# More pics! (Pic heavy)



## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

I managed to drag myself out of bed to go to the pharmacy today (I've been off work sick for a week much to Bell's delight) and thought I'd risk looking like a crazy person and pull the car over and get a branch off a wattle tree for the kids. It hasn't flowered yet but I thought they'd enjoy it anyway. They completely ignored it until I had finished sweeping the floor and was about to mop. As you can imagine I now have wattle flowers from one end of the house to the other. 





































Finally!!! A nice group shot.  (Except for Smudgie's dirty beak )


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## Ezzie (Jan 19, 2010)

Great looking birds! Is wattle safe for them? If so i think my guys would enjoy a little natural-ness in their cage! haha.

I also notice that your whiteface has the gunk just above his nostrils- same as birdie who is also a whiteface, I thought it was just me! Any idea what it might be?

Also he looks ALOT like birdie, almost exactly alike!


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## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

Wow looks like they really enjoy it. Some great photos there. I love all your birds.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Hi Ezzie. I believe it's okay for them as it's a native Australian plant. The webpages I checked before putting it in there said they love chewing on the leaves and flowers. And it's also said to be a great tree to plant for encouraging wild birds. With it being winter they're all starting to flower now so I'll be keeping an eye out for them to give to them. It's just a bit messy obviously.

And Birdie looks just like Bell (I was told he was a girl when he was a baby - hence the name Bella ). His face is stained at the moment because they're all being treated for psittacosis. I was originally giving it to them orally so that's what's all over his face. I don't think he swallowed any of it. So now we all traipse down to the avian vet and spend $100 a week on injections instead. <_< It's in a hard spot to wash off so I think I'll just leave it and hope it wears off eventually.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

... and thanks Dude.


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

I've read on a few different websites that Wattle is a toxic plant. About 3 different cockatiel sites mentioned this so just keep an eye on the tiels over the next few days. Some plants are more toxic than others and it also depends on the bird species so I really cant give you much information, its just something I remembered reading about when I got some branches for my birds.. wattle rang a bell.

I'd just keep a close eye on them as I'm not sure what effect it will have on them. I'd also make sure all the Wattle is removed just to be sure.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Really??? I was sure it was okay. I'll give the avian vet a call tomorrow just to check.

I just found this in a cockatiel article _"Native foods such as eucalyptus, wattle, casuarina, bottlebrush and melaleuca are also enjoyed by Cockatiels"_. Honestly, who knows with all the conflicting information out there. To be honest I haven't seen anywhere where it says it's bad for them. I will call to check though as I obviously don't want to do the wrong thing.


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

I know what you mean, there is always conflicting stuff out there and its hard to sift out whats right and wrong. The avian vet should be able to give you a much better indication I'm sure  I personally would have thought nothing of wattle being toxic, its just that ive read it on a fair few sites now and it caught my eye when I saw your post.

Heres a few links where I've seen it, just to give you a better idea- you can make your own judgements then.

http://www.cockatielcottage.net/houseplants.html

One from this forum:
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=1842&highlight=safe+foods

http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/plantlist.html


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Thank you. I'll have a read of those now. I hope it's okay for them... they've been having a great time with it.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Now I'm really confused Cheekyboy. I might be going blind but I couldn't see anything about it on the Cockatiel Cottage page, and on the Cockatiel.org page it has 'wattle' listed as toxic and 'acacia' as safe. They're the same thing. No wonder we get confused!


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

Oh my goodness!! Do you know whats REALLY weird that i just noticed with the cockatiel cottage one? SO confusing!! Do this:

Type in: wattle cockatiel toxic, in google.
The first one that comes up is the cockatiel cottage one. 
Click on it and browse the list - NO wattle comes up on toxic list.

Hit the back button.

Click the 'catched' button under the website title on the google search page and BAM there is wattle on the list.

So thats what confused me! Sorry for that one! How weird! Maybe its been taken off the toxic list?!?! Who knows, I just thought I'd let you know just in case.. just so you can monitor them. You never know, it might not have any affect on them what so ever


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

It's very strange. I'll give the vet a call today and will update this when I find out. I thought the other website was strange listing wattle as toxic and acacia as safe when they're the same plant. It's like saying gum trees are toxic but eucalyptus is safe.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Well I've just called the avian vet and she said wattle is perfectly fine for tiels as is any native Australian tree/plant. She said they actually encourage giving it to them there as they enjoy destroying it so much. No doubt if I called another vet I'd get a different opinion so I'll just keep an eye on them to make sure.


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

Thats fantastic  I would have also assumed it was fine for that reason but who knows what to believe when there is lots of websites giving contradicting information! 

I'm just glad that I was wrong!!


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm glad you said something. I would have hated to give them something and have them be sick. Like I said, I'm sure there's other vets who would tell me differently but while they're enjoying it and seem healthy I'll keep offering it to them. She also said bottle-brush (with the red or yellow flowers) is a favourite. So I'll have to keep an eye out for that too when I'm out and about.


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

So true 

I give mine bottle brush but they refuse to do anything with it! Which is annoying, because I have 2 bottle brush bushes in my backyard with plenty of flowers, but they just dont touch it! But if yours love wattle then perhaps they will also love messing about with the bottle brushes too


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

I've got a feeling bottle-brush may be very messy to clean up so I'm sure they'll love it.


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

Hahaha I think your right there  Have fun with that!!!


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

I have finally made some progress!! I've had Smudge and Jackson for about a month and we've gone from hissing and being scared to Smudge realising tonight that scratches on the head feel pretty good.  She let me scratch her head for about ten minutes and seemed to be really enjoying it. Until she remembered that she doesn't like me touching her and got all cranky. I think it's progress though. I'll just have to keep at it. Unfortunately I can't get near Jacks head. He just scoots up my arm or away from my hand if it comes close. I'm not sure how to get him used to it. 

I went back to the doctor today and found out I have pneumonia o) so I can't go to work this week either. I'm VERY bored being isolated at home, but it's probably perfect timing if it was ever going to happen to have the two newbies adjust to me a bit more.


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## liltweets (Oct 31, 2008)

Your babies are beautiful. Looks like they're really enjoying the wattle. 

Yay for you and Smudge, that's great progress. 

Staying at home does make you want to climb a wall. 
Sorry to hear you have pneumonia, I hope you start to feel better really soon.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks Liltweets. Like i said, it is good in a way because I have time to bond with the new kids a bit more than I could have otherwise. Although pneumonia is a bit of an extreme way to do it!


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