Are cockatiels hard to take care of?

Question

Ok, I'm getting a tiel real soon and I read stuff on the internet and they sound kinda hard to take care of.. Is it really that hard? Or once you get a good schedule or whatever you get used to it? Also, how do you stop a baby from crying/squacking. Because mine is still at the petstore and isnt fully weaned and I'm scared hes gonna squack forever.

Answer 1

If you get 1 cockatiel, you have to be prepared to spend a bit of time with the baby...he is probably squacking forever in the pet store because he is on his own and most likely exposed to the bright lights in the store for what, 10 hours a day?  

Get a nice safe cage--any good pet store can advise you on what would be the appropriate cage for your bird...make sure you get a big enough cage in case you decide to bless you new pet with a friend sometime in the future.

Buy the fresh cockatiel food--our stores sell it in bins and you scoop out how much you want....

pick up a good bird book that will help you understand what is needed to take care of your bird....the biggest threat to birds is pneumonia...it's important that they are not kept in a drafty area and are not exposed to cold temperatures.  

if you want to train him/her to talk- it's important that you are available to "hand train" your birdie--and have him get used to being handled by you...when he is behaving and allowing you to pet him, you can reward him with a treat.........since he is still young, you will have to depend on your book or pet store to advise you what diet he can tolerate......good luck to you....they make great pets - buy a cover for the cage because they due get "night fright" in which they flap around and chirp in the middle of the night...so make sure you get a good cover that covers the whole cage......

Answer 2

ALL birds need to be taken care of. It's not hard, but it takes commitment to do it right. DO NOT get this bird if it isn't fully weaned and you have no experience handfeeding. You can kill a baby bird very easily if you do it wrong. DON'T try it or it won't live long enough to find out how hard they are to take care of.

If you can't stand noise, you shouldn't get ANY bird. You cannot make them stop "squacking". Throwing a blanket over their cage is cruel and pointless.

Answer 3

No,They are sweet & Beautiful.Get a hand-fed one from a breeder.

Answer 4

I don't think so. My friend have a pair & they seems to be nice .

Answer 5

holy ..... yessssssssssssssssssssss they will mess everywhere.  my advise don't get one... they will destroy furniture and knock over vases and stuff... don't waste ur time... believe me on this one!!!  

they also don't shut up for anything... and i mean anytingggg

Answer 6

They aren't hard to take care of at all, I actually had two 'tiels for several years, kept them in separate cages and basically did everything twice. It always seems harder when you're starting off with a pet you've never had before, but it honestly isn't hard enough to involve any "getting used to", and once you get into the routine you'll see that really it's a piece of cake.

As far as crying, baby birds are naturally noisy when they want food, that's how they survive. Just make sure that you do NOT come running every time your bird cries/squawks/screams, because this will teach it that screaming always results in you appearing, and it will learn to scream whenever it wants attention. One of my birds came from an owner who had done this, and despite my attempts to re-train her, she still screamed every time I was in the room, every time she saw me walk past the room, every time she heard my voice, etc.

Answer 7

MOOKIE DOOKIE!

i wouldnt no bc i cant get one. instead i get a disease full, parasite carrying, p**p 24/7 turtle.

thanks for rubbing raisin in my face every second!!

Answer 8

They are sweet and loving but they c**p EVERYWHERE. It is a smart bird. My grandma had one and she taught it a routine on closing the blinds. It was retarted but they are smart. And the love to talk to you. The males actually squack about something. The females squack just because they can. Most of them don't like towels over their cage for nighttime either. Hope this helps! Good luck with the new bird!!!

Answer 9

i just got a lutino cockatiel like 2 weeks ago and he's great! they're not herd to take care of they just need lots of attention. they also take like a week or so to get used to their surriondings, lhey r not messy, not too loud and love sitting on ur soulder and chewing on jewelry. (well mine does) get one they're great.

DON'T listen to bob or whatever, u can clip their wings and train them not to do that. they will only yell if u don't pay attention to them

Answer 10

Once tame they are very loyal, but they can get very loud, we had one called Spike that rang like the phone, my bedroom was on the 3rd floor, the phone on the first, you would get all the way to the bottom and it would be Spike, ringing away! Make sure the cage is big enough for when you are not home and give plenty of good snacks, fruit, vegetables etc to munch on.  When they get going at full volume, you can here them 3 houses away.  It will squawk for ever, just not loud all the time.  Cover at night, or their molt cycle will go stupid, birds go to sleep naturally at sun-down and wake just before sun-up.