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We need to plan a heist. PS when I went to the vet yesterday she said that she wished she saw more dusky conures--says whenever anyone asks what kind of conure they should get she always tells them "dusky" since they're the quietest and sweetest-tempered. 
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Jun 16, 2013 19:19
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Pip pip pip posted:Me too! I'm glad Hunter didn't rip her wing open or anything! Yeah, there was no blood and the feathers came out cleanly. It looks like the first five fell out. Hunter's been molting so I wonder if a couple of them were ready to go anyway. The coverts are still fine too so that'll hopefully give the new ones a little support. Hunter is a total potato in the cage and this is the first night fright in a while so I'm just going to have to keep an eye on her when she's out of the cage because she's a weak flyer in general. How long do flight feathers take to grow back after they've fallen out? By the time I notice new ones on the tiels they're almost done.
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Jun 16, 2013 19:48
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When Nugget had nightfrights, she always ended up with one wing all bandaged up so it didn't really matter if I clipped the other one or not. You might want to confine her for a while so she is less likely to fall and bust open a new blood feather since they won't have much protection when they grow back in.
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electricgoat posted:I mean no offense to you wonderful people, and I am so grateful for all the advice you've given. It has allowed me to give Bird a small amount of happiness, and I have shared the information with my roommate, though he chooses not to use it. But I still hate the idea of people having exotic pets. Though Bird was born here in Canada, one of her ancestors was at some point taken from their home and brought here and bred and forced to become a pet. I find that so sad, and I really think if people are going to have pets, they need to try to give them an incredible life. Yes, I realize that if Bird lived in her natural environment, she'd have to deal with predators and all that, but she'd have her family, and trees, and sunlight, and fruits and leaves. I really think birds and other pets need to be given a truly wonderful life to make up for what they've lost by living in captivity, and it's so awful seeing that Bird won't get anything even close to what she deserves. I had a bunch of offended words written and erased them because I know you mean well but let me just say this; we know you don't approve of our 'pets', you don't have to keep bringing it up. We provide amazing lives for our birds. They're safe, they have access to more food and a wider variety of food than they could ever access in the wild. They live for - in some cases - decades longer than they would in the wild. They're loved, they are spoiled beyond belief and it's hurtful to have someone say that we're dulling their lives in some way just because they spend a few hours a day in a cage. Maybe it's just me though haha. That aside, I really want you to think about kidnapping Bird. I know YOU can't keep Bird, but are there any rescues at all around where you live? If you're leaving anyway, I would suggest taking bird and giving her to a shelter before you move out. Tell him that Bird must have squeezed out of the bars and escaped or something. Being stuck in a cage in a basement in the dark with no affection or anything at all is depressing as gently caress to think about, especially with how friendly Bird is.
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Jun 16, 2013 19:55
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Amaya posted:I had a bunch of offended words written and erased them because I know you mean well but let me just say this; we know you don't approve of our 'pets', you don't have to keep bringing it up. We provide amazing lives for our birds. They're safe, they have access to more food and a wider variety of food than they could ever access in the wild. They live for - in some cases - decades longer than they would in the wild. They're loved, they are spoiled beyond belief and it's hurtful to have someone say that we're dulling their lives in some way just because they spend a few hours a day in a cage. Maybe it's just me though haha. Oh, I'm so sorry- you Bird Crazies I assume all fall into the category of giving your pets wonderful lives that make up for what they've lost by being in captivity. My beef is with people like my roommate who see a pretty animal and want to own it and make no effort to respect their pet. I don't know if most bird owners are like you folks or if more are like my roommate, but the fact that there's even one as negligent as my roommate makes me quite uncomfortable. From all the pictures and videos I've seen you folks post, you obviously do everything possible to make your birds spoiled and happy.  I'm so sorry to have offended you- I am basically just venting and should have worded everything better!The only "rescue" that would take a bird here is the local humane society... but my roommate is friends with the guy in charge of adoptions, so that wouldn't work. My roommate is a dick, not an idiot. If Bird mysteriously went missing before I move out, he'd know what was up. I'm hoping when he has Bird on his own, he will realize how horribly ill-equipped he is for caring for her, or his parents will be annoyed with how much she screams when she's ignored. (EDIT to add that at this point, I would be willing to care for Bird, at least temporarily. I have 53$ in my budget that I can re-allocate to save up each month for food/toys/vet care/taxi to the vet, which I hope would be enough. In addition, I will be living 3 suites away from my brother once I move, and we have opposite schedules, so he could help with giving Bird attention.) electricgoat fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 20:06
