bad for them but it's for their own safety....I rather have them walk around than die slowly from a bad bump or die from starvation in nature if they escape....even worst, getting eaten by a predator!!!!


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## tielfan

> Clipping a Young tiels feathers isn't nice though,
> they need there wings to balance and learn..


It's true that fledglings shouldn't be clipped before they've learned to fly skillfully and have developed their chest muscles. These birds are apparently well past that stage though.


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## Wilma

tielfan said:


> It's true that fledglings shouldn't be clipped before they've learned to fly skillfully and have developed their chest muscles. These birds are apparently well past that stage though.



They are...Pichu and Sunny are adults 4+ yrs and the young one although it hasn't moulted its feathers is totally independant. He flew like an eagle but it was too excited...I rather have him not learn to fly skillfully than to bump his head on a wall and get killed. I hope I didn't harm his chest muscles though.....although I don't think he's that young...he's more of an adolescent since he wants Sunny for himself and sometimes challenges Pichu


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## tielfan

If he's flying like an eagle his muscles are developed well enough. The critical period is the learning-to-fly stage when they first leave the nest. If they're allowed to fly freely during this stage they'll be in good shape by the time they wean.


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## Kerry78

@ Wilma,
Yeah Ive never at all seen a fox and it was coming upto Xmas 1996 when she was taken from me and my family it was such a shock my sister was in tears cos she found her ripped appart the next morning, the neck and head had been taken horrible to see 

@ Spike, they do take ages to grow back if you just cut them,if you pull them out it's alot quicker but worse for a Tiel cos there small!

Only 2 of my birds are extremists on the wings 5 year old Teallie is fat and lazy and prefers to couch in the cage, when he does fly his wing beat soundsso heavy, he is a big bird though he looks healthy but I do have concerns he's overweight :/

tried giving them less food, but im scared Sandy will become ill again as he almost died when I had him totally un-aware he was un-weaned from the breeder to the petshop 

it's funny tosee Sandy and Missy in the morning I make my Toast they get half in a bowl then it's flight skool, one gets excited if the other wings it around the room lol and bombs away up in the air 

Teallie watches them from the cage 
he's like there big dad or something lmao!


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