Sick Cockatiel?

[Charlie]

Thanks outlaw! I have been told also that females tend not to talk, but he/she?? is quite friendly, and I'm told females are a bit "sassy" in this department?? Any body got any ideas?

[leah9798]

I have 2 female tiels and a male tiel and usually you can tell by how vocal they are. All my females do are make little chirps. The male on the other hand songs and whistles and can go on forever, sometimes we wonder how he can breathe because his whistling just keeps going and going and going :D Both of my females are very sassy too with a little bit of attitude!! but I love it. Leah

[Monica]

I have a female cockatiel, she is a recessive silver-pearl-pied (I do believe). Though on occasions she does have hissy fits, everything about her is SWEET! She is very friendly, loves humans, and I really couldn't call her sassy.

If you have normal grey cockatiels, males will have bright yellow faces, while females will usually have a face diluted with grey, unless they are whiteface mutations, males will have a clear white face, and femalesa dull white and grey face.

Most females will have 6 dots on their flight feathers, and barred tails (or striped tails underneath). You can tell by the time they get their adult plumage which takes 2-3 molts after hatching, or untill they are mature around the age of 2 years old. (They usually tend to get their adult plumage around the age of 1, I think... forgotten on this part).

If your cockatiel is a pearl, and keeps the pearls, then most likely you have a female (however, lately, I've been hearing some male cockatiels keeping most all of their pearls).

It would be best if you could describe to us Charlie, or better yet, give us a picture to look at.

Hopefully, Charlie recovers well from the sickness, whatever he may have gotten.

[Joel]

Hello Charlie..........They have to be about 6 months old and have gone thru their first complete moult before you can usually tell relating to the spots under the wings & striping or lack of, under the tail feathers but even that isn't totally reliable in all the color mutations. You can also check the pelvic spread in older birds which works in most cases IME. Coloring sometimes is reliable as is vocalness and attitude but nothing is really 100% for sure IME except for a vet visit for surgical sexing but that is risky and ya have to make sure the vet doesn't have a pint botle in his/her back pocket from the night before :) . I would give ya some more interesting ways to check but the censors are watching me closely these days, I feel.

I have found that the mating ritual itself is not ALWAYS reliable either btw, so fertile eggs would be another great clue, if ya are very patient. :)

Getting them to talk for me is fairly easy as I just speak the same thing to them whenever I walk by and offer a treat as often as possible. Once they learn that I then try other words or phrases. The stress factors & noises in your home need to be kept to an absolute minimum IME for your birds to pick up talking much quicker.......Good luck.

[sweetie&meli]

we had a normal grey femle tiel named peanut who recently died last saturday. she was 12 years old she did talk about 3 whole phrases, she was a female no doubt, the way to make them talk is basicly just say the same things over and over and when u see them trying just praise them as much as u can:)

[Charlie]

Great Ideas guys!! Thanks alot. I am going totry and borrow one of my friend camera's and get a photo of Charlie, he/she is sooo cute!!! When we got him from the pet shop, they said he was about 8 weeks old, so he is still very young. He is white and pale grey with a very pale yellow head and bright yellow cheeks. The first day we bought him home he jumped right on my finger, so he is very friendly, he isn't that vocal at all, and makes little "chirps" when we wissle at him, or call his name. I have been saying hello to him untill I'm blue in the face, but i'm going to keep trying!!! How onld to cockatiels get before they are sexually mature?? (just curious!!) and also, Sweety and Meli, I heard about peanut, and I am very sorry!! I have a budgie who died because of the heat (we think) is 12 old for a tiel? Joel, thank you for your imput, sounds like you have had fun :?: eh??
Monica! Your information valuable again! Did I read somewhere you work in a pet shop? or was that some one else? Where abouts do all you guys live?? I live near Sydney, Australia.
Once again thanks for your imput! Hopefully we will get Charlie Talking!!
TARNIA
:D

[Monica]

How old is he now???

Anyway, 12 years old is around the middle age of a cockatiel. A cockatiel's expected lifespan is 15-20 years, and some, if in great health can live to be 30 years old. I've only heard of one cockatiel that lived to be 31 years old, however, it's not uncommon for many to live over the age of 20. They are sexually mature around the age of 2 years.

I do not work in a petshop as I recently turned 16 this year, and haven't had the chance to try to apply at one yet. However, we do have one or more members here that do, or have worked in a petstore. I live in Nevada, USA, Earth, Third Rock from the Sun!

[Charlie]

We have had Charlie for about 2 weeks, so he is approxomatly 10 weeks?? You must love birds!! How do you know so much about them!! I'm sure you will have no worries in finding a job in a pet store!! Do you know if birds get sleep in there eyes? This morning i woke up and charlie was half closing one of his eyes, my B/F wiped his finger over it and got a little clear stuff out of it, he is still half closing the eye?? :?:

[Monica]

Sounds like something may be irritating his eye... Possibly dust, or some illness... Though for sleep, birds will close both of their eyes and get some rest. I don't know of many humans that sleep with their eyes opened (know of one person...), and have yet to find an animal that does not live in water, and is a common household pet, that sleeps with its eyes opened...

It may be a while before you can visually sex Charlie, however, you can have a DNA test done (easier and safer than surgical sexing), or you can sex by behaviors, though it's usually too early for this, however, it can be done, though its not 100% accurate.

For birds, I've been reading and rereading the same sites and other sites on birds for now 3, maybe 4 years. When I first got into birds, I had a "parakeet." I immediately searched for almost 2 weeks straight on my new pet, and what they should and should not eat. I first learned that this little guy was a budgerigar. I've learned much more on birds since then, and even though I only own 2 budgies, 4 bourkes, a cockatiel, and a conure, I'll help other people out sometimes when they have a 'too, macaw, or some other parrot... Now my only worry with working, is transportation as I do not have a car, and don't have a desire to drive, though I know I need to drive to get a job, or keep one...