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Cats and dogs and livestock were wild animals living free and all that before they were domesticated too. I think large parrots generally shouldn't be pets because they have needs that most people can't meet but cockatiels and budgies have been bred in captivity basically since Europeans first encountered them and thrive and will even reproduce readily so it's not owning one is stealing it from the Outback. The thing is that as pet owners we tend to anthropomorphize pets and things like keeping birds in a cage or clipping their wings seem super cruel but the bird just wants to find food, not get eaten, and find something to do if it's bored. That's not to say that they're not smart or anything, but it means we project a lot of thoughts and feelings on birds that they probably don't have at all. Edit: electricgoat, I'm not mad. It's just an interesting to me how people project things onto their pets.
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Jun 16, 2013 20:19
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I have no idea if I would "approve" of stealing Bird or whatever, but if she were to go mysteriously missing or lost at some point, it wouldn't hurt for her to have escaped/squeezed through the cage bars or something and be found loose in the apartment a few times prior. Really though, it probably won't happen and she'll be left to linger alone and suffer, intentionally or not. Such a shame for such a sweet seeming little bird. There's no way you, or you and your boyfriend, could sit down with him and just be blunt about how he's loving up instead of dancing around the subject? Especially since you'd be leaving anyway?
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Jun 16, 2013 20:20
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I don't know what Leeloo would do if she didn't have our nice things to take giant shits on. Probably drown herself in a stream . 
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Jun 16, 2013 20:23
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Imagining Ohtori without sausage, hot water, and showers is just heartbreaking. And what would Steve do if he had to actually find his own food instead of doing his best potato impression all day? Unthinkable.
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Jun 16, 2013 20:27
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electricgoat posted:
What were the circumstances that got him to finally give up his cat?
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Jun 16, 2013 20:45
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Oh geez, what have I done? Sorry, I didn't mean to start a discussion about that here! Sorry! Yeah, you guys are definitely good bird parents, and once a particular animal or species has been domesticated to the point it can't live on its own, I for sure think we're responsible for caring for them as best we can. But that's the key- as best we can. I'm pretty not ok with someone watching youtube videos of pretty birds and then going out and buying one despite having no idea how to take care of one (aka my roommate)... and I suspect you guys agree with me about that. I also definitely think clipping wings can be a good idea, though I was initially uncomfortable with the idea. I wish my roommate would clip Bird's wings. Our apartment is a sty and I'm really worried that she'll get hurt or lost when she frantically flies away from him. It would definitely be in her best interests to have clipped wings. Slaughterhouse-Ive: I get what you're saying about projecting onto pets, but I really do feel that if you're going to keep an animal, you should do your best to be as kind and generous to it as possible. Yeah, we don't understand how they experience the world or how they experience emotions, but I really think people should err on the side of caution, and try to do everything they can for their pets. I know you guys do that. My roommate doesn't even come close. The other thing is that I'm pretty sure that when you love an animal, you just naturally want to do everything you can for them. I think that's just how people operate. Battle Pigeon: I am so worried about her getting loose in the apartment for any period of time. I honestly think she'd get crushed or lost under our mess. She has gotten into weird places before when she's out with my roommate, and he has had a hard time finding her. I have no luck talking to him. My boyfriend had a really good talk with him a few weeks ago, and my roommate changed his ways for a few days, and I thought things were going to be fine, but then he started being lazy again. I will ask him to speak with him again. My boyfriend is 6'4 and has a very deep voice, so people generally listen when he talks, heh. (I also can't imagine Bird in the wild. She is such a little ball of cuddly puffiness!) DarkHorse: My one fear is that he won't want to admit he screwed up by getting a bird and will be reluctant to give her up. But I am a patient person and am willing to sit and listen to Bird screaming for hours on end when she's bored and lonely, but I doubt his parents will be. I suspect they will encourage him to give her away. He got rid of the cat because he (the cat) wanted to play all the time and would get in the way when my roommate tried to play video games and watch movies. With Bird in her cage all the time, it's impossible for her to be physically disruptive. And when he turns up his music, her screams just magically disappear!
