Our cockatiel Hannibal

[allycat]

fugu: Weird--I never heard that! I was just thinking that the sight of a snake would be unsettling to a prey animal, especially one as intelligent as a companion bird. Do you know if it's microorganisms in their poo that cause harm? B/C a reptile vet can test the feces for common infections that it would spread. JW if "clean" feces would have the same effect.

I've got a 2 yr-o anery charcoal corn and a yearling regular Pueblan milk that I hope to have for the next 15-20 years or so! Rumer and Maker, respectively. Haven't sexed them yet, but they're "girls." So cool. I'm thinking a Kenyan sand boa next... Rumer's almost old enough to eat rat pinkies. If you saw my post about rat baths, you know I can get some of those pretty easily

One of the cats let Rumer out once, that's my guess, in the spirit of these "escape" tales:

It was January, and we lived in a tiny little two-room house (pre-multiple tank syndrome). We had to keep one of Rumer's lights on all of the time b/c the house only had a wall-unit AC/heater, like in a hotel. Can't leave that on when you're gone... Like a big hairdryer in the corner. Smelled bad even when it was clean. Not high-tech. Anyway, I hadn't seen Rumer out in a day and a half, which isn't that weird since I was expecting a shed from her soon enough, but I went looking for her. Her hide (in her oversized, planted viv) is her water dish (which is hollow underneath), so often if I've seen her I will fill the dish without moving it so she can keep on chilling. Everything (light set) was still on top of the lid when I started taking things apart, but the lid wasn't "clipped" (bought clips first thing once I got her back). I couldn't find her, dug through substrate, everything...

She was gone for four days, I set up a little "trap" for her with a heating pad and her water dish, but no luck. It was so sad, I had one cat then, a real killah so I was worried that he would find her. Every time I was home I couldn't do anything but look around hopelessly for her, just KNOWING that if I could look in the right place I'd see her... I was paranoid to move anything or sit anywhere, thinking she was underneath it.

My brother came to visit me on the 4th night, and we were hanging out playing some PS2 w00t when he was like "WHOA your snake scared me!". I accosted him for her location: the windowsill! She was probably sunning herself before it got dark: I had blocked the window with some black posterboard b/c of creepers, so it would've been a little greenhouse.

Mostly, she was thirsty. She has never eaten the same way since: it's like she became "wild" when she was gone! I gave her a pinkie the next morning, once she had warmed up and calmed down a bit, and BAM! She had been a picky eater, but not any more...

So, yeah, definitely I love her more than a bird I don't have yet! She taught me a lot about how things tend happen when you're not looking...

[jus85411]

part of the reason i didnt try breeding when i had my lutino was a) i was young and not prepared and b) i knew that the bird would become more attached to the partner than humans and possibly not be able to be handled anymore. i wouldnt try it with a tiel i wanted as my personal tiel, i would have a separate room for them to be kept in and a HUGE cage. plenty of research/planning to do before i slide into this

[fugu99]

hadla- lol rukia? squall? someones an anime and final fantasy fan sounds like youve got a right aviary over there

allycat- Tony tells me that theres some chemical or some such in snake feces that attacks a cockatiels respiratory system. Sounds like by the time you realized theyd been affected, it would be too late. So it almost seems to me too much to risk, I hate to say it. Basically youd have to confine one or the other, the snakes or the birds, and be very careful about sanitation (clothes, skin, trash bags, etc.) It would be sad to not let your animals be able to roam around, in my opinion. Cockatiels need to be free to roam not locked up, even though they are destructive chewers (not as bad as parrots) they are trainable and very affectionate and will be with you wherever you go in the house (kitchen not recommended!) Whereas Im sure as a snake owner you love to take your snakes everywhere with you in the house, so basically it would be tragic to have to confine one species in order to save the other from certain death. Whats that saying, "Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet?" (-Rudyard Kipling).

As far as cats, we intend to have a cat with our cockatiel. As long as they are both trained to accept each other as 'family' and not 'predator or food' we can have balance. Probably not till we get a house though I had cats growing up and we had a lovebird. We'd let the lovebird sit on the cats back (as long as we were in the presence of both) and the cat wouldnt do anything. I find the cats were more interested in the birds outside.

jus- its true that your cockatiels will lose interest in you when they have a mate. But theres always the possibility of taking one of the babies and making them your buddy. Although the breeding pair will stay mostly confined to cage or nest, it would be better to keep your 'buddy' bird away from the other cockatiels or you wont have the closeness of just keeping one cockatiel. Its best to start them very young, trying to train an older bird you get from the petstore takes experience and patience. I used to have parakeets and budgerigars, not birds that are very cuddly and you usually cant buy them as babies. We had lovebirds which you can buy hand-raised, they can be very sweet and cuddly, only watch out for that awful shriek they have. (All birds can be noisy as a rule, but lovebirds notoriously so). They arent as playful and intelligent as cockatiels, which are rather small cousins to cockatoos.

