# My first ever cockatiel! (Photos and questions)



## acrobandit (Jul 21, 2012)

Hey everyone, I'm a genetics research student in Melbourne and I've always wanted a pet since leaving home and my family. After looking around for a suitable pet, I decided that a cockatiel would be perfect. I got an eight week old cockatiel last week and I've been spending hours on this forum reading up on everything. It's been such a great resource, especially with Ludwig being my first bird. 

This is him!

















I think he's a pearl.. Correct me if I'm wrong? 









He's so floofy, but I'm guessing it's just his baby down feathers.









And this is him during one of his nightly snuggles 

He's (we have no idea whether he's a boy or a girl, but we're going with 'he' for completely arbitrary reasons..) been such a darling. He settled down with absolutely no problems whatsover. He loves perching on my shoulder and head, and is perfectly happy to just fall asleep there while I go about my stuff. He's such a hardy, resilient little thing and within a day he was asking for scritches and cuddles. He isn't demanding and is good at keeping himself occupied with our shitty work hours (I work long hours in the lab; my boyfriend works shifts as a cop) but when we're home, he loves hanging around with us.

The only snag so far has been getting him on a good diet because he is such a sunflower seed junkie.. He would eat around his seeds and pellets to get to them and is notoriously adverse to trying new food. A few days ago, I made birdie bread for him in an attempt to get more variety in to his diet but he just threw it all over the table.. I think I was actually close to tears. We've hit a few roadblocks with him refusing to eat anything but seed, and him getting hungry and cranky. And with him being so young, he still makes that awful screeching static noise to ask for food. After the whole cranky-hungry incident, we end up giving in and letting him eat his caloric needs in seeds at the end of the day. bHe's only 73g and I'm worried he may be underweight.. However, just as of 10 minutes ago, I mashed up the birdy bread with some pellets and water, mixed his seed into the mash, and he seemed pretty happy getting a beakful of everything in it.  If anyone has anymore tips/suggestions for diversifying his diet, I would appreciate it!

Ludwig has been such a joy. His idiosyncracies and affection really brighten up my days, especially since I did not have much in the way of family or friends in this country. I look forward to our years together and to spending moe time on this forum learning and getting to know you all!


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## WendyBeoBuddy (Dec 12, 2011)

he is so cute! surely is a pearl!
do you know what his parents ook like?
congrats on the new baby!


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## lisaowens (Oct 17, 2011)

you have a very pretty pearl. ok once he/she goes through the first molt if the pearls start going away with each molt it is a boy if it does not lose the pearls then it is female only the females will keep their pearls. now i have 4 tiels none have taken to pellets i bought some fruity flavored pellets and i am giving them only the pellets they are eating it 3 of mine are 1 year old the other is 15 he is a rescue. i do weight the regular to make sure they are not losing weight so far all is good once i am sure that they are eating the pellets well i will offer seed only as a treat. congrats on the new addition


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## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

hey there welcome to the forum congratulations on the little one and happy care taking!


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## Scribbles (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi I'm from north Queensland. What a lovely bird you have there. These forums are so helpful with support and advice so ask away.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

around 3-12 months (can be any time in between too) they will start their first molt, and if the pearls stay you have a girl, but if you start seeing he is missing pearls as he molts and they come back in solid grey, you have a boy....

but if you know the parents you might be able to sex him already. was his mother a pearl? if not, then he is a she. if the mother IS a pearl, he can be either gender.


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

Hi and welcome. As far as trying to get him to eat better there is a brand that my tiel really likes and its Lafabers Nutriberries. you can go to their website and get a sample its $4.99 but they give you a little bit of all their products and you can see if he likes any of them its better then going to the store and buying a whole case just to find out he wont touch them. They look like little seed balls but there is pellets in them but this company just makes them look like seeds so the cockatiel will try them thinking they are seeds and hopefully think their not so bad. My tiel loves them and will choose to eat those over seeds any day. Good luck with you new tiel


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## Philiko (May 16, 2012)

Ludwig is gorgeous, welcome to the forum!


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Ludwig is a cutie!


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## acrobandit (Jul 21, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! :') Unfortunately I don't know Ludwig's parents as I didn't think to ask... but I think we're looking forward to his first moult to be surprised! (We think he's like a pokemon with his different 'evolutions'..)


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm partial to pearls, so Ludwig is right up my ally, LOL. A stunning looking bird! Thanks for sharing 'him' with all of us!


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