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Jun 16, 2013 20:59
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electricgoat posted:Slaughterhouse-Ive: I get what you're saying about projecting onto pets, but I really do feel that if you're going to keep an animal, you should do your best to be as kind and generous to it as possible. Yeah, we don't understand how they experience the world or how they experience emotions, but I really think people should err on the side of caution, and try to do everything they can for their pets. I know you guys do that. My roommate doesn't even come close. The other thing is that I'm pretty sure that when you love an animal, you just naturally want to do everything you can for them. I think that's just how people operate. Oh whoops. I didn't mind don't care. I meant about feeling bad about owning a bird because of the whole it lives in a cage thing. I wouldn't have hundreds of dollars of trashed electronics otherwise!
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Jun 16, 2013 21:09
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Slaughterhouse-Ive posted:Oh whoops. I didn't mind don't care. I meant about feeling bad about owning a bird because of the whole it lives in a cage thing. I wouldn't have hundreds of dollars of trashed electronics otherwise! Oh, haha, yeah, I think Bird would've been happy being in her cage her whole life as long as she got enough attention. I think the only reason she wants out now is because I was taking her out. She has a blast when you play with her or give her pats in her cage. It's definitely plenty of space in there and she loves playing with stuff in there. I don't know that she'd be happy being in there all the time if she didn't get attention, though. I think she'd be a lonely little girl without a flock of some sort (but she'd also be lonely if she were in the wild without a flock).
electricgoat fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 21:14
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You should tell your room mate to take Bird out and have on his shoulder or on the monitor while he's playing videogames. I'd do that all the time with my cockatiel. While you're not paying direct attention to it 100% of the time while it's out, it's still hanging out with you. Giving it scratches and a bit of attention every so often is a great way to divide your time. Have him get some toys out and have them around the desk hanging to the top of the monitor and stuff as well. Edit: Get him to make some random snacks that both he and his bird can eat when doing gaming sessions so they can share too.
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Jun 16, 2013 21:41
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Yayyyyy our fledgelings found eachother! Apparently they can both fly now, as they're in a different tree than earlier. They're both sitting in the tree together with mama birds across the street in trees watching them.   They're so  'Also, snuggles and dancing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E83dWk_HU1s Frozen Pizza Party fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 21:43
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I checked out a local fish store today, and I know they keep parrots, but it makes me sad. Today, he had one cage out sunning, an amazon in there. The cage is about.. oh something I'd put a cockatiel in and call adequate, not so much an amazon. However it looked very spacious because there was a food bowl. water bowl. perch. some lavarock perch maybe. annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd thats it.  had quite a crowd admiring it and the owner was talking about the bird. Off to the side was a smaller cage with a bunch of pionuses in it.
