We have just welcomed Dudley into our home. He (she ?) is a five month old cockatiel. We have had him about 2 weeks. We got him from firends who birds gave birth. I have read a number of books, but they do not answer some of my questions. Could you please help us?

1. They mention that it is easier to train a young cockatiel. When is a cockatiel an adult. At what age?

2. He will eat from our hands when we are outside the cage, but when we put our hands in, he seems unhappy. He opens his mouth and sometimes moves towards us and has hissed on ocassion. They say a young cockatiel will not bite or will not bite hard. Again, is he young and is this true about the biting?

Many thanks from Dudley and us!

at one time i had about 36 cockatiels and yes they do bite from an early age..can you tell me what colour yours is? if its grey with bright orange cheeks its a male, the female is a lot duller on the cheeks.

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A young male cockatiel will sing/warble where as a female will screech/shrill, a male will sing before his cheeks colour up!

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You never own a cat unless the cat owns you!

Dudley is grey with orange cheeks, but were told that we couldn't determine the sex until he/she had molted. Dudley doesn't seem to sing. He squaks.

36 cockatiels! You really must be an expert on them! Is the first molting the signal that they are adults?

We shall be prepared for bites, thank you...

Many thanks for your interest!

lol its not as bad as it sounds, i had a large aveiry with cockateild and buddgies,i found both to be very amusing to watch, they love to explore and they love it when it rains,you will tell beter after the first moult if it s male or female, some you can tell before this though.i had whites, greys and pearls.along with all different coloured buddies..i could go into the avery and feed them off of my hands.geat fun sadley we lost loads to rats from a garden that backed onto ours,so we sold the rest..but i would love another one.perhaps one day lol..

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For dog friendly holidays cottages click the link below.
http://www.penmaenuchafarm.co.uk/location.cfm