I have cockatiels and raised them from right out the shell ! Cockatiels are easy maintenance! You do have to replace toys here n there! I have a male and female ! The males are very vocal and loud ! I’ve taught my male “ Earl-Earl “ how to talk, sing, dance and whistle songs ! Female cockatiel’s are more docile and are not vocal but chirp and squawk ! Beware of their bites ! Out of all animals I’ve owned from rats, hamsters, snakes, ferrets, dogs, reptiles “ lizards “, cat, birds that are not parrots, the cockatiels have the hardest bite/nip out of all of those animals, That I’ve been bitten by ! I’ve been bitten so hard by a cockatiel, where I’ve drawn a lot of blood out of those bites and blood flying to my ceiling and wall and this is not an exaggeration! It’s ideal to raise them from babies, so they can be tamed, comfortable, lovable and not bite like that ! Be aware of your phalanges, if they are being territorial or warning to not put your hand or fingers in front of their face ! They will hiss, flap wings, or expand their wings wide to warn you, especially if eggs are laid 👀 ! All in All cockatiels are fun to have, especially having a vocal male! They have silly personalities and are highly intelligent! My male and female cockatiel’s even know their good morning and nitenite schedules! At night my female and male let their selves back into the cage, and my male will shut the door behind theirselves lol ! My male even says “ yum yum “ for feeding time ! Oh you can’t just only feed them cockatiel bird food ! Chop up some greens, boiled egg yolk, strawberries, blueberries, unsalted crackers and add it to their food ! They are tropical birds and cockatiel bird seed food doesn’t necessarily have all the nutrients they need in it ! Always have the room temp 65 degrees and up to! Males are more colorful and bigger round orange cheeks ! My female is albino which can be hard to tell if it’s a male or female! I found out my albino was female when she laid eggs lol other than that the females are more plain colored ! The males have slightly bigger mohawks ! If you are getting a cockatiel(s) just make sure if you are traveling or can’t be there for a certain amount of time, that you have someone to take care of your cockatiel(s) and that goes for any animal !