Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got these two cockatiels, the male is a normal and the female, I am guessing is a silver whiteface, they are housed together. The female is kinda rude to the male, she picks on him a lot. They both look pretty good to have been neglected by the previous owner, but I am not an expert. The cage was filthy so I took the food dishes and perches out and washed them, one by one, then I put new food and clean bottled water in for them, they actually seemed happy that I did that. Personality wise, the female may be a biter and the male looks like a sweetie, but I didn't try to get them out to see, both were pretty scared. I just wanted to clean things up for them before I did anything else. They are on an all seed diet, which I hope to change later as I didn't want to stress them with their diet right away. I was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers that will help me make friends with them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I will post pics tomorrow if it doesn't seem to stress them.

One more thing.. these two need their wings trimmed, when should I have this done? Thanks again!

You can take them to the vet & get their wings clipped, the sooner it's done, the quicker they'll get over it.

How big is the cage? If a little bitey they should be seperated. Even those that get along can get cranky in a small cage, it gets a bit cramped & they like to have space.

How do you know which is male & female?

Just to start off, after the wing trim, give them some time to settle into their new home & get used to you being around & everyday life. Lots of sweet talking, offer treats etc but allow them to stay in their cages maybe for a couple of weeks. Then open the cage up when you think you can see they're settling in & sit with them, without handling them & encourage them to come out on their own. Try not to force them to do anything they don't want to. You need to earn their trust.

Also if they're caged seperately, you can push the cages together so they still have one anther for company, won't fret & it allows you to be able to have 1 on 1 taming & training.

The cage they are in is a 22 wide x 27 high x 16 depth, which as I said I am no expert, but seems small for a pair. I measured from top of the base, which would be their actual living space, I guess. As far as sexing, I was told the silver - whiteface was the female and the normal was the male, being uneducated this information could be wrong. They have leg bands so maybe I can get more information from those. They were in a nasty cage with one of the feeders half full of dried bird poop, it made me furious to say the least. As soon as I filled up the clean food dish, the normal guy went into it and started eating. They both look as though someone once cared for them, they have a sweet look in their eyes, the person I got them from actually got them from her monster in law, who got them from someone else. Oh the tangled web.. I am just glad they are with me, I will certainly try to give them a fair enough chance at some form of a normal life. Now I just have to hit the books, websites and this forum to get a quick course. I specialise in Australian lizards... usually, so finding out they were Australian birds was kinda cool.

It may be hard to change their diet to the preferred pellet food, but try it a little at a time in a month or so. It's kinda like changing from junk food to health food. Don't move too fast with anything, these tiels have been through a lot. I have seen lots of filthy cages in my time, and I really believe that it's the main cause of illness, death & anger of pet birds. Hopefully you have a bird vet or a trained person to help clip wings/nails. I do my own bird's wings/nails but she is totally tame. Do you know how old they are? I'd love to see photos. If anyone can make them happy once more, you can, it sounds as tho you have the desire and interest. Good luck!

Thanks.. I just hope they will become friendly again. I took a quick pic of them this morning. It was interesting the way they greeted me. I went into the room and said "goodmorning" in a sing songish voice and they didn't do or say anything in response, but as I was turning my back to leave they started to make chirpy noises, but only when I turned to go. I felt like
they were saying.. hey where are you going?? LOL I have to keep them in a closed room, I have 4 cats that would love to play with them. Well, they are eating now and looking at me through the french doors, calling as I walk by. Of course they're saying.. G'day mate!!

Ok, after reading up/spending the day with my new cockatiels, I just wanted to share my first day with these guys. First off, this morning the silver whiteface tasted my finger, then later I leaned my head near the cage and it started preening me. LOL It made my day to say the least, considering this one bit the last person it was with. I think when I cleaned up their filthy living conditions they felt more safe and trusting. Later on in the day, I offered (by hand) a cheerio, they both went for it. I was so excited that when I went out to petsmart, I got a bad of pellets. I added a few to an extra container and they seemed familiar with them and relished crunching them. Just around dinner time, I heard this strange noise coming from the bird cage and believe it the silver whiteface was talking and singing. From what I could make out it was saying I love you and making little kissing sounds... too cute! Now that leads me to believe they sexed these two all wrong, considering the silver is more vocal. But all this is new to me so we will see. What do you think of my first day with the horrid cockatiels from hell??

If the silver face is signing away it's definitaly a HE! Females don't talk, are very quiet & with a great deal of hard work can be taught to do a little whistling.

Oh & I don't know a great deal about silver white faces but yours looks like a 'white face'. Silver I thought looks more silvery than grey/black. But, I don't know if there are silver whiet faces the same as yours so I sould be wrong. I also don't know if they're they're the same thing too LOL

Is it possible you can take a closer pic of the normal tiel? She doesn't look like a normal grey to me & also if she were a normal grey, she's a female.
But a pic would be great. She looks like a cinnamon colour.

I was thinking that also.. she is slightly lighter or softer than the normals in online pics and has a different coloration, but I thought that was just me. She also has spots on the inside of her wings.. whereas the whiteface doesn't. I feel so tired.. I have been reading different websites all day, off and on. LOL I feel like I'm cramming for a test. I just want to learn as much as I can, so I can take good care of them, they deserve it. I was able to jot down the info from their leg bands, I need to double check it to make certain its correct. I hope to find out more about them using that as well. I was also able to mist them today, they loved it. I wonder when they were misted last, they seem to be very itchy. I hope they don't have mites or something scary like that.

I will try and get a closer, clearer picture tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the help. I really appreciate it.

My boy is a male normal grey. The females look like him but have a more flushed yellow face. Body is generally the same in grey.

Again, not 100% sure on the white face but looking on the net, it does appear that the males have the solid white face & females a flushed white look on their face. If this is the case, your white is male.

The band info may or may not be useless. 99% of the time it is only used as a reference for breeding purposes to the breeder. If this is the case it's not likely to help you. There is the very occasional time the bands actually do mean something, but it's occasional.

To be on the safe side you should probably get some powder for mites. The itchy is probably just from a moult & not being bathed regular. Light spray of natural aloe & water mix occationally will help to relieve the itching.

Ok, looking on the net more she is definitely a cinnamon cockatiel & a female.
heres a link to what I found: http://www.takoda-aviary.com/sexing-cinn-hen.jpg
& a pair of cinnamons, you can see the slight difference in sexes. The one on the right is female: http://www.cockatielsociety.org.au/images/pics/br_pair.jpg

I'm pretty certain of all of the info I have given you now so you can look around about male white faces & female cinnamons.

Oh & htis is my normal grey male.

Wow, thanks so much for posting that information! I was able to take a few more pics today, but the whiteface got out and I learned more about him. LOL He's a totally cocky fella to say the least. Btw.. She is identical to the cinnamon female, thanks for the link.

Here's one more.. while not bright its a nice, clear face pic.

I think they're definitely a cinnamon female & white face male.
That white face has a cheeky male look about him too LOL

He's a super stinker!! LOL I am having so much fun with them, they seem to be forgetting their life before me.. or maybe they're just learning to adapt to the good life. I have a vet appointment for monday, they said I can use a small dog/cat carrier to transport them, they're having their wings and nails done. That should make for a fun time, trying to work them into a carrier. At least he knows the step up, not too sure about the female yet.. I didn't want them both out at the same time, it didn't seem safe for them while they both can fly. LOL I think I have my work cut out for me with two flying birds.
Wish me luck!!
Again, thanks so much for all the help!