Cockatiel is a biter and pooper...lol

[Peepsqueak]

I got a cockatiel about 2 monthes ago. Paulie is supposed to be a cockatiel for my daughter. We try to pay quite a bit of attention to him/her (not sure yet....of gender). He whistles and has not started talking yet. We got him at about 3 monthes old, I think. Anyway he/she is a dear but had a nasty habit of nipping at my neck when on my shoulder, and poops alot....I wish we could potty train Paulie. Anyway...we love Paulie...but do any of you have cockatiels, and if so how long did it take for them to start talking?

[jammomy]

Cockatiels can be lots of fun, and adorable - but do require lots of attention in order to be a good pet.

I have owned 3 in my lifetime. My first was a female Lutino; very sweet and gentle. She never learned to whistle tunes nor talk. My second was a normal gray; she never whistled tunes nor talked. By this time, I wanted a talker! So, for my third one, I went to a pet shop where they raised them and I watched for "male behavior". I picked one that I thought was a male; and apparently picked correctly! Eli learned to whistle tunes and say a few words within his first year. I have been told that males are the ones that generally learn to talk. One way to tell if you have a male or female (or so I've been told, but also proved true in my case) is that on the underside of their tail feathers will be either one or two "barred" feathers. As I recall, the females have two and the males have one. The males will have a type of "tune" to their chirping, whereas the females have more of a simple chirp. The males tend to be more aggressive; mine sure was! I think he had a testosterone overload! My male was a "Pearl" with beautiful markings. What I didn't know was that the Pearl males lose those markings after their first moult, so that was another way I knew for sure he was a male.

You can "potty-train" your cockatiel. LMK if you are interested and I will explain in another post.

The best thing is to pay lots of attention to them. Keep them where most of the family activity happens (avoid the kitchen - cooking fumes from Teflon can be fatal to them). Pick one word or phrase at a time (pretty bird, hello...) and repeat it often throughout the day. Also, spend approx 5 min. once or twice a day where you take him to a quiet room and speak the same word repeatedly. You can give him treats if you want, or just praise him. It's a slow process, so be patient and persistent. It took approx 2 mos for Eli to say his first word.

Most of all, enjoy your pet!

Janice