My niece found a cockatiel in the mountains. She said she held her arm out and it came to her. Lord only knows where it came from because she is from a very rural area. She went to the store and bought seeds for it but she said that it only picks out certain ones and eats them. I need suggestions on what to feed it also a site/book recommendation of a good book, that shows how to clip its wings, trim nails, beak,so many questions? Where she is from they do not have pet stores or even vets in her town.

Millet seed is a bird's favorite seed,but they also love cheerios.Most females won't talk,but the males will usually learn to say words or sing when you give them cheerios as a treat.:)

She said it is brightly colored, so we think it may be a mlae. She lives almost 300 hundred miles from me, so I have not seen it, although I did look up some pictures online, using the descriptions she gave me. It would be super if it could talk she has a 6 year old son. He would love it.

You can buy good quality cockatiel /parakeet mixes from any petstore,
The bird may favour the millet or it may favour the sunflower/safflower seeds,
If it turns out that it is the sunflower seed it favours then cut them out of the feed by just feeding mixed millets as the sunflower seeds are very fatty and can make it ill..

Because the bird is brightly colored doesn't mean it is a male , you can get brightly colored females, if I knew the body color and also the color of its face it would be easier to say what the sex is or as some mutations in cockatiels are impossible,

Both male and female cockatiels can talk although males learn a lot easier than females and speak clearer and hold more of a tune when whistling,

Personally I don't condone the clipping of birds wings and if inexperienced with clipping of wings then your best bet is to take it to the vet to have it done, this way he/she can show you the right way to do it so you can do it yourself the next time.. all the sites in the world can give you a guide but what they can't do is to tell you that you are doing it wrong!
I will dig out a link I have somewhere on wing clipping but really I would say that it needs to be done at the vets... I don't agree with the clipping as even when clipped the bird can still fly, it just can't gain a great height although it has been known for them to fly up to 12 feet plus with clipped wings.. and for long distances, it makes them clumbsy and they bash into things which can hurt them and it knocks all their balance to pieces..

Nail clipping is easy to do if the birds nails are clear or pinky color , if they are grey nails then they are harder.. if the nail is clear or pink you can see the vein inside the nail, this vein must not be cut into,
If it does get cut into and the nail starts to bleed you should pad the nail with corn flour to stop the bleeding and help it to clot... don't panick too much if the vein is cut into as it is an old wives tail when they say that just a couple of drops of a birds blood can kill it.. so ignore that.. birds are hardier than we think...

As for beak clipping then I would say that is also a vet job also! If the beak is clipped at the wrong angle and pressure put on the wrong part of the beak it can crush the beak so is not something id recommend trying..
If the beak is slightly overgrown from the tip then this can be done by holding the birds head steady and using an emery board (nail file) very gently and shouldn't take long to do..

I wish your sister the best of luck with this bird and fancy finding it in the mountains :o lol
Bet she was quite surprised lol
I will have a diog round for some good cockatiel books with a lot of info in and send you the titles ,
In the mean time if your sister has internet access I would recommend these 2 sites

UK Birdkeepers Message Board (Powered by Invision Power Board) and
Flockintiels; Cockatiels Budgies and Finches.

Both will be able to provide you with info needed however flockintiels can take a while to answer any questions as not many people seem to post on their...

Good luck
Katie

She said it was yellow with bright organge spots on both side of it cheeks, and a nice yellow bunch of feathers atop of its head. Lucky (his name) Like the sunflower seeds the best so I will pass on the word to not let him have them. The vet clipping th ewings, is probably a far off thing. They are lucky to have a vet in the next town that will see dogs and cats. She may be able to take it with her when she goes to a larger city. She has no cats or other inside pets, so the bird should be safe. She says it enjoys being out in the house, it also sits on the shower rod and grooms himself while she is showering. Do you think the moisture is OK? I am afraid that she does not have internet or even t.v. They live very minimal lives were certain items are restricted (faith). I will print off your info and send to her. I am going to have her call the local library they may have a book. Thank you for your help. Mrs .duck

If the body of the bird is yellow as well as the face then I'm afraid sexing him or her is going to prove very difficult unless she has a u.v. light to hand,
If she has u.v light then shine it over the tail and see if it is all complete yellow or if it has bars going across it ,
This is the key to sexing the yellow birds

If however the bird is all grey or all grey with a small patch of yellow on the top of itsa head usually behind its crest with a lot of bright yellow on the face and orange cheek patches then it is a male
If it is yellow and grey on the body then sexing can not be done by the cheek patches :(

The bird is fine to shower with her :D birds love a good shower so it will do no harm what so ever she can even use baby shampoo once in a while to shampoo him with (no more tears formula shampoo only ! )
It sounds like this bird has been well cared for before she got it :D more than likely an escapee that has found an open window while on holiday or something :(
Once the bird has started eating the mixed millets etc from cockatiel mix then the sunflower seeds can be added in a separate pot but only a few at a time to make sure it still eats the normal seed also ,
I always fed my birds like this in moderation of sunflower because they tend to gauge themselves on nothing but sunflower if they let them..
Most normal vets that see dogs and cats can carry out a normal procedure of clipping wings, nails and beaks so all is not lost their if she does take him into the town... it is common practice for normal vets to learn how to clip the wings and beaks/nails of birds

I will post a picture of a pr of cockatiels on here to show you the difference in sexing see if it helps her..
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c3...kproven004.jpg
The one at the front with the bright yellow cheeks is a male cockatiel if you look at the one in the back ground you will see her cheeks are very dull in comparison and do not contain the yellow but they do have dull orange cheek patches.. this is the female

However if her bird is similar to this one and does not contain the dark yellow marbling on the back then it is hard to sex so will need a uv light to sex it..
The markings on the bird in the picture are called pearling this you can sex the bird by if it contains these markings as all females keep the pearling it is noticeable as darker yellow pattern on the back and the wing feathers any bird containing these markings unless it is a baby is a female as males lose the pearling at 6 to 9 month old..

