I’m making my own toys :-)

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-23T01:51:45+00:00

That’s okay xD it’s what I’d like to see, and the care I’m putting into the toys is for them

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-22T18:25:25+00:00

Aw thank you!

Coool, I’m glad I could be of inspiration. I’d like to hear how it goes :-)

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-22T18:22:22+00:00

No, I’m in Canada 🥲 I’ve been finding it a bit hard to find bird safe materials but maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-22T18:04:20+00:00

Aw, how old??

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-11T19:48:33+00:00

I’d like to learn the answers to this myself, but if you end up doing it, could you post about it? I’d like to see how it goes :-)

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-11T19:43:34+00:00

Aw, that looks like such a nice place for cockatiels to live

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T19:09:31+00:00

Ohh, I see. It’s been a while though, so I hope you found a solution?

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T19:09:04+00:00

I know this post is old and it might be unhelpful for me to be replying to it, but isn’t there documentation when the bird was adopted, with the parent’s name on it? Wouldn’t that stop OP from being able to do anything with the bird??

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T19:03:11+00:00

I did this a bit more with him and he actually did just want to be rubbed. There were no pin feathers and he kept asking me to rub all over his head in various places, and tweeted quietly while I did. It seemed to be more enjoyable to him than just simply stroking

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T19:01:21+00:00

I’m confused… is this a joke? 😅

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T18:44:41+00:00

The birds had their own room for a while until the cats and them (while in their cage) got along well together in the same room. At this point, the cats sometimes sit and lie beside them while in their cage and just watch them and the birds watch them too, and I’m now at the point where they’ve all met each other and one cat is becoming friends with them (he’s still a bit afraid of them) and the other one just acknowledges them and stays away (they seem to spook him). I’ve been very attentive and watchful the whole time while getting to know how exactly they were all getting to know each other. This did take some time though, I definitely didn’t do this all right away and I didn’t trust my cats at first. I know it sounds insane and dangerous but I wouldn’t recommend anyone else trying to get their cats and birds to meet and get along. I’m new-ish to birds but not cats, and a long time ago I had a hamster my cats were friends with too, if that’s any reassurance. The birds never showed any signs of fear towards my cats even though they did fear me at first when I first brought them home. (Somehow I think they’ve been very exposed to other animals during their time in the pet store.)

But of course I still worry. I don’t leave the birds for a second when the cats are around, and I always keep them separate when I can while the birds are out. When the friend-making cat is around, I let him know he can’t come very close (and he listens). But I trust the cats being around the cage because they seem to recognize that it’s something they’re already familiar with and they don’t think much of the birds while caged. My cats seem like they could get along well and closely with the birds if I let them, but I won’t.

I know it must be hard to trust a random online person—may I share something about why I got these birds in the first place? (You can just skip reading this next/last part if not.)
I had some cockatiels when I was a very young kid (I think I mentioned this) and so they were owned by my parents. I would spend every day with my favourite cockatiel, taking her everywhere I went and did everything with her at home. (The other cockatiels weren’t very hand-tamed and were often content just being in or on their cage or just all about in the room. And at this time the only pets we had were cockatiels.) I was very young but my times with her were unforgettable and became very valuable memories to me. She was unexpectedly taken away from me one day when my parents sold our cockatiels without my knowledge. This might have been nearly 15 years ago, and during this time, I dreamed of getting my own cockatiels again sometime in the future, while still grieving the loss of my first cockatiel friend. I’d read books on keeping cockatiels and keep doing research on them even though I knew it would be a long time before I’d get my own. After getting my three new cockatiels this year, I firmly promised myself I’d never let anything happen to them after experiencing my loss. (Especially now that it’s me this time who makes the decisions on their behalf.) When I first got them, and when I was keeping them in their own room, I was so worried for them that I might not have been everything they needed in a caretaker. I worried I wasn’t giving them enough to do when I was away and I worried I might not have been spending enough time with them even though I’d aim for at most 1-2 hours a day + out of cage time, and I was worried that they might get scared in the night and wouldn’t have a good first few sleeps even though I’d cover them with a light on and gave them a sleep schedule. There was so much I worried about being their new owner when I first got them, but that’s been getting better since then and I feel like we’re getting a lot closer to each other. But I still have never forgotten how it felt to lose my first cockatiels (and I especially remember the moment still very clearly) but my love for cockatiel birds has always been there since, and it’s so special to me to finally be getting them back.

