New addition, what to do?

[mandyballantyne]

Hi All,

My FIL has unfortunatly had to go into hospital for a few weeks

He has a cockatel which I have brought home to my house (much to the horror of the cat!)

Now I am ok with hens but what do i do with the little birdy

I have bought food,cuttlefish,millet etc but what do I put in the bird bath sand or water?

The poor thing has never been allowed out of the cage (due to FIL being nervous/frail to pop it back in) but if it is going to be with me a while it will be getting out.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Thank you wise one's

Mandy

[Florence Fennel]

There's a very wise one on here for you Mandy, Two Sheds. If she doesn't see this shortly, I think I'd send her a PM for her advice. Good luck with the bird, what's his name?

[mandyballantyne]

Thanks Florence Fennel,

He is called Jockie and he seems to be calming down now, poor cat is still wanting to know why it's in a cage and not flying about! (cat does not chase birds btw all the local wild birds eat from the shed roof where the cat likes to lounge on)

M x

[chris]

Water in the bath, but dependingon how the cage is it may not Use it. Don't leave it in all the time, just when you want to give it a bath (it'll get messy )

I used to keep a breeding pair of these too - had a stunning lacewing / lutino mix

[Two_Sheds]

This is how I do my pet birds:

~ water in the bath, changed every day
~ small amount of seed a day (about 1 tbsp for a cockatiel). Not worth putting loads in, because the chaff collects on top and cockies are too dumb to look underneath it
~ newspaper on bottom of cage for poops and mess (put in compost heap afterwards)
~ birds need a bath at least weekly. Most will do themselves. If he doesn't, spray him gently
~ cockies are noisy. Talk to him a lot (they can say a few words, and whistle).
~ they need quite a lot of sleep. Cover the cage up for 12 hrs a night
~ the cat may stress him. Let him have a little private corner - hang a tea towel over a corner of cage
~ fresh veggies, fruit are good. A little sliced apple/cucumber are usually favourites. No lettuce though, it causes diarrhoea

[Florence Fennel]

Told you Mandy, we have experts on everything. Hope all goes well with Jockie!

[Two_Sheds]

... lol


... and really, really don't trust your cat. The bird isn't always quick enough to get away and it has been known for cats & dogs to drag a bird through the cage bars - in pieces


If I have the dog around, I peg a towel over the lower part of the cage so she can't see Kali up the top half

[mandyballantyne]

Thank you TS, CM and FF

The little one seems to be calming down with help from the excellent advice!

The kitty I will keep an eye on but more for the stress of the birdie, the cat is pheramone marking to say she likes and feels safe!

I am sure i will be back on soon though!!

Mandy x

[Flummery]

We have had 2 cockatiels, partly overlapping if you see what I mean. They do love some greens and you can get special cockatiel/small parrot seed mixes - budgie seed won't do. Ours always loved to come out and would run up your arm to get to your sholders, where one, the girl as it happens, always loved playing with my ear-rings! They are wonderful characterful little birds (but they can be loud!) Ears peiced while you wait!

[rustylady]

Their beaks are surprisingly strong - Ours used to sit on my shoulder and chew the back of my necklace. He managed to bend it quite badly (silver chain). He could also imitate the telephone so well that many times I went through to the lounge to answer it!!!!!

[zebedee]

Hi All,

My FIL has unfortunatly had to go into hospital for a few weeks

He has a cockatel which I have brought home to my house (much to the horror of the cat!)

Now I am ok with hens but what do i do with the little birdy

I have bought food,cuttlefish,millet etc but what do I put in the bird bath sand or water?

The poor thing has never been allowed out of the cage (due to FIL being nervous/frail to pop it back in) but if it is going to be with me a while it will be getting out.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Thank you wise one's

Mandy

Teach it to swear like a trooper! I did this once to a parrott in a pub I used to frequent. Until, that is, a quite classy couple came in and the lady spoke to the bird. What it said was a) physically impossible for any human to do and b) totally unprintable.

I got banned! Why?