Good luck and hope it helps you and your sister
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c3...k/DSCF1516.jpg

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Originally Posted by bushg

My neice found a cockatiel in the mountains. She said she held her arm out and it came to her. Lord only knows where it came from because she is from a very rural area. She went to the store and bought seeds for it but she said that it only picks out certain ones and eats them. I need suggestions on what to feed it also a site/book recommendation of a good book, that shows how to clip its wings, trim nails, beak,so many questions ?? Where she is from they do not have pet stores or even vets in her town.

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Okay, I have worked in a pet store for 5 years and have had cockatiels of my own since I was 5, I am now 23. I have quite a bit of experience with birds so I should be able to help you. Okay, cockatiels can be picky eaters. They need seeds such as sunflower, millet, barley, safflower, etc. If you can, buy a commercial type of food from a petstore specifically for cockatiels. Some grocery stores may have cockatiel food as well. Try to buy a food with as little color to it as possible, the added dyes are not good for birds. If you just look around online you can find tons of info on cockatiels, I recommend North American Cockatiel Society Web Page, the #1 Club for Pet Cockatiels!. As far as wing clipping goes, you must be careful! If you clip a feather that still has blood flow to it you can actually kill the bird! If you flip the bird onto its back and spread it's wing out, you only want to trim the first 5 long feathers (flight feathers). Cut maybe an inch off the feathers. Do this to both wings. The feathers will grow back with each molt (monthly), so you will have to clip them about once a month. Nail trimming can be trickier, especially if the bird has dark nails. There is a vein that runs the length of the nail, called the quick. You must only cut the very tip of the nail to avoid the quick. If you do cut the quick use styptic powder or cornstarch to stop the bleeding. As for the beak, NEVER EVER trim the beak! Only avian (bird) vets should preform this procedure. You can actually split the beak up the center if you trim it wrong. Provide a mineral block made for birds or a cuttle bone for them to wear their beaks down on. Also, never give Cockatiels grit, it can become impacted in their crops and cause serious problems.

Go To A Pet Shop Or Walmart And Purchase Feed For Them There.

Mowerman. She had food for it. From store. No pet shops small town. She just wanted to make sure that she was feeding and taking care of it properly.

Hello. I was reading the posts about cockatiels. I have had a male for over 12 years. For some reason within the last few months he is not using his cuttle bone or mineral block for his beak. He is a very good (and loud) whistler, but we noticed one day he was having trouble so I looked and his beak was so grown out it was curling down and way longer than it should be. So I trimmed it (was shown how, so don't panic HA!) and within a few weeks or so, I had to do it again. Does anyone have any idea as to why he isn't using the cuttle or mineral block or what I can do for him? I hate to keep trimming his beak, but right now I don't really have a choice.

rderden... wait for mrs.sitting duck to come along she usually has the answers to all of our bird problems. If you don't hear from her today... check back in another time.

There are many reasons the bird won't use cuttle or mineral , the main one been they don't like it or they don't know what it is ,
If your birds beak was only cut a week ago and is now over grown again then this suggests that there is a problem with the bird ,
Take him to the vets and get him checked out and clipped properly, the vet will know how far back and at what angle to take it too, this may slow down the growth rate and if the same happens again then the vet may want to run a bloodtest or advise you of what the problem may be , unfortunately if it is a problem then the beak will still need regular trimming

You may also want to add fruit tree branches or willow branches into his cage, the birds love to chew at these, and may also help control the beak, its not a cuttle fish or mineral block but it may help, all my birds including cockatiels love branches, it mAY TAKE THEM A WHILe to get the jist of what to do with it but they will figure it out :)

Good luck with him or her and please let us know how he gets on :)
Katie

Thanks mrssittingduck for responding. The reason I am concerned is because he has always had a cuttle bone and/or mineral block in his cage and I have just noticed within the last couple of months that he's not using it like he use to. I don't have any fruit tree or willow branches, I only have pecan trees. Would that work? Other than the problem with his beak, he acts fine and normal.

Hi, the problem with the birds beak overgrowing may be because he is ageing and while he may still have many years of life left when they get older they tend to use up more minerals and vitimins in their body , it usually suggests fatty liver disease which the main cause of is by eating to many sunflower seeds which are very high in fat, my birds have basic diets with a limited amount of sunflower seeds carefully weighed up and added to a different pot , and they don't have them every day, however it can also be caused by other high in fat seeds or generally occur naturally when the birds grow older.. it may sometimes be spotted by small black patches on the beak and I mean small, this is one of the late stages of the disease though and does not always occur
If the beak does continue to grow at a very high rate then a vet visit will be required...

I suggest frit trees and willow brances as I know these are safe for the birds to chew, I'm not sure about pecan branches , there are some trees that are poisonous for the bird to eat so you have to be really careful, if you have a river or stream or pond around then usually you can find a willow tree, just snip a couple of thinish brances off every now and then,
I will find my list of poisonous plants and see if pecan tree is on the list and if not let yo know,
While apple branches are safe for the birds apple seeds are poisonous, so yo can't go on what sort of fruit you feed them to assume the brances are safe to as they are made from different things,
Will do some searching for the list and let you know,
Good luck with him or her, if it is vitimin shortage you could grind up the blockls so it gets the vitimins but you can't force the birds to chew unfortunately :( ,
Best of luck
Katie