[BussinSpain]

Hi all,  Does anyone know about Cockatiels?  I bought a one-year old female last Wednesday and yesterday she developed black colouring around her nostrils and beak!!!  She just sits at the bottom of her cage looking thouroughly miserable:(  Her cage is clean, has fresh water and food.  I will try and take her back to the pet shop this morning to see if they can help but any ideas would be gratefully received.  Thankyou.

[Jabberwock]

Hi,

Has the colouring around the beak and nostrils just appeared?  If so, then is there any chance that she has had a knock or a bang to that area ie, has she flown into a window?  Sitting on the bottom of the cage is invariably not a good sign I'm afraid and she really needs to see a vet as soon as possible preferably an avian specialist.  The important thing is to keep her warm just now, do you have a heat lamp or one of those halogen heater things which give out a real glow and try and position it near (but not too near!) her cage so that she gets the benefit of it.  Have you witnessed her eating and drinking lately?  Also has she blood in her poop............the easiest way to check is by putting sheets of plain white paper in the bottom of her cage and take the paper with you to the vet as they can tell quite a bit regarding a birds health by looking at her stools.
Good luck and hoping she will be given a clean bill of health.

[BussinSpain]

Thank you Jaberwock.  Not good news I'm afraid   I took her back to the pet shop - they specialise in birds thankfully.  The lady said she looked as though she was dying.  She held the bird in her hand and her head just dropped!  I am so sad - I only had her for a few days.  The lady very kindly gave me another bird in exchange which is very lively and clean!  When I got home I thoroughly disenfected the cage and all "hard-ware", threw out the sand and all feed.  The pet shop is very clean and the lady is knowledgable and friendly.  Even though we have a language barrier (of sorts) we get along just fine.  Watch this space for updates on "Loca" (feminine Spanish for "Crazy") as the new bird is now called.  As I got her out of the bird box she sunk her beak into my finger!  That's gratitude for you!  LOL!

[Jabberwock]

So sorry to hear about your wee girl, unfortunately birds can be masters at disguising ill health, and very often by the time that their owner becomes aware of it, it is invariably too late to save them .
I bred cockatiels for years and I'm just sorry I didn't read your message earlier, in fact haven't been on this site since last year and suddenly remembered my log in details this morning!
Your new cockatiel sounds as though she has a lively spirit (and beak!!) which is always a good sign and I look forward to updates on Loca in the future.........................presuming of course you have all fingers still intact to be able to type!!

[BussinSpain]

Thankyou Jabberwock:)  She is outside at the moment screeching her little heart out - there are Bee-eaters nearby and she is calling back to them - crazy bird!  Gave her a little piece of home-grown lettuce lunch-time - she seemed to like it.  At least I can guarantee no nasty sprays on the lettuce.  I need to get her tamed to my hand without fear of being shredded!!!!!!!!  Can you recommend any good books or sites on the subject of hand training please?  Would be eternally grateful.  If I can work out how to post a photo I will do so.

[Sassy]

Too much lettuce will give her diarhorrea and definitely no stalk.

[BussinSpain]

Loca dosn't seem to have eaten much since she arrived - shows through lack of seed husks in the cage.

[Jabberwock]

Hi,
Sorry for delay in getting back to you, a good website to start with regarding a bonding/training aspect would be
http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12
But I will warn you that patience is the key, that and a small amount of treats (bribery!!).  Don't expect too much from Loca to begin with, you need to earn her trust until she realises that your hands won't hurt her.  A good starting point is to try and get hold of some spray millet, this is like popcorn to tiels, totally irresistable but but not particularly nutritious, so be sparing...........pop a small bud into her food dish every day for a week (to get her "hooked"and then introduce your fingers to her by offering it to her through the bars, once she starts accepting food from your fingers she should quickly start to lose her fear.  I will be honest with you though that even after hand-rearing chicks from the age of 3 weeks old I still had the occasional one who would still take a nip at me when being told to step up, each has their own personality and some are decidedly more cuddly than others
Regarding her apparent lack of eating, can I ask what type of seed mix you are giving her?
My Tiels ate very little seed to be honest but they had fresh fruit and veggies twice a day as well as their seed dish.
Do you know her approximate age?
Sorry for all the questions but it just helps to know a wee bit about her.
If she is showing little or no interest in her food, I would try and introduce a warm mash for her...........sweet potato, brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, sweet peppers, cabbage, sprouts, small amounts of brown rice and wholewheat pasta etc, any combination of these may be enough to tempt her and as a bonus it will be nourishing and reinforce bonding as she will begin to see you as her provider/mate
Something that might prove useful to you is this link
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/tablefoods.html
for safe food for cockatiels, good luck and please keep us updated, I only have one parrot now and as much as I love him I still miss my tiels