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Jun 16, 2013 22:00
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Sekkira posted:You should tell your room mate to take Bird out and have on his shoulder or on the monitor while he's playing videogames. I'd do that all the time with my cockatiel. While you're not paying direct attention to it 100% of the time while it's out, it's still hanging out with you. Giving it scratches and a bit of attention every so often is a great way to divide your time. Have him get some toys out and have them around the desk hanging to the top of the monitor and stuff as well. My roommate wants Bird to ride around on his shoulder all day just chilling out, but the problem is that she's still scared of him. What you're suggesting would be really great except that my roommate has thus far been unable to take things slow enough with Bird for her to be comfortable with him. She still just freaks out and tries to escape from him when he takes her out. I have recommended that he eat in front of her cage so they can get used to each other, but he said he prefers to eat in his room. He sometimes puts her in a smaller cage that he then takes into his room, but she spends most of her time in there just freaking out. Bonding with her with food would be perfect if he'd be willing to do it (he also only eats ground beef, tomato sauce, pasta, cheese, pizza bagels, and chips, so I'm not sure that any of that would be great for Bird. What of that can she have?). SaNChEzZ: Ritz is too cute! I like the little happy wiggling!
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Jun 16, 2013 22:21
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electricgoat posted:What of that can she have? Apples and stuff? I want to steal that bird :C
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Jun 16, 2013 22:28
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Id give her some of the unsaucey pasta. And the bagely part of the pizza. Possibly chips but super super little amounts, especially for a tiny bird. Do you interact with your roomie enough that.. maybe you can hang out with bird in HIS room? ..... or somehow just be in its presence whenever roommate is around. Not sure how she is with him and stepping up, if she'll sit on your finger and he comes close, maybe bird will step up for him (and no other interaction. Have him ignore bird, be basically a finger perch for you to put her on)..trying to imagine if that approach would work.. even him sitting down (playing LoL or whatever) and you setting her down on his shoulder while he ignores her.
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Jun 16, 2013 22:31
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Sekkira: My roommate will not eat apples, heh. Come steal Bird!! It would make me and Bird very happy!  Malalol: Maybe for now I'll just suggest that he give her some plain noodles, as that sounds like it might be the safest one (please correct me if I'm wrong here!)? I try not to be in the same room when he tries to interact with her because she will run away from him and come over to me. This isn't a big deal if she's in her cage and just going from one side to the other, but I don't like her flying around our gross apartment. He also generally tells me to go away if I'm in the same room as Bird, likely because of the running away thing, but it also very clearly hurts his feelings. He does not want me at all involved with her, and he gets very bothered if I give him suggestions. Pretend that he is 4 and not 27, and that's how he needs to be handled. He has a laptop and I have recommended that he play on that out in the living room by her cage, but he hasn't done that yet.
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Jun 16, 2013 22:43
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How have you kept your patience for so long with him, after he tells you to do things like stop playing with the bird and making her happy when he won't? I'd have been terrible and blown up at him for poo poo like that long ago. It isn't hard (as you now know) yet he's such a goony manchild that even being gentle and patient for a few days is too much. UGH
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Jun 16, 2013 23:14
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If I lived anywhere nearby, I would be severely tempted to actually do so. Unfortunately, I'm in Australia.
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Jun 16, 2013 23:59
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FTR, if you live within two driving hours of southern Maine, I can be available to take Bird in if/when he relinquishes her and would be willing to pay a rehoming fee. If you feel financially able to take her in afterward, she'd be yours, free of charge. Dumb piece of poo poo roommate, jfc. Bird Crazies: VIVA LA EMANCIPACIÓN DE AVES
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Jun 17, 2013 00:04
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Thought I'd pop in and ask for more advice about my Cinni. I'll get this out of the way first and admit I haven't been weighing her daily anymore, not since she recovered from her Derps a couple years back. This morning I decided to weigh her and she's apparently very fat, about 120 grams! Pumpkin has also become a little fatty at 115 grams. I noticed that ever since I replaced their regular food dish with the Tidy Bird feeder, Cinni spends most of the day sitting inside of it grazing. I keep another food bowl in the cage usually filled with Nutriberries, broccoli, or a dried fruit/nut mix. Their regular food is still Zupreem Garden Goodness pellets. Money's been too tight to take them to a vet to get checked out, but I am aware and understand that obesity in birds can lead to future health issues, and with Cinni's history I don't want any more problems. What can I do to get Cinni and Pumpkin back down to healthy weights? Also, Cinni's also been missing her tail feathers for the past couple months and therefore has a chicken butt. I don't know how or why she lost her tail, but hopefully it will eventually grow back.
