Albino Cockatiel- little angel

[LtlWngdAngl]

My first bird, Nilly, was a 3 month old albino Cockateil. She was so beautiful, solid white, not one spot on her. She looked like a little angel (hence my user name). When I bought her, I was under the impression that all (or most) of the albino Cockatiels were bred to be albinos. Such was not the case with Nilly, she was a real albino. She was very intelligent for being so young, and VERY mischeivious! Though I kept her wings clipped, she even learned to fly! She was so proud and would chirp so happily when she flew, I finally just stopped clipping her wings, and let her fly around the house (under VERY close supervision). She loved taking showers, and even made me blow dry her after her baths. She loved getting ready with me in the morning, she'd sit up on top of the towel I'd have on my hair and just watch me do my make up, iron my clothes, etc..
One morning, though, I noticed she was falling off a lot, I figured she was trying to fly off, so I set her on my bed with her favorite toys. She was being so quiet also (VERY unusual for her). I finished getting ready, and then I went over to her to put her in her cage. When I picked her up, she lacked muscle control to grip onto my finger or even my hand, she kept falling. I layed her down in my hand and began talking to her hoping to see what was wrong with her. Not even 2 minutes after I picked her up, she began to shake a little, then her eyes glazed over, and her little pink feet curled. I rushed her to my vet (about 2 blocks away), and was told that she had suffered a heart attack and had passed. I began researching albinos and came to find that weak hearts are extremely common among albino cockatiels. Had I researched her before I took her home, I probably wouldn't have. So, I guess I'm glad I didn't know too much about her before because I wouldn't trade the time I spent with her laughing and playing for anything in the world. I still hear her happy little chirps from time to time. She's still the sweetest and most beautiful bird I've ever layed eyes on.

[Lisa B]

Thank you for sharing. They may only be in our hands for a while, but they teach us lessons, that will carry us through our lifetime.
My congo grey died at the age of 2 1/2. Much too young for his species. A part of me went with him, though I would not trade his time with me for anything in the world.
I am sorry for your loss.

[sweetie&meli]

sorry to hear about your tiel baby , i had my b/f'ds tiel die in my hands its rough but at least she died knowing she was loved. and cared for :)

[GorgeouslyJealous]

Do they really have weak hearts. I was thinking about buying this baby ablbino cockatiel. He's 7 weeks. I get to hand feed him for the last week. Then I have to wean him/her.

[LtlWngdAngl]

Since I first made this post I've learned some things about mutation breeds:
Just because it's a mutation does not necessarily mean that it's going to be weak or in bad health...IF it's from a REPUTABLE breeder who has a good understanding of and experience with breeding mutations. Because it's still a realtively new breeding proces, there is a lot of incestual interbreeding that some breeders do in order to create the popular mutation colors. I had bought my 'tiel from a chain pet store (before I knew much about birds) and I feel that I may have gotten one from a breeder that didn't care about the animals and had been breeding them incestually.
If you trust your breeder and are aware of his/her credintials and they have a lot of experience with mutation breeds, then, by all means, go for it! The albinos are BEAUTIFUL, and mine was SOOOO... SWEET! PLEASE, post some pics when you get her (all albino 'tiels are female)

[GorgeouslyJealous]

Thank you for your reply. Uh oh! So they are all females, well I have a male silver dominant. Are they for sure going to want to mate? Is there anyway I can keep them from mating? I don't live in a house yet. I live in a dormatory( US AIR FORCE). Hopefully I will live in a house by the time she is a year old. Anyways...I am so excited...I can't wait to see her. The breeder has been breeding for 10 years. I hope she knows what she's doing. I'm going to pay a lot of attention to the birds habitat. Any who. I will post pictures of her. I think I'm going to call her Alaska. I have a friend up there and she says the snow is pure white. Later

[LtlWngdAngl]

I love that name for her! Mine was "Nilly" shortened from "vanilla".
I, personally, would strongly advise against putting them in the same cage. When you do that you run the chance of the birds bonding with eachother, and not so much with you. two seperate cages side by side would do just fine...but I'd recommend them not being in the same cage.

[GorgeouslyJealous]

I got Alaska. She is so tiny. She makes the cutest noise when I feed her. I'm going to post her picture soon. I don't have my own internet yet.

[LtlWngdAngl]

That's SO awesome! I'm SO happy for you! You're going to LOVE her! Please, please, please post some pics! The prettiest pics I have of mine is when she crawled up into a dark green houseplant, her color stood out SO MUCH...it's my favorite picture!

[GorgeouslyJealous]

I just got back from feeding her and then we took a nap. She is so adorable. She really is my baby. Do you know much about weaning? I have to wean her in a couple of days according to the breeder. She gave me some millet seed sprays and said I could do it with those. Am I just supposed to leave her alone with them? I got her to nibble but she doest seem strong enough to bite them apart. :?