looks like a new friend

[lucky788scroller]

Wow, Evie, you will need to convert your shopspace into an aviary !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy]

Hmm ... the topic of food came up. Here's one of the most disputed areas of conversation in the avian community. LOL My favorite is the pellet types of food. They're so much more balanced. All the cockatiels we bred commercially were on pellet food as their "staple" food and was left in the cage all the time. We spent a LOT of time making cornbread too . If you get a cornbread mix, like Jiffy brand, and mix according to the directions, then add kernels of corn, peas, pellet We fed it to the birds as treats and they went nuts-o over it. Cockatiels can be pretty finicky but they also seem to love spray millet, veggies and cooked eggs (we just nuke the eggs in a bowl in the microwave and the break up like scrambled). Most of the veggies were just frozen one's thawed out in warm water.

Cage size? LOL I know, I'm rambling ... but you really can't get too big for a cockatiel, obviously, but the bigger the cage the more possessive they may become of their castle. I'd say about the minimun for a cockatiel would be something around 2 feet X 2 feet X 2 feet would be acceptable. Our breeding cages were a goo bit smaller than that but they had good size nest boxes hanging on them to make up the difference and they were content in the smaller cages. Plenty of toys, mirrors, bells, things to climb around on for exercise is really important too. Our pet cockatiels were in cages that the top opened up and were left open pretty much all day to come and go as they please. We kept the wings clipped on the pets so worries of flight were minimal.

Hope it all helps. You're in for a future of real joy with birds for pets. Most of them anyway! LOL We've had a few larger birds that got pretty loud but cockatiels can get on your nerves too when they start screeching for attention. LOL Oh the joys!!

Andy