Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I are interested in having a cockatiel as a pet. We were going to purchase a bird from an ad in the newspaper. It seems after 10 years or so this lady's male cockatiel learned about sex and this is their second clutch.

We were going to get a bird from the first about 5 months old but the lady says she will help me hand feed a tiel from the 3 eggs that she has now. My husband wants to get two so they will have a companion. We bought a large cage and are anxiously awaiting the babies to arrive.

My question is whether we should get 1 or 2. I am confused with looking through some of the threads on this page. We are both retired and I know they will get a lot of attention. So should I talk to him about just getting 1 or is it alright to get 2 if you start them out from the same clutch.

I hope this makes sense.

Thank you.

Sunbunny

I would really suggest just getting one especially if you are going t be able to spend plenty of time with it. Two birds even of the same clutch if not positive of sex may still produce young. Also even from the same clutch you may end of with one dominate bird and one that is not. The dominate especially as they get older will want to control the other bird and may not let it have the "best" perch, or eat first etc. With two birds you have the chance that they may bond to each other even after having been handfed instead of bonding to you. Handfeeding is no guarantee of bonding. In fact some handfed birds will switch their affections as they mature. When you handfeed you are teaching the bird to see you as a parent. When they fledge and then hit maturity they are leaving their parent and looking for a new match/mate.

Okay I have listed the bad possibilities above but of course many people do have good luck with more than one but it is not always a guarantee. The birds will provide possible companionship for each other and most of the time but not always same sex birds from the same clutch will continue to accept each other especially if males and possibly if females. Handfeeding lets you get used to their care and enjoy time spent with your new bird but of course is still no guarantee of continued bonding when mature, in fact most vets will either tell you to get parent raised birds are at least co-parented birds (ones that are well socialized with people while young and in the nest and provided some extra food by caretaker but actually raised by the parents) parent raised birds or co-parented birds are usually (not always) healthier and better adjusted. Having two birds may provide interaction with both you and your husband but gain no guarantee because many will want to bond more closely to one person and it is possible both would choose the same person.

So there you have it both good and bad but if you are wanting an opinion I would say start with one.

Thanks, I really appreciate your taking the time to answer my questions. I also want a canary so I think they can keep each other company and I can convince my husband of this.

Can you tell me about the time they fledge? I just went through breast cancer treatment and that's why the bird owner thought it would be better to try hand feeding...the 5 month old birds she had were pretty wild.

Still excited but this seems like a crap shoot.

The tameness does all depend on socializing and care which they do get socializing when handfed, I was just trying to point out that this wasn't the only way to go about it. A handfed bird will not be tame if all the person does is feed the bird quickly and put it back down taking no time to hold it, touch it, talk to it and get it used to you. Also they will go through a stage where they test you. They may nip or thrash around to get away even if they have been handfed and socialized. They want to see what they can get away with and how much attention they will get just like a child would do. Many people decide at the first nip, that they don't want to be nipped and instead of working through it, using time out or ignoring, placing on the floor etc they just put the bird back in the cage never to be handled again.

I actually have two birds I handfed myself and are sweet wonderful birds (there were extenuating circumstances though) they are both very tame and will let most anyone handle them. I also have a bird (well my 14 year old son does) that was co parented instead of handfed or completely parent fed. He was kept in the cage and nestbox with his parents who fed him but he was taken out several times a day for a few minutes (gradually getting longer) and given a bit of extra food, held and talked to and he is every bit as tame as the two handfed birds. That being said I have a wild caught amazon surrendered to the rescue that was surrendered when he was at least 26 years old and being wild caught he was of course parent fed with no people around, no socializing etc and he is actually more tame than all the other three birds combined, It all depends on their care, how much you want to work for it and of course the individual bird.

Not sure what specifically you are asking about fledging. The age? The temperment? How to help them/work with them while fledging? The age is around 3-5 weeks and then around 8-10 to wean. The temperment, some will become a bit wilder, it can be harder to "convince" them to stay still when you are feeding and eat enough, and they will at times be clumsy, crash around and fall. To help work through this try to keep them with lower perches or closer to the ground so when they try to fly and take off if they crash it won't be a long fall. They will lift off into the air and may gain height, make sure there are no mirrors for them to crash into, no ceiling fans on etc. Let them have time to fly and hold their wings to their sides not tightly but securely when feeding so that they will eat instead of taking off. Make sure your breeder shows you the correct way to feed, the correct temperature and DON'T FORGET TO TEST TEMPERATURES!!! I have seen to many horror cases with crops burnt from too hot food, even complete holes through the crop from the food burning through it. That doesn't mean to get the food too cool either or they will not digest it and it will become stagnant in the crop, rotting and keeping them from eating more in effect starving them. I always spoon fed, some gavage feed,some syringe feed, whichever way your breeder does make sure you feel completely comfortable with it before you take your baby home to do it yourself.