Ok so my mom just got this Cockatiel as many of you already know. now the breeder said she does not have their wings clipped she pulles their feathers. does anyone know what is best? I'm also kind of scared that if we clip his wings or make it so he can't fly very far he'd have no deffense against my moms dogs if he got out of the cage while they were not home. But how likely is it he would get out of his cage on his own? as of right now his feathers have been pulled the lady told us so he can fly but not much. he runs into walls and the other day ran into a window. is he likely to hurt himself? I'm not so sure about this bird thing he's so delicate. It really scares me for us to play with him. but he wants to be with the family and does not want to stay in his cage at all.

Take it to a vet and have its wings clipped!!! I've had cockatiels since I was 5 you don't pull them out. Gees.... Poor thing

I have birds at work and we never pull the feathers out, we clip there wings, i always advise my customers to take there birds to the vet to get there wings clipped and never try i them selves.
Cockateils are quite hardy birds, as long as he didn't really hit the glass hard he should be fine, the cockateils at work can only fly enough to not crash land if they fall down off something.

My last cockatiel lived to be about 17 years old. Her favorite thing was hot chili seeds and drinking from the faucet in the sink. She loved when we make tamales. Don't pull out the feathers. Some of them don't grow back. If you aren't familiar with them don't try to clip the feathers yourself. The worse ones to clip are the blood feathers. Bleed like an artery. I'd take it to the vet. How long did this lady have birds? We even were able to hatch baby's one year. Cockatiels live as long as chihuahuas , my grandmother had a cockatile that lived 20 years. So enjoy them and tech them everything within the first 2 years.


Lauren... Did you get your new chi yet?

She posted a couple of pics on the other threads! whata cutie! ARE YOU GETTING LOTS OF RAIN UP BY fLAG? We got a bunch yesterday & this afternoon! Could be more, I haven't checked our radar, Just florida's. Some of my neighbors are a lil flooded, but we managed to keep it controlled, thanks to the railroad ties, 6X6s and gravel!

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OMG! I hope he'll be ok since the old lady pulled his feathers out!!!!! he's only 10 weeks old. she says she breeds a lot. I've never seen the add in the paper till now though. she talks like she had these birds for years. the mommy bird of Bolo was killed a few weeks ago. her birds are ouside on her patio for some reason and the mom got out, her neighbors tried to catch her and she bit the lady and she stomped her to death!!!! that makes me so mad! poor mommy bird. The old lady was so sad these birds are her only companions she said. she said her husband is dead and so is her son.
no my mom is only going to let the vet take care of wings and claws. Bolo is really warming up to everyone. Mom had Destinee stay with her a few days and Bolo was just in love with Destinee. I'm really glad because she wanted a bird so bad but I felt it was not the right time to add another pet to our home. my Mom told Destinee Bolo can be hers too. mom said she'd even bring Bolo to the School for show and tell sometime.
so you said you had your for 17 years Cutipatuti, do these birds talk easily? I've heard they do. also I read it will take him 8 months to learn to speak, is that true? one think I can't find is what will the vocabulary be like? will he only speak like Hello or will he pick up other words too?

Its mostly the mail birds that do all the whisteling and talking. They are just like any small animal or child. Just keep repeating over and over an over what you want them to do. The females don't seem to have the vocal cords like the males. Is yours a male or female? The only real way to check on cockatiels is the round orangish spot on their cheeks. If its a male it will be darker and brighter, it will stand out. The bird sounds very young so if you continue to train it it will learn things. They have tapes you can buy and just play them over on repeat when you aren't home so the bird will listen.

They are very smart animals. And if they are an "only" bird they will become very attached to someone. They are social animals. Don't keep it locked up all the time. They like to take baths too. We tought ours to take them in the sink. We had a double sink so they walke along the center of the divider. If the bird is home alone a lot you might want to consider another bird when its at least 1 year old. Not right now but later.

Oh and watch out for shinny objects like glasses and jewelry. My favorite cockatile was named Chewy for a reason. Broke many chain necklaces from chewing on them.

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No Bolo is hardly ever home alone. my mom doesn't work right now just does little jobs now and then for people. he gets to stay out of the cage alot but today he started really flying. he kind of scared us because he flew up on top of a really high miror and then later my brother was trying to have him out again and he set there and looked around and took off towards the top of my moms high ceiling in the living room. oh I thought we'd never catch him.
I told her take him to the vet asap and get his wings taken care of.
We figured out very fast that the love flashy stuff. he tried to make a pirch out of my sisters hoop earings and then today he tried to pull my daughters earing out of her ear! I thought she was going to come unglued!lol!
I'll look for a tape next time I'm at Petco so he can have something to listen to. I did notice he loves music. my mom sings for him I think it's crazy but he just loves it.