# Bringing home my first cockatiel this week!



## CherieBerry (Feb 14, 2015)

Hello! I'm new here!
After a long time of wanting one I'm finally bringing home a birdie of my own to spoil.
She's still very young- and I'm buying her handfed, from a breeder.
I ordered her cage online and it should be in the mail soon, or I'd have her home already! It's this one here. I think that should be a good size for her! I also got her more rope perches and some toys, ect (everything else I read she would need).
I've been reading up on how to care for her over the past month, but I could always use newbie tips and such!
**I wanted to know how to go about traveling her to her new home.
I wasn't going to have her shipped so I'm traveling a good ways to pick her up. I still didn't know if the car ride would freak her out or what and how I could help her be as calm as possible -???
**and how I could go about getting her in her new cage, since I've read a lot of about letting her come out by herself and leaving her be for a few days.

I'm just so excited and hope I do everything right!
I still haven't had a chance to see her, since I bought her online, so I hope it goes well when I pick her up and see her for the first time!

I'm slightly concerned bc the breeder seemed very short with me... That doesn't stop me from wanting to bring her home, but I am going way out of my way to buy from a breeder and was pretty disappointed by the interaction with them...


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## Lillahine (Nov 25, 2014)

Awe sorry to heavy our going through a breeder like this it doesn't seem right. We are getting our little lady soon too and have the same questions ( we own budgies not tiels).


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

CherieBerry said:


> **I wanted to know how to go about traveling her to her new home.
> I wasn't going to have her shipped so I'm traveling a good ways to pick her up. I still didn't know if the car ride would freak her out or what and how I could help her be as calm as possible -???
> **and how I could go about getting her in her new cage, since I've read a lot of about letting her come out by herself and leaving her be for a few days.


Congrats on your new baby! 

When I travel with my guys I let them look out the window. They seem to enjoy it. I also keep the sides of their cage covered so they're not hugely frightened with the change of environment. If they want to look out the window, they can, but they can escape from it, too, if they so want . 

As for how to get them in the cage, I generally keep the box or carrier on the bottom of the cage and let them come out of their own. If they take longer than an hour to come out, I gently tip them out. Sometimes it's uneventful, other times they flutter around a bit. But they generally settle quickly and in about 3 days time they're acting somewhat normally .


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## CherieBerry (Feb 14, 2015)

vampiric_conure said:


> Congrats on your new baby!
> 
> When I travel with my guys I let them look out the window. They seem to enjoy it. I also keep the sides of their cage covered so they're not hugely frightened with the change of environment. If they want to look out the window, they can, but they can escape from it, too, if they so want .
> 
> As for how to get them in the cage, I generally keep the box or carrier on the bottom of the cage and let them come out of their own. If they take longer than an hour to come out, I gently tip them out. Sometimes it's uneventful, other times they flutter around a bit. But they generally settle quickly and in about 3 days time they're acting somewhat normally .


Thank you! 

Would it be a good idea to cover up the sides of her cage when she gets home too? just until she gets used to the new place~ I wasn't sure if that would help her settle in better or not.


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## Jaguar (Jul 11, 2014)

Hello and welcome 

I just wanted to warn you that the cage you purchased has rather large bar spacing (1 inch, approx 25mm). Unfortunately it will not work for your cockatiel - she may squeeze her head or body through it and get stuck, injured, or even be killed. Just thought I'd warn you before hand. I wouldn't go with anything larger than 5/8" (approx 16mm) for a cockatiel. It's a shame, because it's a great size, but maybe we can help you find something more cockatiel appropriate.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Congrats on your new tiel.  When you first get her home, you can cover three sides of the cage if she seems nervous. That may calm her down. Also, how young is young? Tiels don't wean until at the earliest 8 weeks but really should be kept longer than that and young tiels run the risk of regressing and need to be hand fed if they're too stressed out.


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## CherieBerry (Feb 14, 2015)

Jaguar said:


> Hello and welcome
> 
> I just wanted to warn you that the cage you purchased has rather large bar spacing (1 inch, approx 25mm). Unfortunately it will not work for your cockatiel - she may squeeze her head or body through it and get stuck, injured, or even be killed. Just thought I'd warn you before hand. I wouldn't go with anything larger than 5/8" (approx 16mm) for a cockatiel. It's a shame, because it's a great size, but maybe we can help you find something more cockatiel appropriate.


Thank you for noticing that! I got very worried after reading this and double-checked it- I guess I had posted the wrong picture since the cages look so similar! But this is the exact cage I bought.
Its says the spacing is 3/4" -so I hope this cage is okay!


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## CherieBerry (Feb 14, 2015)

sunnysmom said:


> Congrats on your new tiel.  When you first get her home, you can cover three sides of the cage if she seems nervous. That may calm her down. Also, how young is young? Tiels don't wean until at the earliest 8 weeks but really should be kept longer than that and young tiels run the risk of regressing and need to be hand fed if they're too stressed out.


She just turned 8 weeks recently. Because she is so young is why I worried about making sure she'd be as comfortable as possible in the move. If she still needs to be hand fed, how can I tell and how should I go about it?


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## Diachuk (Jul 2, 2014)

Congrats!  
I know how excited but nervous you are- I myself am getting my bird tomorrow!   

I hope everything goes well for you and your tiel!


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