# New bird, never been handled



## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

My husband and I are new to the cockatiel world. We just got a cockatiel from the pet store as a friend for our other cockatiel. Our first cockatiel, a normal grey, we got at the local pet shelter and she is the friendliest bird you have ever seen and didn't require training at all. Our new cockatiel- which we assume is male because he is 5 times louder and more vocal than our hen, (he is a Whiteface Pearl Pied)- has not been handled at all is very spooked by people. I can not yet feed him through the cage bars, and when we take our hen out he flies around the cage very frightened. We have a very large cage, which he stays in all the time as opposed to our hen who we take out and she hangs out with the family. I wish we could let him out but I think it would only make him more wary of us. We have only had him a week. 
Any suggestions to getting him to warm up to us would be greatly appreciated! Will he ever be as friendly as our hen, who flies to us, and loves to be petted?


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

Welcome aboard! It sounds like you got a really great and special bird from the shelter. Kudos to you for doing so!  Your second little guy is coming from a total different background though. Some pet stores do not interact with their pets the way they should.. and then you have no clue what he experienced prior to that. Try imagining being in a cage and having tons of people on a daily basis trying to invade your space and stick fingers in your cage and all that good stuff. Of course he's spooked.  You haven't said anything about how old he is either. Perhaps you don't know. He has only been with you a week. Patience is key.  Give him some more time. He will see her and how she reacts to you. Also remember to move slow around him. Fast movements really set them off.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Thanks so much for the advice! 
We were told he, Duke, is _probably_ between 4-8 months, but I have a feeling that the pet store owner didn't actually have a clue. Luckily our two birds already love one anothers company, cuddle up and play.
Our hen, Lady Bird, is a mystery too. The shelter told us she was a male, but she is clearly female. They also had not a clue of her age. Apparently she was just found walking down a street but someone must have loved her once because she couldn't get any sweeter.


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## lisaowens (Oct 17, 2011)

just to let you know if a tiel is pearl and male when they molt and get their grown up feathers males do not keep the pearling. only females keep pearls.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Hmmm maybe you could look at this picture of him and let me know if he really is a pearl, or if he is actually a she?


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Yepp definately a whiteface pearl pied ( possibly cinnamon its hard to tell from the pic), could you post a picture of his/her back so we can see if the pearls appear to be dissapearing?

p.s He is a gorgeous bird!


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Thanks! We think he is just beautiful!
I am uploading the pics right now. Also, the tip of his tail has green and pink, as you will see in one of the pics. Is this strange?


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Havent seen pics but it could just be dye that maybe came off of a toy he has or had, maybe he got his tail wet and swiped it across a toy and the dye came off or vice versa. Or if he has one of those coloured mineral blocks I know the colour rubs off of those alot too, It will probably wash off in time.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Sorry that took so long-


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

No problem He is a whiteface cinnamon pearl pied He does still have a lot of his pearls but he could just be young and hasnt molted many of them out yet as you said he could be anywhere from 4-8 months old.....Does he have any solid cinnamon coloured tail feathers? Its hard to see in the picture but I think I see a couple solid tail feathers there, if he does have solid cinnamon tail feathers then he is definately a boy.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Here you can kind of see the pink and green tips. It's especially strange because it looks like its part of its coloring. A lutino cockatiel in the same cage had similar coloring.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

The tail that are cinnamon are slightly speckled with white. Does that count? Thanks for your help btw!


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Hmm ya your right I dont see any solid cinnamon tail feathers in the second picture. See the males when they molt will lose their pearls and they also lose the barred tail feathers and molt in solid coloured tail feathers. 
You may have to wait to tell by behaviour( males beak bang, whistle, and do heart wings) or wait until he/she molts or do a DNA test if you really want to know now. Since it doesnt look like there is anything physical to say male yet, you said he was between 4-8 months old so maybe he hasnt started his first molt yet.

But definatley post these pictures in your other thread in the picture section and see what everyone else says too


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

He is so cute!


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

If it's male his pearling will start disappearing with each molt. It is a very pretty bird! 

To me, it sounds like he enjoys being with Lady Bird since he gets so antsy when you take her from the cage. Is he flighted? It's hard to tell from the pictures. If i were you i would move the cage (if it's not too large) to a smaller room and do some experimenting there. Take Lady out and when he asks to be let out, open the door and offer your fisted hand...some pet store birds are scared of fingers becaise of people always poking through the cages. If he decides to come out then let him perch beside Lady on you. 

Then put them both away and repeat this a few times...if he seems okay with it. Then put them both away and only take HIM out. If he seems calm enough then i'd say you can probably try to let him come out with Lady with the family. He'll probably follow her lead since she knows you all and he doesn't. 

And i'm sorry, but it worries me that you didn't quarantine the new bird. It's always possible for him to have a disease and pass it on to Lady. I would have them both tested by the vet...we didn't quarantine Ava when we got her. She passed away within a month and had given a disease to Kirk. It was extremely sad because Kirk had become so bonded to her that he kind of fell into a birdie depression...he stopped singing, stopped calling, he just sat in front of his mirror. It's been 2 months and he is just beginning to perk back up.
At the very least, i would purchase a gram scale (i use a kitchen scale) and keep weights on the birds to make sure they don't begin losing weight--a very common sign of disease.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*See the males when they molt will lose their pearls and they also lose the barred tail feathers and molt in solid coloured tail feathers. *

Pieds don't play by the normal rules of molting. A pearl pied male can start to lose some of the pearling at 4-5 months. it will start in the middle of the back and as the molt occurs works it ways toward the wings. Many times pearl males will retain some pearling to the shoulders above the wing bars. As to the barred tailfeathers they can retain them for life, or it may take up to 8 years for the tail barring to molt into solid feathers, but with each molt the barring will get a little lighter.

From the pix this bird looks like a female (given its age)

As to the bird itself, just give it time to adjust. many times they can learn trust by watching how you interact and handle another bird. So if the bird is skittish just leave it be and talk softly to it as you handle your other bird. When it realizes that you are not hurting your bird then it may start to trust you and settle down.


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## katnjim (Nov 20, 2011)

Bjknight, Duke- who may be needing a female name now- has his flight feathers clipped. The pet store owner clips all the birds. Lady Bird is not clipped and she loves to fly in circles then land on our shoulders. I doubt duke will be stepping onto our hands anytime soon. However, today when we had Lady out we left the cage door open and he ventured out with much curiosity. Unfortunately we had to pick him up to put him back in the cage and he bit my husband and drew a little blood. 
I am worried we didn't quarantine them now.... We honestly didn't even think about it.  we will keep a very sharp eye on them.

Susanne, I will definitely stick with your advice on giving him/her space for now.

Thank you everyone for your advice and input!


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Well i wouldn't worry too much, there's nothing you can do now but keep a watch on the two. You should keep letting him explore and go buy a thick pair of gloves so you can put him back up without getting hurt. He is very pretty...if I had seen him he would've come home with me! Lol Ava was a Cinnamon Pearl, I couldn't resist taking her home (i miss her dearly).

In the future, they recommend a quarantine period of 30 to 45 days...some even do 60 (that's me). I'm actually getting ready to introduce Kirk to my new tiel in a couple weeks (we got it on Oct. 8 so Dec. 8 is the day). It's time he gets another buddy to bring his mood back up.

Good luck with your new tiel, i'm sure he'll come around! Feel free to continue posting new questions or reading around the threads. Most of my questions are already out there so i don't have to ask.

Btw srtiels is a very reputable source of information so i'd listen to them before you quote me on genetics.


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