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Post by biteybird on Oct 10, 2016 4:06:32 GMT -5
We have a male cockatiel in an outdoor aviary. When I bought him over 2 yrs ago his wing feathers were fine, but now they're short & curly & stick up outwards from his body. He is treated for worms & lice & mites. He doesn't fly very well, but seems happy and does his wolf-whistles when I go to talk to him. Any ideas? Thanks.
I have a video of him on my phone and will upload it to put on here when I can.
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Post by easttex on Oct 10, 2016 10:07:00 GMT -5
That's a new one on me! Is it both wings? Can you get a good look at his skin there?
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Post by aaron on Oct 10, 2016 16:31:41 GMT -5
My parents' cockatiel had a wing feather that was curly for a while... But it seems to have fallen out and been replaced with a normal one. It was never clear why it happened. Not very useful information, I know... but it seems like maybe this is a thing with 'tiels?
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Post by Jan and Shah on Oct 10, 2016 22:05:47 GMT -5
Might be a dietary problem. Or he might be rubbing them on the bars of the aviary.
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Post by biteybird on Oct 11, 2016 2:16:21 GMT -5
That's a new one on me! Is it both wings? Can you get a good look at his skin there? Yes, it's both wings. And no, I can't get a good look at him...he is not 'hand tame', even though he enjoys interacting with wolf whistles. Short of towelling him I won't be able to see his skin. I guess I haven't wanted to erode whatever trust is there by doing that. If I thought he was unhappy or really sick, I would. |
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Post by biteybird on Oct 11, 2016 2:19:53 GMT -5
Might be a dietary problem. Or he might be rubbing them on the bars of the aviary. Well, diet is a definite possibility. I know this is REALLY bad, but all my outdoor aviary birds are on a seed diet, along with fresh garden veg. I didn't know about pellets until I joined this forum and I already had most of my other birds...and I simply can't afford pellets for all of them.  He is on the front wire of the aviary quite a bit, but has no bald patches that I can see, just the wings looking short & curly. I think if he was rubbing himself on the wire then his chest feathers would be abraded (as he is always on the wire facing frontwards). I don't know. I'll try to post a photo/video soon. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Oct 11, 2016 23:58:34 GMT -5
Cockatiels in the wild live on seeding grasses so seeds would be closest to their natural diet. Just make sure he is getting enough protein.
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Post by biteybird on Oct 23, 2016 0:24:16 GMT -5
Well I may know why his feathers are scraggy. Today I noticed he has a 1-inch vertical wound, which has scabbed up...he seems happy and energetic, despite this.
I think the male plum-headed parrot may have been attacking him (supposition at this point, but the female plum-head is sitting on three eggs).
I've moved him from the outside aviary into a cage inside the house to give him a bit of respite. I now have to think about what to do for the best. I can't leave him in that aviary and I can't put him in the other aviary (that one has 4 baby plum-heads and 2 princess parrots) and I certainly can't put him in with Bonnie. :0
As a temporary measure I'll get a medium-sized cage - as the only spare one I have is really small - to let him recover for a couple of weeks in the house while I decide whether to re-home him or just let him live inside permanently. Sigh; decisions, decisions!
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Post by Jan and Shah on Oct 23, 2016 1:28:17 GMT -5
Let him live inside permanently  |
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Post by biteybird on Oct 23, 2016 5:25:35 GMT -5
I neglected to mention that the wound is on his chest/front. He was easy to catch today (because his wings are so scraggy he cannot fly well) - he was on the front wire and I simply put the net over him. Then I dropped a beanie over him to pick him up. Again, this was easy, but I felt I should have done this MUCH sooner. The poor bugger's wound was seeping when I caught him. I put him in a little cage, which was the only one we have for now. We had him in the loungeroom next to Bonnie's cage all afternoon and he sat bolt upright the entire time, looking at Bonnie. Then they started whistling and copying each other! I have another bigger cage lined up for him, but he won't get in it until next weekend. He seems to be coping very well with the change so far. |
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Post by siobhan on Oct 26, 2016 11:42:29 GMT -5
I was going to suggest that he's destroying his feathers himself, based on my experience with our 'too, Rocky. Cockatiels are just miniature cockatoos. I've seen Rocky using his feet to "comb" his tail and wings and they were absolutely ragged like you describe when he moved in with us. It's a stress reaction. He continued to do that for some months after moving in with us, but he doesn't do it anymore, and he's had a molt since then. Most of the damaged feathers have fallen out and been replaced with new ones, though he still has a few ragged ones. Coupled with your description of the wound, and the possibly aggressive female on eggs, clearly he's been having it rough. If you can keep him inside, that's the answer. He'll tame down eventually, and even if he doesn't, he'll be safer and happier indoors.