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Jun 17, 2013 00:37
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Are they clipped or flighted? Either way, try to get them into foraging, so they have to work for their food? Good for occupying their time too. E: Looking around on google for cockatiel weight, there are figures that go up to 110 and even 120ish grams, depending on the size of the 'tiel and other factors, so maybe they're not too fat after all. Checking the keelbone is probably a better way of determining fattiness. Maybe this will be of use: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=17680 Battle Pigeon fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jun 17, 2013 |
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Jun 17, 2013 00:41
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I just took Cinni and Pumpkin out again to check their keel bones. I wasn't able to feel it on either
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Jun 17, 2013 01:11
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Nuts are also pretty fatty. You might try cutting down on their nut intake.
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Jun 17, 2013 01:20
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Electric Goat: I'll offer my two cents here and leave it at that as I certainly don't want to be pushy. I recently happened to find myself in nearly the same situation. I had a room mate move in to my house with a cat, Monty. The room mate is a friend of mine, and a generally good guy, but lordy, what a horrendous pet owner. Didn't feed the cat correctly at all, locked him in the basement for long stretches of time, moved him around in plastic boxes... just bad, really bad. Now, I may not be much, but I'm a good pet owner. Monty got a ton of love from me and ended up being super chill. When it came time to for my room mate to move out, I knew I needed this cat to stay with me. His ego, however is not different from your room mate's. He thought he was a fine pet owner. So I made it about me. I told him that I had formed a really strong attachment with the cat and it would really bum me out if he left, I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I "looked after" him. Cut to two months later, the room mate has never come back and now Monty and I couldn't be happier. Anyway, this is all assuming that you are up for taking Bird, or even bringing it to a shelter. This guy sounds like a real treat, and I'm also betting that he secretly knows he's in over his head. I'm guessing if you came to him with a sad story, he would quietly celebrate, pass off Bird to you, and get's to tell people about how he's the super awesome guy who was really nice. That's all! Whatever you end up deciding and doing, it's great that you've been so nice to Bird and made such a great effort even with such a colossal douche bag in the way.
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Jun 17, 2013 03:01
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I'll offer a bit more than two cents. How much did shitlord pay for Bird and the assorted supplies? If you offer him that amount plus some more, would he be willing to leave her behind with you? I've read the whole story from start to finish and would be willing to paypal or do whatever to get you some funds for that plus Bird's care going forward. She doesn't deserve to live in a dark basement, and think of all the garbage he would be able to buy for that awful game.
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Jun 17, 2013 05:44
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I have not posted here in a loooong time (pippippip's husband) but I have kept up with the Bird saga quite well. You need to either take Bird with you or go off on the man-child everything you've been holding back. He is a bad bird owner, let him know it. His bird hates him and it is his fault. Don't pull punches, you are mad at him and should be. There is more that inconvenience or pride at stake here. When he goes off to his parents, bad things are going to happen to that bird unless things change now. He is going to get sick of it and That is kinda creeping around in everyone's mind, but I will say it. I may really dislike Ozzy's screaming and nibblyness from time to time, but I don't actually wish him harm. I really, really hope this story has a happy ending, but I don't think it will.
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Jun 17, 2013 07:22
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CJ just died. My male cockatiel I've had since '99. I don't know what happened, he seemed fine yesterday, even this morning. But I just found him dead on the bottom of his cage. I'm in shock, I've had him for fourteen years. He was seventeen. Maybe age? I know for a fact cockatiels can live to be thirty (my last cockatial who died lived that long). I expected to have him for another five years at least. I'm feeling really guilty about this. 
