Cockatiel

Cockatiel Diet and Cage Info

A Day In The Life Of A Happy, Healthy Cockatiel.

Want a happy cockatiel? Then start your cockatiels life with you off right by providing an ideal cockatiel environment. What does an ideal cockatiel environment consist of? It begins with the cage and ends with your daily routine. Let’s walk through a day in the life of a cockatiel.

Cockatiels need a good 12 hours of sleep each night. When they get the quality sleep they need they’re happier, more agreeable and have a better overall health. Good sleep begins with the proper caging environment. An ideal cage will be cleaned daily. All soiled papers will be removed from the lower tray and all water and food will be fresh.

Quality sleep also begins by having a dark and quiet environment. Unlike most birds, cockatiels have the tendency to suffer from night frights. This is a fearful condition where the dark frightens them into thrashing around their cage.

This thrashing can be quite dangerous to them physically. To resolve it, place a nightlight near the cage, keep the cover off the cage, and consider placing them in a smaller cage at night so they don’t have as much room to thrash and potentially hurt themselves.

Once they wake in the morning they’re ready to eat. A diet based in pellets and supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables daily will get them off to a good start. For more information on some great food see FeedYourFlock.com Morning is also a great time to take your cockatiel into the shower with you for a quick mist, to weigh them, and to spend a few minutes training them.

 If you’re going to fit training into your morning routine, do so before you feed them. This will ensure that you have their complete attention and they’re motivated to earn treats. Good treats are your cockatiels favorite seeds and nuts.

While you’re gone for the day it is important that your cockatiels cage is stocked with various sized perches for your cockatiel, a climbing branch, and a few toys to keep them engaged and stimulated. A bored cockatiel is an unhappy, noisy, and aggressive cockatiel.

Vary the toys, give them toys to climb on, chew on, and explore or solve. Keep an eye on their toys and remove toys that are not played with and replace them with different toys. Like children, a rotating cycle of toys will continue to keep them busy and entertained.

While you’re gone it is also important to make sure the cage your cockatiel is housed in is optimal both in size and material. The larger the cage you can afford for your cockatiel, the better. A minimum standard, assuming your cockatiel will be allowed out of the cage for several hours each day, is 18”x18”x18”.

The ideal material for a cage is stainless steel with bars spaced less than 1 inch apart. If stainless doesn’t fit into your budget, a steel cage with a non-toxic, non-chipping paint will work just fine.

Extra cage considerations include looking for a cage with a drawbridge door or a door that opens sideways rather than a dangerous guillotine door. Casters make it easy to move the cage from room to room, and a wire grated bottom with a pull out tray below make it easy to clean.

As far as location goes, most cockatiels will prefer to be in a room where the family spends most of their time. Place them in a location where they will feel secure, part of the family, are out of any drafts and will be able to get the natural sunlight they need to produce essential vitamin K.  Being in a room where they are around the whole family will also help to avoid them becoming overly attached to just one family member.

Ending the day with another meal of pellets, fresh fruits and vegetables a bit of training and plenty of play time will help to ensure you have a healthy, happy, cockatiel for many many years. We highly suggest trick training to avoid running into bad behavior with your cockatiel.