Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Male cockatiel attacked female and drew blood so I separated them, but now the female laid an egg and I’m afraid of putting him back in.?

 

Don’t put them back together in the same cage yet. The hen does not need the male pestering her.

 

She may continue to lay eggs without him. You can remove the eggs as they are laid.

 

If you think they may be fertile (saw the birds mate) and want her to hatch them then you will need to get a cockatiel nest box for her.

 

 

You then can put the egg inside the box on some pine shavings or ripped up paper towels.

 

She may or may not go in after them, she may or may not sit on them, she may or may not take care of the eggs and after hatching, care for the babies.

 

If the eggs don’t hatch in the nest box with the mother after 3-4 weeks they are infertile and can be discarded.

 

Are they a young couple or an older pair?

 

How large is their cage together? It needs to be at least 24″ wide preferably wider. A small cage will contribute to bickering between couples.

 

Why are parrots so loud?

 

With between 300 and 400 species of parrots across the planet to say they are ALL noisy is patently untrue.

 

Poicephalus parrots are not noisy, Senegals, Red bellies, Meyers, Niam Niams, brown necked, grey-headed Rueppell’s, Yellow-faced and cape parrots. Nine subspecies from the continent of Africa.

 

Our female cockatiel whistled but that was quite pleasant.

 

Our male ringneck had a 20 – 30 word vocabulary and he was funny when he spoke.

 

Many people say cockatoos are noisy but which ones? There are 30 species of Cockatoos.

 

Major Mitchell cockatoos are not noisy, some black cockatoos drum on their perches more than vocalize.

 

Birds are not noisy so they can call out over long distances, they’re noisy so they can call out over each other in a flock.

 

In Australia, hundreds of thousands of budgies will reside in a single flock as they send out search parties for grazing areas and water.

 

 

The search parties return and are able to communicate to the flock where to move next to eat and perhaps rest.

 

As for making parrots quiet, there are many things that you can do including re-directions: coming to an agreement over daily “scream time”.

 

As for not being able to “make” birds or animals do anything, that’s preposterous (referring to a comment in Quora).

 

Humans have been training animals be they horses, and even falcons going back to the time of Genghis Khan or the great Barnum & Bailey Circus which had hundreds of trained animals.

 

We in the US might all be speaking German today if it were not for the 500,000 homing pigeons that were trained during World War II to deliver messages from behind enemy lines.

 

So once again, all the self-righteous bird companion finger-pointers saying that “we are the only ones allowed to keep birds all the rest of you are incompetent nincompoops!”

 

Riddle me this? Who is a bird person? Is it a part of my DNA? How do I know if I am not a bird person?

 

Is someone on Quora keeping track and sending emails reminding people that they are not bird people and don’t even ever TRY to maintain a Bird?

 

 

No one in the thread suggested training of any sort. Clicker training or flight training.

 

What does flight training have to do with screaming? The same thing has to do with reducing hormonal behavior.

 

Flying makes the bird tired thus less prone to scream and act hormonally because they are tired from flying.

 

Our Senegal who spent 7-1/2 years in a cage 22 hours a day (in a rescue) with clipped wings, flies 10 feet, 5 – 10 times a day, like or not. Trust me, Peaches is no screamer.

 

Every time somebody tells me “my bird is untrainable” or “You can’t “make” a parrot do anything,” I share this video.

 

 

Julia writes: Mitch, I love your blog posts every week! I have a question I hope you can help with. I am building out a new bird room that has near zero natural light.

 

I want to use the proper ceiling fixtures and bulbs for maximum benefit. What would you suggest?

 

The room is approx 15’x15′ and I would like to incorporate ceiling fixtures.

 

My bird is out of her cage all day and spends time all over the house and outside, weather permitting, however want to create a safe and special place for her to play! Your thoughts are appreciated!

 

Hi Julia

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

Due to a law of physics called the inverse square law of light (see attached), for a bird to get any benefit from lighting, the fixture should be no more than six inches to one foot over the cage.

 

So in your case,  perhaps you can install one main ceiling fixture ( no ceiling fans we call those shredded tweet)  and a hanging fixture or two, be they single lamps or fluorescent tube fixtures.

 

The hanging fixture(s) should be 6″ to 12″ above the cage.

 

 

I would then advocate timers on at least the hanging lamp(s)  set to 12 hours on and 12 hours off helping stabilize your bird’s circadian rhythms.

 

Bulbs should be at least 100 watts each (by incandescent standards) but not necessarily need to provide UVA and UVB.

 

Please reach out with further questions.

 

My Indian ringneck isn’t eating anything but seeds. What should I do?

 

In the wild ringnecks eat seeds, blossoms, fruit where they can get it, grains, green veggies an occasional nut, and sometimes even nectar.

The smart ones will find bird feeders that humans put out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with an all-seed diet is that it’s high in fat and usually cannot supply enough amino acids to sustain feather growth and other caloric needs of the bird.

 

You have a couple of choices. You can offer a robust supplement like HARI (Hagen) Prime.

 

You can also shift the seed diet to Hagen Tropimix or any of the seed blends that are offered by Higgins as both contain pellets within their respective mixes.

 

Our Senegal likes Lafebers Nutriberries that I would crush (usually underfoot). Nutriberries contain 8% pellets and can sustain any bird for a lifetime alone.

 

Fruits and vegetables should also be offered routinely. We use generic frozen mixed vegetables that we thaw out under cold water for about 10 to 30 seconds so that it stays fresher in the cage throughout the day helping to round out our bird’s diets.

 

Best

Mitch

 

Hi, pls a need a talking parrot for my kids. How can I get one?

 

We do not sell parrots, we only sell supplies.

 

Please note that parrots do not come already trained to talk.

 

You would purchase a young parrot, ($300-$1000), and a cage ($400-$2000) plus perches, toys, food ($250), then you would need to spend a few hours daily with the bird bonding and talking to it.

 

After a few months to a few years, the bird might speak a few words for you. The quality of the talking will depend on the time you spend with it, the proximity with you and your family, and the parrot’s desire to talk.

 

The parrot will vocalize (chirp, scream, holler) from dawn until dusk regardless if you are napping or on the phone.

 

They throw their food (half of every bite taken), out of their cage so you will have to vacuum daily, plus their feathers emit dust so you will have to dust at least once a week.

 

They live anywhere from 5 years to 70 years depending on the bird. Avian Vets are very expensive and you can expect to pay about $200 for a check-up.

 

More with tests. You will need to have the nails trimmed either by a vet or learn how to hold a wriggling, complaining, biting bird, and do it yourself.

 

It takes a special person, family to have a parrot and truly be able to invite it to be a family member for life. Even if it does not talk.

 

I hope this helps. Please reach out if you require more information.

 

Catherine