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Jun 17, 2013 08:12
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platedlizard posted:CJ just died. My male cockatiel I've had since '99. I don't know what happened, he seemed fine yesterday, even this morning. But I just found him dead on the bottom of his cage. I'm in shock, I've had him for fourteen years. He was seventeen. Maybe age? I know for a fact cockatiels can live to be thirty (my last cockatial who died lived that long). I expected to have him for another five years at least.
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Jun 17, 2013 08:42
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platedlizard posted:CJ just died. My male cockatiel I've had since '99. I don't know what happened, he seemed fine yesterday, even this morning. But I just found him dead on the bottom of his cage. I'm in shock, I've had him for fourteen years. He was seventeen. Maybe age? I know for a fact cockatiels can live to be thirty (my last cockatial who died lived that long). I expected to have him for another five years at least. I'm so sorry to hear that, that's easily my biggest fear every morning. I would recommend getting a necropsy. They're not terribly expensive and it can often put your mind to rest as to what may have caused the death. Either way, that sucks and I feel super awful for you. darkwolf220 posted:I have not posted here in a loooong time (pippippip's husband) but I have kept up with the Bird saga quite well. You need to either take Bird with you or go off on the man-child everything you've been holding back. He is a bad bird owner, let him know it. His bird hates him and it is his fault. Don't pull punches, you are mad at him and should be. There is more that inconvenience or pride at stake here. When he goes off to his parents, bad things are going to happen to that bird unless things change now. Everything you are saying about the owner is correct, except for how to deal with him. I'm sure he gets that kind of thing all the time, he'll only dig his heels in further. Also, talk about a Deus Ex Ineptus. Chili fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Jun 17, 2013 |
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Jun 17, 2013 12:52
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platedlizard posted:CJ just died. My male cockatiel I've had since '99. I don't know what happened, he seemed fine yesterday, even this morning. But I just found him dead on the bottom of his cage. I'm in shock, I've had him for fourteen years. He was seventeen. Maybe age? I know for a fact cockatiels can live to be thirty (my last cockatial who died lived that long). I expected to have him for another five years at least. I'm really sorry, plated. For what it's worth, my vet said that 17/18 for a cockatiel is something like their 80s, so he lived a long, full life. I'm sure he loved every minute of his time with you.
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Jun 17, 2013 16:16
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Chili posted:Also, talk about a Deus Ex Ineptus. Yeah I probably couldn't cover the whole cost myself so maybe not, but Bird doesn't deserve to live in a dungeon away from the one person who actually gave enough of a poo poo about her welfare.
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Jun 17, 2013 17:23
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So Hunter learned pretty quick last night that trying to fly equals going splat. The upside to all of this is that now that she's too afraid to go to the top of the cage she actually wants to hang out with me. It will be nice when the other feathers come back though. She looks pretty ridiculous.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:09
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electricgoat posted:Oh, I'm so sorry- you Bird Crazies I assume all fall into the category of giving your pets wonderful lives that make up for what they've lost by being in captivity. My beef is with people like my roommate who see a pretty animal and want to own it and make no effort to respect their pet. I don't know if most bird owners are like you folks or if more are like my roommate, but the fact that there's even one as negligent as my roommate makes me quite uncomfortable. From all the pictures and videos I've seen you folks post, you obviously do everything possible to make your birds spoiled and happy. Oh that's perfectly okay then, carry on! I have a lot of grump in my veins about this subject because I've had some lovely things said to me about how I'm ruining my birds lives and stuff by PETA people so I'm quick on the defensive jump. LET'S ALL <3 AND HUG EACH OTHER AND BOND OVER HOW CUTE BIRD IS That said, bird deaths are always awful I'm sure CJ had an awesome potato life and is eating millet in bird heaven now while being scared of his own halo. LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I'm really sorry, plated. ...So how old is the oldest a cockatiel can get because my aunt is currently in possession of a 25+ year old tiel. He eats only seeds, lives in a tiny cage and is a curmudgeon old bird. He got a tumor on his wing at some point but she took him to the hospital and they did a tiny bird operation and he's been fine for 6 or 7 years now. I just don't understand how this bird is still alive. I thought tiels made it to 20 MAYBE if they were in IMMACULATE CARE not in a tiny loving cage. p.s. I've tried to talk to her, tried to give her my larger (but still small) spare cages and she isn't having it. I tried to spend time with him and get him to warm up to people but he's so angry there's just no doing unless I were to keep him at my house. And I've tried that too sigh.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:09
