i adopted a bird

[NINK]

i just brought home a cockatiel, it has had atleast 6 homes. i am not sure how old it is, but that is way too many no matter how old. he is here to stay, i will never give him away. i went to a birthday party for my friends daughter. it was at my friends mom's house,my friends kids were looking at the bird(it was their's once) and my friends mom was trying to get them to take it home and my friend said no way i hate that thing, every one there hated it. i said if you really don't want it i will be happy to take it. for one it was obvious they didn't want it and it was not cared for as good as it should be, i mean it had food and was healthy, but they need companionship too. and for two i love cockateils, well all birds but i have had a cockatiel once before. i probably would rescue any animal though, or find it a home somehow.

this bird (babe) is all ready so much happier, the only reason they didn't like it was because "it won't shut up" well it just wants someone to talk to it, it won't let me leave the room, every time i get up it starts chirpping at me.

i keep wolf wistling at it, because my old bird knew how to do that. this thing doesn't know anything, to talk and not use to being held. it will take alot of work, but it does want to be trained so i think it wont be to hard to train it.

it has been quite a few years since i had my old one, so if any one wants to give me some reminders on thier care please do, i will be researching online too.

[Dolly<3]

Awwww, that is so sweet of you. A lot of people don't realize how much attention birds need. I'm so glad it found a good home. :)

[Quaker_Parrots]

I am the same way!!! Guess that is why I have 6 birds. 3 are rescues. 1 was a lost and found, and my tiels, I bought cause I love them too.
Be sure to get it's wings clipped. Tiels are the worlds worst for doing take offs. If you clip him, he will glide down, instead of flying up into everything, or even out the door. It is not cruel, you are doing it for his own safety. You can get it done at your avian vet, or most local pet shops that sell birds can do it for you for like $3(I do mine myself) A cuttle bone is a must. They need the calcium they get from it, and it helps condition their beaks.

If you would like any advice, feel free to PM me here, and I will help you all I can. I have found some great sites on the web, and would love to share them with you. Especially the socialization thing.

[GeThang]

That is so great of you to do that for the little bird. I bet he'll be talking in no time. :)

[NINK]

taybai: i will pm, i am interested in learning how to clip the wings myself, i'll probably pm you later tonight or tomorrow or you can pm me or just e-mail me braggfamily@earthlink.net
the one i had before i had him since he was a baby(i worked at the pet store my job was to feed the baby birds and get them hand tame) so he didn't fly away from me, even outside, so i never bothered having his wings clipped, but i will definatly want this one done. my old bird we took with us every where, he sat on hubby's sholder in the car and in stores, i miss him, he got pnemonia and died, he was still young too. really sad, his name was talon.
any how hubby wants me to go watch a tv show with him right now, so i have to go. he told me it was coming on in 20 minutes and i am still not there.

[silvermist]

aww I love birds hehe I have one cockatiel. He's Sunny. He was one hard bird to train lol unfortunately he got trained after his counterpart Mooney (long story) went on. Mooney was so nice and always flew on my shoulder hehe and only came to me. And Sunny always pecked and such hehe He still actually does peck a lil. But he loves being petted on the head like a dog lol He sticks his head outta the cage and so forth. Sits on my fingers. Best thing is try spending time with it and being patient. SHow it has nothingto fear. Let it out of the cage often. Thats really the first best step.

Like once i had a parrot that was abused. Like you know how some people can be cruel stickingsticks in the cage and such. It was so loud and had a mean peck but turned out really sweet with time. First time I let it out of the cage. Just don't be afriad of it. Than the bird Cocoa always sat on a stick with me. I had to tho wear long sleeves if he went on my arm cuz of sharp claws and bigger bird. He was really sweet. And when i stuck my hands in the cage he just licked it hehe ah well

[LadyBones]

AWWWWW Congrat's on your new feather baby! i love birds and have always had them! I used to raise tiel's about 10 years ago! I have one now and his name is Simon and i just love him to death!!!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid16/pff2d21f4a5e8c0c9e44bd40e5707a973/fdf3c3e1.jpg

[LunaChick]

You can try this site. I used to have an African Grey (Congo) and found this mag very helpful.

http://www.animalnetwork.com/birdtalk/

[NINK]

thanx everyone!
taybai i am going to pm you now for some advise
lunachick3 i am going to check out the site

so far this bird is no problem at all, i gave him like 15-20 minutes of un-divided attention that first night, he has not had a chirping fit yet like he did at thier house, he just sits quiet in his cage with no problem. even my five year old said "mom, why was that bird noisey and that other house and quiet here?" i told him he was just lonely there. he loves to be talked to and i whistle to him, he won't let me hold him though, if i put my hand in the cage he freaks out, i got him calm enough to pick him up once but he bit me so i put him down. but i have no idea what these people did to him, my friend has 4 kids who are pretty wild, and they are young like 7 and under. and all though i love my friend, she isn't exactly the elite of society. any how thanks for your guys' help.

[LunaChick]

Good luck with your new family member :)

[woleys]

I love birds! I have 33 birds! LOL We raise birds. I have most of them in their "own house" but I do have a pet cockatiel, a nanday, 3 lovebirds, and 6 finches in the house. LOL Cockatiels are so sweet. I have had my pet cockatiel for about a month. An older couple had him and they had just had their first grandchild so they said they didn't have time to take care of him. So I adopted him. He is a sweetie! He is very smart. He says Hello and whistle "Old McDonald Had A Farm" the whole song, His name is Quigley. He says Pretty Quigley, Pretty Boy. He wolf whistles. He makes a kissing sound until you let him kiss you. He shakes hands. I just love him! He does so much more those are just the things I can think of right off the top of my head. He is 7 years old. My nanday conure is sitting on my shoulder right now. He is smart too but isn't very vocal. He is the only bird I have ever had thats not very vocal. I have had him since he was 3 months old and tried everything to get him to talk. He says hello and he makes a kissing sound and thats it. He is 2 1/2 years old now.

Good luck with you new family member!! :)