Robyn
09-16-2014, 08:52 AM
Hi I am new here (obviously) and currently just have an 11 week old cockatiel named Riley, I was told it was a female due to the bars on her tail when I first visited her at the handfeeders (I typically refer to them as her breeders but they don't breed they get chicks and hand feed them and this year only took on one clutch). However, a few days after my visit with her she had a bad night fright and released her tail feathers and they are now growing back some with no bars so I'm not sure if she is a he but will be called a she until proven otherwise. Riley hatched on 6-28-14 and I brought her home on 8-27-14. Riley is not my first cockatiel but she has been my easiest. My experience with cockatiels in order of when/how I got them goes like this. In 2001(around March or April) I went with my dad and his wife at the time to go pick out her cockatiels they were kept in horrible conditions, there were at least 100 in a shed in various cages no windows and nothing but a lamp for lighting when the breeder went to grab one (through toweling) a normal grey male who got named Cornflakes landed on me so my dad decided to get that one because of it. They also got a normal grey female they named Cherokee. Because I was the only one who wasn't afraid to get them out of the cage everyday and then get them back in My dad decided to let me get one for my birthday. I didn't realize the one I got from a different breeder was WAY to young to go to a new home. Looking at the pictures now I would assume he was about 2 weeks old when I got him as he was just starting to get his pin feathers. He was also a normal grey male I named him Angel. In about 2003 I got a second teil of my own a lutino named Zoey. In 2005 My dad and his then wife split up she moved out and left the birds which I of course took over and ended up putting all 4 in one cage. Cornflakes died later that year due to being scared to death when my new puppy got extremely excited to go for a walk and bumped into the cage while he was sleeping. In 2008 my dad gave my remaining 3 tiels to my grandmother because my grades were slipping, though I think he failed to consider that I had a 3 surgeries that year which makes keeping up with AP classes a bit difficult. In 2010 (On Halloween) I went into Petco I don't even remember what for but I saw a pied cockatiel, who was named Halloween, that I immediantely fell in love with and brought home and the person with me decided I also had to have the lutino one as well even thought I didn't really want it they bought it for me, I named him Hallows Eve. I had them for about a year when I decided to rehome Hallows Eve because I never could make any process with him. He still tried to bite me when I would give them food and water and even though he had been caged with Halloween the entire time they never bonded. I never saw them preen each other even once. Shortly (2-3 months later) after rehoming Hallows Eve I came home from work and found Halloween hanging upside down with her wings tangled up in the cage bars (1/2inch spacing so yes it was the proper sized cage) I originally thought she was dead but when she started squeeking I immediantly rushed her to the vet but she died on the way. Right around Easter of this year I got my niece two parakeets from petsmart. Yes I got her dads permission and because he lives with my grandmother she is the one who takes care of them when my niece goes back to her mom's every week (it's a werid custody arrangement but it works). While there I saw another pied cockatiel I fell in love with and brought him home. I was told it was his first day out on the floor and that he was shy. He got named Speckles. Because birds act differently when they are adjusting to new enviroments I didn't know he was sick and it's hard to tell a difference in behavior when you don't know there normal behavior. Well I came home from work one night 9 days after bringing him home and he was dead. So I threw away ALL bird supplies except his bag of food as it was brand new. I got all new bird supplies including a flight cage when I found an ad on Craigslist for Riley and her clutch mates and was able to bring her home 8-27-14. While I have been able to get all of my previous birds but Hallows Eve out of the cage Riley is the tamest bird I have ever owned Halloween the second tamest and I'm sure she would have gotten better if she lived longer. However from day one Riley has let me pet her, eat from my hand, give her scritches and want to spend all her time with me. Which I limit so when I am allowed to return to work she's not feeling rejected.