Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am in the market for a cockatiel & in my research have been told that males tend to be more affectionate & friendlier towards humans as a "general rule".

Does anyone know if this "tends" to have some truth behind it or if its just myth.

Thanks,

pdm

well i have had the same question when i was buying my first cockatiel and i bought a boy but my cousin bought the girl whilst my boy was nice and calm my cousins girl was extremly nippy mind you both the birds were suppose to be "hand tamed" so yer i would have to say go wiht the boy as girl tend to be alot more nippy and bitty.

I would say it depends on the bird and if it is well socialized. We currently have in two males and one female. The female is the sweetest most cuddly cockatiel ever and lets anyone hold her and cuddle her. One of the males will allow himself to be held without nipping but will get nippy if handled too long. The other male is always nippy. He is handled and has been handled but will nip anytime the urge hits LOL!

I have a male & he's far from cuddly, he loves company but not cuddles. I have a female at work who's very cuddly. It does depend on the bird itself.

What you should do is go window shopping for a while & see how each one reacts to you. They're all very different.

I have went window shopping & all the cockatiels ignore me and dont want to be bothered with people. The only bird that was excited to see me & jumped down off his perch & ran to the cage door and hopped right out on me & crawled up on my shoulder & started preening me was the 549.00 sun conure

pdm

You can make yourself well know at a shop full of tiels over a few weeks & wait to see which one eventually warms up to you, one will.

My female is quite cuddly, but only at particular times. She also goes thru phases of nippiness, crabbiness & stand-offishness. Here is the catch, tho, I am not 100% sure she is a female since I never had her sexed. I have just assumed she was because of other signs. No eggs tho. Best bet is to go to the store & see which bird has a personality you like, talk to the hand-raiser, etc.