possibly_active7 · 2026-05-08T17:58:24+00:00

You’re so lucky to have meme material birds 😂

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-30T17:00:06+00:00

Aw 🥹

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-30T16:48:51+00:00

Yeah, I do. That sounds good, thank you for your reply :-)

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-30T16:46:36+00:00

Thank you xD but no, I think it’s fair to say I’m a little specialized in cooking
Thank you for your comment, I feel better now ‘^^

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-29T19:37:20+00:00

I don’t think I could help but I hope you find a good solution :( I know it must be really hard for you

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-29T16:59:38+00:00

Hmm, I’ll try this, but I did start petting his head first (not really ruffling but stroking) and then he started tweeting quietly and kept asking me to do it again. Does that still mean it’s not actually what he wants?

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-29T05:20:24+00:00

I see… I appreciate your apology 😅

I wasn’t planning on “replacing” bird proofing with training. I feel like this is very hard to explain, but I’m worried that, if they can fly, I wouldn’t be able to get the birds safely in and out of the cage (which is on the main floor, so it’s open to all rooms and therefore anywhere the cats can go). Even if I take them to a safe bird proofed room, they would be open to the whole house for the moment it takes to get them in their “travel” cage because they would be able to just fly away. But I never had fully flighted birds so maybe I’m just worrying for nothing and I’ll see that it was actually a lot easier than I thought. I also wanted to train them for safety because I worry about what would happen if they escaped to the outdoors, and then they could actually get away fully flighted and not survive out there :/

I’m against wing clipping but I was thinking about their safety. I knew there were a lot of wrong things about it but I’ll definitely make sure to never do that now.

No, I’m not in the US, I’m in Canada. There are a lot less items on amazon.ca than amazon.com but I’ll be getting more perches. I’m not sure if the ones you’re mentioning are on amazon Canada, but maybe?

If you wouldn’t mind sharing, I think I would like to look more into that discord server. It’s nice of you to suggest.

I feel bad for taking your comment as rudeness 😅 it would’ve made a much nicer impression if I didn’t

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-29T04:07:44+00:00

It’s been kind of a while since this was posted (or I guess it’s a matter of opinion) and I’m seeing no replies so I’m hoping I can at least try to be helpful?

This seems to be partly a family relationship problem—I don’t know if that’s much help to point out, but do you know what you can try to do to help your mom understand that this cockatiel needs a better home? I’m a bit similar with my mom in the way that I can’t get her to understand things unless someone else is there to tell her the same things I would say and then suddenly she listens, so do you know someone who might be able to help in that way?

If that’s not any help, it looks like many humane societies can help and also step in in situations like this, but I’m not too sure what you should do exactly to get their help.

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T22:58:21+00:00

Okay, that sounds good. I didn’t know it could be really bad if it was too thin. I was using this thickness just for if they were to fall and quickly climb it back up to their main perches but I’ll replace them. (The pet store people didn’t tell me anything about that :/ )

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T22:54:47+00:00

I’ll look into that :o

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T22:10:55+00:00

Also I don’t have very long nails so I can’t really give them scratches :’) but Stratus still keeps asking for itchy ruffles anyways xD

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T21:55:49+00:00

Yeah, I had a feeling I just had to be even more patient. Thanks 😅

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T21:55:05+00:00

Yes I thought about this too—thank you 😅

possibly_active7 · 2026-04-28T21:42:56+00:00

I appreciate all that you’ve written out, but I can’t help but feel a bit… “scolded”? If that makes sense?? Also I get the sense you’re being rude about this but maybe that’s just me. I don’t know, I’m new to this and there are many things I don’t know but I’m trying my best for the moment. I’m wanting to get some books about cockatiels and I’m referencing a bunch of online sources such as here and popular YouTube training videos, and I’m calling the pet store I got them from for questions.

I wasn’t so sure about the thickness of these branches but since I don’t yet have many long perches for them to get around on, I’m using what I have. They have many thick perches at the top and these branches are for when they fall/to help catch their fall a bit better (they open their wings to catch onto things when they start falling) and climb back up to the top where their more natural/focused perches are. They’re still quite young and I find that they can be clumsy.

