About Cockatiels

Cockatiels can be very rewarding and provide hours of fun. With proper nutrition and exercise, cockatiels will stay healthy and have a long happy life as your companion. A proper cage will also make a safe, comfortable, and relaxing place for your feathered friend. Taming your exciting friend will make him more enjoyable and fun. In this article you will also learn some great cleaning tips to keep you and your bird happy and healthy.
Nutrition

       Keeping your pet bird healthy is quite simple! Water, seed, soft food, grit, and cuttlebone is all it takes. Often times your bird will carry its' food to the water dish and drop it in while trying to soften it, which soils water. Clean out water bowls and add fresh water daily. I also like to use a good disinfectant, such as Clorox, once a week on all of my food and water bowls.

         A high quality cockatiel seed will be perfect for your cockatiel. Be careful not to select one with lots of sunflower seeds, because they are a favorite of the cockatiel. They will pick them out, which will cause them to gain too much weight because sunflower seeds are high in protein.

         I love to give my birds soft foods, because I can eat it with them. If its good for you, it's probably good for them. However, try to stay away from dairy products and anything with sugar, oil, fat, caffine, etc. (of course.) Cockatiels seem to prefer vegetables, but experiment a little and see what your birds prefer. Here is a list of foods to stay away from:

Not so good things:

• Lots of anything

• Buttered, or salted popcorn

• Sugary desserts

• Chips

• Salted Nuts

• Ice Cream Toxic Foods (the No-No's)

• Alcohol

• Avocado (guacamole)

• Chocolate

• Caffeine Here is a list of some good foods:

• Vegetables

• Fruits

• Peppers

• Grains

• Seeds

• Good quality pellets

Sprouts

I also like to give spray millet as a treat.

     Grit and cuttlebone are also important to a birds health. You can buy grit from any pet shop. Just put a little in a bowl and the birds know what to do. Birds need grit to help crush up food in their gizzard, this acts sort of like teeth. Cuttlebone comes from the bones of the cuttlefish and are fed to birds as a good source of calcium. Cuttlebone is especially important for breeding birds because much of the egg shell is made up of calcium.

        When choosing a cage for your bird get one as large as you can afford. Find great cages and other supplies! Click this link: Which cage is right for your bird? Choose a cage for its length rather it's height. Birds fly horizontally, not up and down like a helicopter. Pick a cage that is longer than your bird with its wings fully extended. Many cages have small doors for the food and the water dish. That makes it easy when doing chores.

         Look at the tray in the bottom of the cage. There should be a wire grid that keeps the bird from walking around in is "poo" and seeds. The tray should be able to be removed for easy cleaning. Cover the bottom of the tray with newspapers and clean it out DAILY.

         Many people suggest leaving your bird too settle in for a few days when they get it. However, I disagree. I believe the bird should be tamed immediately after arriving at its' new home. I'm not going to go into any depth here. Because many people would like to know or try my method, please e-mail me and I'll try to help you out.

         Over the years of keeping parrots, I have developed many "secrets" for keeping your birds healthy and clean.

Tip #1: Seed Guard.

      At most pet stores, they sell a seed guard that is basically a net with elastics on both ends. See these here: This works! It keeps the seeds in making things so much cleaner.

Tip # 2 Fill feed containers only 3/4 full.

     If you fill feed containers all the way full, birds will push your precious seed all over the floor wasting your expensive seeds.

Tip #3: Clean large juicy droppings off of the carpet with this recipe.

        I was reading in Bird Talk (Volume 24 Number 12) It had a great recipe for poop stain removal, and it works! The recipe is:

2 Tbl spoons white vinegar.

Mix in 1/4 cup salt or baking soda.

Rub solution into carpet stain; let dry for a day.

Vacuum spot in the morning.

        Cockatiels can be the most rewarding of all pets. I know they are my favorite. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions; please feel free to e-mail me.