Cockatiels love to sing, learn to 'talk' (that is, they learn to whistle a phrase rather than actually sounding like speech as parrots do) Hannibal says 'prettyboy', 'hey buddy', 'whatchadoin', 'well c'mere', 'c'mon', but its interesting that occasionally he will mix it up, he might say 'pretty pretty boy' or 'whatchadoin buddy' ...showing off that he does recognize to some degree what he is saying and referring to. Cockatiels have great memory also, they will get into habits, like expecting a kiss as you pick them up or put them on their cage, its a handy training tool.

[jus85411]

i did think about the baby being my new hand held buddy, but the lutino was my first bird(other than a parakeet) and not only that but it was the most friendly bird so i didnt want to lose that bond. i would never get one of the non hand fed babies, they can be nasty trying to hold and would probably try to escape you first time it felt you werent paying much attention or holding tight enough. i would either get one that i know i am able to handle before leaving the store or i would find somewhere/someone with babies and get them when they are available. i have noticed that in my area, hand fed baby cockatiels do not stay in stores long! they will sell long before the ones that arent able to be handled

[fugu99]

Thats true and unfortunately, hand-fed ones are also more expensive. Unless you get lucky and the store doesnt know what theyre selling. You pay for the service of having them hand-raised. Its not impossible to train an older store bird, I know that my fiance could do it, hes had cockatiels all his life and he has a natural ability to get them to trust him. Hes good with animals. Even a biting bird can be rehabilitated, to a point, if handled gently and with experience. But yes, cockatiels are particularly intelligent, curious, affectionate, and obstinate. They remember, so its hard to weed out behaviors that have set in, because they decide for themselves how they want to act. It takes coaxing and a little trickery to get them to turn over a new leaf. Latinos are mean by nature, its just in their genes, but raised young and with care you can avoid that by lesson. Unlike parakeets, cockatiels pay attention to you (because you are their significant other, if you dont own any other birds or whatnot) and they learn your habits, mannerisms, speech. They mimic you. They do this for attention, for neck-scratches, for food, for the sake of playfulness, and because they love to learn. Natural curiosity.

Did everyone know cockatiels are native to Australia? I wonder what it would be like to see a treeful of cockatiels all saying 'prettyboy'. hahaha.

[riggers]

Please have a look at rescues if you want a parrot (cockatiels are parrots, part of the cockatoo family). There are hundreds and hundreds of wonderful birds out there in need of a lasting home, and the number is rapidly growing as more people buy them and realise how much work it takes to look after them properly. Quite often rescue birds can be the sweetest of them all, if the right bird finds you.

[hadla]

hadla- lol rukia? squall? someones an anime and final fantasy fan sounds like youve got a right aviary over there

lol, i didnt want him to name them after anime characters, but they stuck and now i cant think of them by any other names. at least he named one after a pokemon =P

i want a caique

oh and i forgot to mention, whenever ricky heard the spongebob theme, she always screamed back at the seagulls in it XD even if it wasnt in the same room.

Please have a look at rescues if you want a parrot (cockatiels are parrots, part of the cockatoo family). There are hundreds and hundreds of wonderful birds out there in need of a lasting home, and the number is rapidly growing as more people buy them and realise how much work it takes to look after them properly. Quite often rescue birds can be the sweetest of them all, if the right bird finds you.

yep, especially mickaboo bird rescue in san jose

ok last edit: if you love tiels go watch these! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z46Phs4z ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXESKXERaIg <-- thats my favorite XD

[fugu99]

Thanks for the videos hadla! I really want to post some of Hannibal, hes such an active bird. Id love to show off him singing to his foot. Its great. Or sitting like an ostrich with his head in his food dish singing while he eats so he can enjoy the acoustics. Hes such a weird haha. But I just dont have a good video camera. Ill work it out somehow. Gotta take vid of the puffs too!!!!

[hadla]

Or sitting like an ostrich with his head in his food dish singing while he eats so he can enjoy the acoustics.

rotfl! i should post a video of dory being all defensive over me filling her food bowls! i take one out to empty it then put it back and fill it up and shes sitting there doing that sort of growling noise at me the whole time! lol, and i cant help but laugh at her and it just seems to make her more angry!

[fugu99]

lol... when I take Hannibals food dishes out he hunches down and hisses at my hand and has his beak all open in attack mode... not that he ever bites very hard. Hes just funny that way. He doesnt want me to take his food or mess around with his cage setup. But he sure is happy after he eats his new food. He gets all fluffed and takes a long preen. I like his new food, it makes him smell like fruit loops. We got some peanut-covered millet treats too, and they make him have peanut breath hehe.

