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I just got a three month old new tiel and so far he seems fine. One thing that puzzles me is that he randomly makes high-pitch sounds. Is there a reason for this?

Also, I am not sure how much I should feed him. I feed him a little bit of seeds in the morning and night, and some vegetables in the afternoon. He eats almost everything. I don't know if I'm feeding him enough or too much.

My sister and I played with him while we were watching TV. We're still trying to find out good ways to socialize him.

With that said, how do you keep your tiels happy and healthy?

Welcome to the board tinysquirrel! and congrats on the new addition to your family. I hope you find this board as helpful as I have Everyone here is so nice and helpful

I am not quite sure what you mean by high pitched sound... but I know that some young birds, recently weaned, will make a funny noise for a feeding... maybe that is it?

As for food availability...I always make food available to my tiel... I am pretty sure that Sam posted before that most healty tiels eat what will sustain them, and won't generally overeat. I will try to find the link and post a link for you... it was just a couple days ago, and is VERY helpfu I also think that most tiel owners here, as well as a good number of avian vets, that it is a good idea to infuse your tiel's diet with some type of pellet (though many of us agree on percentage of diet... I can also post a link for free samples) as well as have fresh fruits and veggies offered to them every day or at least several times a week. At this early stage in your tiel's life, it will be easiest to convert it to a healthy diet and get it to try new things (the older they get, the harder it becomes). Some good things to try that Bubba likes: broccoli, peas, green beans, dark leaf lettuce, parsley, cauliflower (sorry... my spelling is BAD), wheat bread, rasin bran, peppers and their seeds, apples, corn, fake crab, and just about anything he sees me eating... that is key for getting them to try new things. If you are eating it... they WANT it

You are doing well playing with your birdie... if he will let you, handle him--scratch his head, rub his beak, and let him preen you if he wants to-- that is a good bonding activity. If he preens himself on you, falls asleep on you, or grinds his beak while sitting on you, he is very content and comfortable with you. Because he is new, careful not to push him into too many things... it may sare him!! Let him be comfortable with you in his own time, and on his schedule. Play with toys with him... they don't even need to be bird toys-- Bubba loves to play with papertowels, tissues, towels, paperclips, and others like things like Q-tips.

I will look for some other "favorite" links to see what will be helpful too... if you have any particular questions... just ask

-Jackie and Bubba

Welcome tinysquirrel! Sounds like your off to a great start. I'm not the bird expert around here, but you'll be sure to get a lot of good advice like you did from Jackie and the others! They are a great help and an invaluable resource for your new baby!

Here are some good links

viewtopic.php?t=28845
-Diet link from Sam

http://tielweekly.blogspot.com/
-helpful for new tiel owners... good tips, and REALLY funny

http://www.cockatiels.org/
-health, diet, and more

http://www.cockatielcottage.net/
-lots of good info for newbies

I'll post a couple more... got to find them first

Where you can get free samples

Here is where you can get samples:

800-353-2473 Diamond Avian
800-225-2700 Hagen
800-346-0269 Harrison's Bird Diet
800-529-8331 Kaytee
800-543-3308 L'Avian
800-842-6445 Lafeber (some products)
800-332-5623 L/M Animal Farm
800-356-5020 Pretty Bird International
800-326-1726 Roudybush Feed
800-327-7974 Scenic
800-345-4767 Zupreem

Another good site... talks about birdie behavior:
http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/bird ... havior.php

you can also check past posts to find out about important information for new owners

well, welcome to the wonderful world of birds, my 8 mo. old cockatiel i got aq while ago and she did that at first too, 1 males tend to be very vocal and 2 new bird in new surroundings takes time to get used to. what they knew has been taken away they nee to know your house good luck with your bird and email me at horsevet14@yahoo.com if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them also of you or any one else you know is looking for parakeets let me know i have males and female babies for sale 5-10 each so good luck

Victoria

I would start making food lke pellets available all day long for him to snack on. Birds eat all day long, not just 3-4 times a day.

Great job on getting him to eat veggies, keep doing that.

The scream that you are talking about could be him trying to figure out where you are or his reaction to being startled. He also could be letting you know that he is hungry.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I kept birds before, but this is my first cockatiel. My family decided to get a bird that is cuddlier and quieter than our last one (which is an Alexandrine who wouldn't let anyone touch him and constantly screams for attention but neverless a nice bird; he passed away because of parrot fever).

Here is a picture of Polo (named after polonium). He is standing on a toy turtle.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/ ... 1175695992

He's a very nice bird. He would let anyone pet him, and I have no trouble getting him to eat veggies. I plan to get him some pellets and millets. I hope he'll be with us for a long time.[/img]

Hi tinysquirrel, love the name!!!!

Polo is a nice looking bird! Thanks for posting.

awww Polo's cute thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the site info Jackie this is definetly a male heart shaped wing known as the big chest he does this all the time! I am going to keep reading but I thought you would like to know so far you are right!!

Glad it helped