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Post by biteybird on Oct 26, 2016 23:58:06 GMT -5
I was going to suggest that he's destroying his feathers himself, based on my experience with our 'too, Rocky. Cockatiels are just miniature cockatoos. I've seen Rocky using his feet to "comb" his tail and wings and they were absolutely ragged like you describe when he moved in with us. It's a stress reaction.... Coupled with your description of the wound, and the possibly aggressive female on eggs, clearly he's been having it rough. If you can keep him inside, that's the answer. He'll tame down eventually, and even if he doesn't, he'll be safer and happier indoors. I think you may be right. I think his wings already look a bit better - he's been inside for about 4-5 days so far. I feel kind of bad for him because he is in such a TINY cage right now, but he will be in a nice-sized cage in 2 days (it's down at our holiday caravan, about 2 hours' drive, which we are going to straight from work on Friday afternoon). He seems happy enough, answering me with the wolf-whistle when I get home, like he's always done in the outside aviary. And he's eating well. Meanwhile, in the biggest outside aviary, 2 plum-headed parrot chicks have hatched and are doing well. My husband and I have made a decision...we are going to re-home the Plum-headed parrot parents (as a bonded pair) once the 2 current chicks are able to eat on their own. The father is simply too aggressive to the other bird species, as well as to the previous clutch of 4 chicks. We had to move last year's chicks out of that aviary as they are getting close to adulthood and someone from the Avicultural Society said the male plum-head could kill the male babies - they don't get their male/female colours until about 18 months old, so we don't yet know what gender they are. Also, when my husband bought the original pair, the shop owner told us they would get along with all of our current aviary birds - if only we'd known this wasn't to be the case! I joined the Avicultural Society of Australia earlier this year and they have a free classifieds section for members wanting to buy/sell birds. I'm pretty confident that someone will be interested in the bonded pair of plum-headed parrots, because they are still on the young side. And we'll rehome the chicks too, when they're old enough to tell what gender they are (unless someone is happy to buy unsexed chicks). So right now it's all pretty confusing, but we definitely want to keep our gorgeous cockatiel and we think he'd be happiest in the outdoor aviary with his canary mates and the 2 Bourke's parrots (all of which are non-aggressive). Phew! |
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Post by biteybird on Jan 17, 2017 20:25:44 GMT -5
Update time! The cockatiel (AKA "Lucky") has been inside for about 10-11 weeks now and his wings are still short and curly - I think that they have probably always been this way and that I simply didn't notice when I bought him at the pet shop (he is the first cockatiel I've owned). I am wondering if he may, in fact, be a "runner" cockatiel, as Jan and I were discussing in a different thread. He's very happy and otherwise healthy and preens his feathers every day like any other bird; it's just that his wing feathers don't seem to grow at all. I located a buyer for my plum-headed parrots (the bonded pair) and am removing them from the aviary next Tuesday. Then I'll put Lucky back in there and see how he goes. I think he'll be more than happy to return to the aviary, as he calls to the outside birds every day. He might miss Bonnie, though, as they often squawk together (usually Bonnie first, followed by the cockatiel a millisecond later, almost in unison). We'll see. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jan 18, 2017 0:17:55 GMT -5
You can always put Lucky in the house for a few hours each day.
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Post by biteybird on Jan 18, 2017 2:19:48 GMT -5
Good idea, Jan. Yes, I could do that over the next couple of weeks, then when school starts again bring him in when I get home from work.
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