I finally got him to do what my fiance can get him to do (he has a natural way with birds, comes with experience too) but I got Hannibal to lay on his back in my hand without me holding him with my fingers. He stays that way for about a minute only unless youre giving his belly kisses then you can get him to stay longer. But he will stay there on his own volition and its adorable...

[hadla]

lol... when I take Hannibals food dishes out he hunches down and hisses at my hand and has his beak all open in attack mode... not that he ever bites very hard. Hes just funny that way. He doesnt want me to take his food or mess around with his cage setup. But he sure is happy after he eats his new food. He gets all fluffed and takes a long preen. I like his new food, it makes him smell like fruit loops. We got some peanut-covered millet treats too, and they make him have peanut breath hehe.

I finally got him to do what my fiance can get him to do (he has a natural way with birds, comes with experience too) but I got Hannibal to lay on his back in my hand without me holding him with my fingers. He stays that way for about a minute only unless youre giving his belly kisses then you can get him to stay longer. But he will stay there on his own volition and its adorable...

ken can get pidgey to do that for a little while. and yeah dory screams for more food and then growls at me filling up the bowls!

oh and with the preening, dont you just love when they do that little tail wag to get their feathers back in place! it makes me laugh.

[Tleilaxu]

Aww they are cool! I have one that will turn 14 this June

[fugu99]

Wow Tleilaxu, a 14 year old cockatiel? Whats its name? Does it display any special characteristics (color, behavior, talking, etc.)? We are thinking of getting Hannibal a companion sometime, hopefully a conure. Maybe a green-cheeked conure or a sun conure. Theyre both pretty and very friendly and energetic. The ones in the store like to show off. (Swinging upside down or doing loops from a chain). And they have happy faces. The only thing we worry about is that the conure will pick up that high-pitched squawk that Hannibal does when hes having 'seperation anxiety'... that is, whenever Tony or I go outside (Tony goes out to smoke) and the cockatiel starts to make this needy little chirp, which progresses into a squawk which he repeats every few seconds until Tony comes back inside. Its funny how demanding Hannibal is of our time. Cockatiels are like that, though... they dont like to be alone. You become their family, in a sense even their mate, and they are bonded to you. I think Hannibal is particularly needy though, we did have him from pretty young and Tony would cuddle him like a baby. So Tony is essentially his mate, or maybe his mommy.

Eeesh, its mating season. We have to put up with his moodiness, his irascible temper and occasional unpredictability, and hes exhibiting more need for 'alone time' and gets excited whenever he sees a towel or a blanket. Nesting behavior. Hes also talking to himself a lot, or his foot, or his cage or toys. Hes also MOLTING... which makes him doubly mean... No, I dont mean hes just attacking us all the time, or biting us until we bleed, of course not. But hes not being sweet all the time, theres a little bit of a squawky edge to his voice even when hes being cute because he doesnt feel well, either from molting or hormones, and occasionally if he gets a little too excited he might go into what we like to call 'dangerous predator' mode, where he hunches down defensively with his crest pressed against his skull and his beak open to attack. He will bite, only warningly at first. We have to grab him with a towel when he gets real bad though, because he has drawn blood before. So he gets a time out. If we put him in his living room cage and he starts squawking or acting out, we move him to the closet cage instead where he can take a break and cool down, and take a nap. Its like a reset button. We go wake him up later, back to normal sweet bird.

[hadla]

just wanted to say all conures have a tendency to be really loud and dory is molting right now, too

[fugu99]

Thanks, I heard about sun conures and their tendency to be aggressive and loud. We are actually looking at Caiques now, just because theyre so darn irresistible. We wont be really looking into getting one until next year though, or when we move out of this one bedroom apartment. We need more space. Caiques are aggressive but not loud in particular, and even if they arent the best friend for Hannibal we'd like to get one. With more room we can keep birds in seperate cages, or rooms if need be. I really do think we need to bite the bullet and buy another cockatiel to keep Hannibal happy. I think thats the only way, really. I hear green-cheeked conures are sweet though, they show off in the store.

Hannibal has been going through spring molt... gah its been terrible. I think hes beginning to feel better. For the last two days hes had a fever (you can tell, his feet were really hot) and hes been acting miserable. He makes needy little chirps that sound like hes in pain, all those new pinfeathers pushing through. Hes also exhibited the need to be left alone... the 'dont touch me' attitude... and he almost bit Tony when Tony went up to his cage the other day. Solution.. get a towel, transfer him to the closet so he can take a nap and reset his mood. Poor guy. Right now hes devouring the back of the computer chair, though.