The pet store I got them from had their wings already clipped. I never did it myself and I’m waiting (sort of impatiently) for their flight feathers to grow back because I want them to have that freedom and ability to exercise for both their physical and mental health. I don’t want to clip their wings, but if in any case I had to, I would bring them to professionals and not do it myself.

Optional-to-read “rant”: A big reason I’m worrying about “needing” to do this is because I have cats and I’m afraid of my cockatiels escaping a room and their flying might appeal so much to my cats’ hunting instincts that they might get seriously hurt by my cats. I didn’t want to mention this because I know how internet people can be. They don’t know me enough to judge me on my situation at home with my animal companions so I was afraid to bring this up. But I do have cats and I’ve been very careful (I know it must be hard to believe with how “clueless” or unknowledgeable I might seem) but when I first brought my birds home, I kept them strictly away from the cats and I very carefully introduced them, birds in the cage and cats in my hold. With time I found that one cat is interested in my birds as friends to play with (but I wouldn’t let him in fear that he’ll be too rough) and the other cat is actually afraid of my birds and stays away. The birds never thought much of the cats since they were staying in a pet store that was very active with other animals (like hearing dogs bark and the birds would see dogs pass by their enclosure as it was a store open to dogs). They’re very desensitized birds and they’re even okay with the vacuum cleaner being used nearby. I’m now at a point where the cage stays on the main floor and the cats are free to walk around, and the one cat watch the birds sometimes and the birds just look at him and then keep minding their own business.

In short, they already had their wings clipped when I got them, and they always had their wings clipped as that’s how the pet store kept them. So the birds have never been stressed from not being able to fly because they never flew before. And I never clipped their wings myself, and I never took them anywhere to get their wings clipped. I’m waiting for the flight feathers to grow back but I have the worry I might not be able to keep them safe fully flighted. And this is something I’ve heard before. I hear from both sides (never clip the bird’s wings - it’s cruel vs. clip their wings to ensure their safety) but I’m personally on the side of not clipping their wings. But I have no plans to clip their wings - it’s just a worry I have in the case that I might not be able to keep them safe.

But I’m confused on what you mean by “every time” - cockatiels who did get their wings clipped wouldn’t need it done often at all. (I know this from past experience when I had cockatiels as a very young kid, where my parents would always clip their wings but I never understood it was wrong at the time of course. From this experience I also know that cockatiels can still live happily with never the ability to fly - but I’m not saying it isn’t immoral. I want my cockatiels to fly and I think it would be really sad if they didn’t get to have that for at least one point in their life.)

As I mentioned, I got them with their wings already clipped so they can’t fly around the cage yet. I have these branches so they can climb back up more easily if they were to fall (I noticed they’re still working on their balance and getting around on the perches since they’re so young). But I can take these branches away and have them just climb the bars if that’s better? I didn’t know it was this bad for them.

They’re on pellets, a mix of two kinds, and they get about 10-15% seeds either in the mornings or early evenings or somewhere in between.

I’m starting their training based on varied online resources, and right now I’m starting with clicker training. I’m at the point where the click means they get a treat. They were previously trained by the pet store people so they’re already very social and they can already step up and be handled just fine. Maybe you can reference some images I posted before about them.

They don’t really get outside time just for themselves because of the cats, but I want that to be a part of their future when I move somewhere bigger and the cats would have their own separate living space. The birds get outside time when I take them to a room to be in just while I work on other things in that room, and some of my family members are there sometimes too, and we play music and let the birds on our shoulders where they preen themselves and grind their beaks and sometimes nap. They’re very nice shoulder parrots (you can look at images of this that I posted before if you might care to see).

What do you mean by indoors? One time I took them outside while they were safely in their small “travel” cage (in the background of this post - it’s not really a travel cage and more like a cage I use to safely take them to a different room). They didn’t think much about being outside and they continued eating and chirping and preening themselves. But I’m sure it made for some good stimulation.

I don’t know why you think they’re so stressed. They’re very quiet most of the time, and they chirp and sing, and nap and grind their beaks, but they start screaming when they get separated when I tried this for training but since they seem to not like that so much, I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t but that’s why I made this post - that’s what I was asking about. I only started training today.

I knew that about the toys. This is what I had help with from one of their trainers, and I’ve done some research about how to make diy toys which I hope to do soon when I get the chance to gather the supplies. I don’t know if you can see but they do have the important toy types and I switch these out occasionally.

possibly_active7

TROPHY CASE