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platedlizard posted:CJ just died. My male cockatiel I've had since '99. I don't know what happened, he seemed fine yesterday, even this morning. But I just found him dead on the bottom of his cage. I'm in shock, I've had him for fourteen years. He was seventeen. Maybe age? I know for a fact cockatiels can live to be thirty (my last cockatial who died lived that long). I expected to have him for another five years at least. Sorry to hear that, but that was a great age for a cockatiel. 30 is crazy old, really exceptional, so while 17 may seem little in comparison it isn't. He must have had a good life. Slaughterhouse-Ive posted:So Hunter learned pretty quick last night that trying to fly equals going splat. The upside to all of this is that now that she's too afraid to go to the top of the cage she actually wants to hang out with me. It will be nice when the other feathers come back though. She looks pretty ridiculous. Can you get a photo? I'd like to see this featherless potato.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:23
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Thanks guys, I'm feeling better now after a night's sleep. His son, JR, is the one I'm worried about now. They've been together for JR's whole life and now he's alone. Sydney, my parakeet, used to share a cage with them until I was forced to downsize by a move, so I'm thinking about putting them back together so at least he'd have another bird in the cage with him. (I don't normally recommend mixing different species of parrots but cockatiels seem to get along fine with grass parakeets and budgies. Sydney is a female turquosine who is pretty mellow for a turq) It's been real quiet in the house today.Amaya posted:
Birdi, my ancient guy who lived to be in his early 30s (and looked it), was kept in a tiny cage and fed nothing but seed until I got him when he was 20ish. So, no joke, they can live into their thirties. The oldest cockatiel I have ever heard of was 36, and lived in a similar situation. I think it's genetics and possibly gender that determines how long they live, to be honest. Birdi was a normal male gray cockatiel, and it seems like virtually every really old cockatiel I have seen was a male gray cockatiel. CJ was a piedbald cockatiel and he was really small, his normal weight was about ten grams less than the average. He was not underweight, he was simply very short. So I think his genetics were maybe not as good as Birdi's were. That isn't to say a big cage and a healthy diet won't have an effect, when I got Birdi he was suffering from Stage 1 Bumblefoot as well as arthritis from being in a small cage with bad perches. A larger cage with proper perching and healthier diet helped him to heal his feet, although his arthritis never got any better. He had chronic heart-failure as well, which my vet said was the result of a chronic parasite infection that he had for most of his life that wasn't treated in time. By the time we had treated him the damage had been done. Basically proper care will maximize their genetic potential for life, but it can't extend it past what their genetics have set them up for. For some birds this means a very short life, unfortunately, thanks to rampant inbreeding for certain color mutations, in my opinion.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:40
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Sorry for your loss, plated! You gave CJ an awesome life! My vet claimed to be seeing a 35 year old cockatiel a couple years ago. She hasn't mentioned it since then so I don't know if it's now 37+ or if it died since then. When she first told me I was 100% positive someone was lying or just misinformed but maybe it really was the truth.
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Jun 17, 2013 20:25
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platedlizard posted:For some birds this means a very short life, unfortunately, thanks to rampant inbreeding for certain color mutations, in my opinion. Huh. It never occurred to me that Rosy being a lutino (even one so carefully bred as to not have the lutino bald spot) might have had a say in her lifespan.
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Jun 17, 2013 21:22
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