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Re: New cockatiel
Posted by GreyLady on 7/19/11

On 7/18/11, joe wrote:
> On 7/15/11, Darcy wrote:
>> I got a new cockatiel 6 days ago it is a male 6 mths old.
>> But he wont eat he just stands in the corner of his cage
>> next to his mirror. Im worried about him. Also the man i
>> bought him from transported him in a small cage n one of
>> his tail feathers is broken n not sure what to do about it.
>> Any advice would be welcome. Thx
> to start with cover most of cage and put a light close
enough
> to give warmth

Don't do either of those things. Covering any of the cage
will only isolate the bird more. That's the last thing you
want when it needs to be getting used to you and the new
surroundings. Putting a light on it is bad advice as the only
thing you are likely to accomplish is to make the bird over
heated. Certain kinds of lights are used, at times, when a
bird is ill and may have trouble maintaining it's body temp.
But even then, you need to know what kind of light, how
strong, where to place it, etc. What you need to do is spend
as much time as possible, near the cage, staying down at eye
level. Pull up a chair and talk to the bird. You can read to
it, sing to it, anything that is verbal interaction while
letting him realize you are not a danger. I suspect he is
eating, you are just not catching him at it. Check the bowl
if you are feeding seeds. Look for empty hulls. They hull
their seeds first and what may seem to be a full bowl may only
be mostly empty hulls. Also you need to be offering a variety
of fresh vegetables. He won't eat them at first but don't
ever give up. Offer different things everyday and he will
eventually sample some and like some. Try grated carrot,
small pieces of broccoli, cauliflower. Wash, leave wet and
clip some romaine lettuce to the cage bars. Not Ice Berg.
Also good is turnip greens and collard greens. Do a search
for Cockatiel diet and use it as a guide for things to offer
and for things that are toxic. Some foods are very toxic so
be sure you have checked everything out before offering it.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• New cockatiel, 7/15/11, by Darcy.
• Re: New cockatiel, 7/18/11, by joe.
• Re: New cockatiel, 7/19/11, by GreyLady.
• Re: New cockatiel, and the feather, 7/19/11, by GreyLady.