Keeping your cockatiel healthy
Consider your bird’s cook, caterer, housekeeper and taxi service for yourself. You can help your cockatiel live longer by providing healthy food, clean living conditions, and a trip to the vet if necessary. Cockatoos are generally healthy unless kept in dirty, crowded conditions or given improperly. Provide filtered sunlight during the day, fresh food and water daily, and clean your cockatiel’s cage twice a week or more as needed. Get rid of uneaten fruits and vegetables from your bird’s cage within a couple of hours of feeding. Your bird may be sick if it has dirty feathers, is sitting fluffed up in a corner of its competition, or has watery eyes or diarrhea.
You (and your cockatiel) are just what you eat
Pet parrots are often fed a convenient but “junk food” diet of packaged parrot seed, water, and resolution. Just like humans, cockatiels rely on a variety of vitamins, minerals, and proteins to stay healthy. The addition of plenty of greens, grated carrots and hard-boiled egg yolk provides the healthy nourishment needed for a long period of life. Calcium is very important for breeding female cockatiels, whose calcium stores can be lost over time by laying eggs. Offer breeding birds plenty of oyster shell grit and cuttlefish bones. Captive birds can also develop a nutritional deficiency A. Grated carrots and cooked yams can help increase levels of vitamin The.
Cockatoos are built for long-distance flight; in the wild, they fly many miles daily in search of food and water. Pet cockatiels have no room for this type of extreme exercise.
Cockatiel Safety Tips
Cockatoos can live 20 years or more if they receive proper care. Practicing common sense and home safety can add years to your bird’s life. Never leave cockatiels unattended with small children or household pets. Within the wild, cockatoos feed on the surface. Pet cockatiels enjoy exploring floors, but are easily stepped on and can become targets for cats and dogs when allowed to stick to the floor. Avoid exposing the cockatiel to direct sunlight without providing a source of shade. Cockatoos enjoy being outdoors in their cages, but require normal water and shade to avoid heat stroke and dehydration. Your current bird is too hot if it is panting and holding its wings a bit away from its body. If the bird does not seem well or is injured, take it to the vet immediately. Birds instinctively go to great lengths to hide illness, so if your bird appears ill, it’s time to see your vet.