A Confusing Snooze

I am glad the Tall One is not going to work for a while. She has more time to take care of Miss Prissy and me, and the Cool One comes over more often. Yesterday, he visited us, and he held me in his hand. I fell asleep right away. Being around the Cool One is very relaxing. It feels as if I had never left the egg. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw the Cool One a few feet away from me. I was still in comfortable human hands, but it was the Tall One! He must have handed me off to her while I was snoozing. Talk about a rude awakening! I don't want her to start thinking that she can hold me like that! So I bit her right away and started moving toward the Cool One. Luckily, the Tall One realized that she could not hold me, so she handed me back to my friend's hand. I hope she doesn't try to hold me again! I bit her today when she tried to pick me up, just to make sure she doesn't get any ideas. I'm cool and tough, not cuddly!!!

The Tall One Is Back -- And So Am I!

Mes amis,

I apologize for my long absence. The Tall One did hide her computer, just as I feared, and after she got back, she kept hogging it to print pictures of her trip. She finally ran out of ink, and as soon as she left for work, I got online to update you.

While she was gone, the Cool One took good care of us. He came over every day and stayed with us for a long time. I liked it when he played with me! He held me upside down a lot!

When the Tall One finally got back, I was happy at first that 24-hour service had returned; it is very annoying when there is no butler around during the day to take care of me. I sat on her shoulder and preened her hair, and I even let her pet me and pick me up.

Don't you think after being gone so long she would want to be with me all day long? I like my Tall One, but she does not have her priorities straight. She actually went to work the day after she got back instead of staying with me! So I bit her the next time she tried to pick me up, and I even flew right towards her with my beak wide open to scare her. I turned at the last second and landed on the cage, but I think she got the message, because she cooked some of the yummy tortellini for me.

Now that I can finally get to the computer, I'll look through the pictures she took so I can share them with you!

Au revoir!

A Dreary Day

Bonjour!

I did not get a chance to post anything yesterday, mes amis. It was a dreary day, with cloudy skies and some rain, and I don't like rain. Neither does Miss Prissy. Even though we're nice and dry in the apartment, we cockatiels still don't like it when it's overcast. We like sunshine, and lots of it! On overcast days, Miss Prissy and I just sleep on our perches until the sun comes back on. The same is true for the Tall One, except that I can't imagine a perch big enough for her, so she sleeps on her couch. She did not sleep all day, of course, since she has to watch over us, but the times that she was awake, she was on the computer or carried some clothes back and forth.

The human clothing ritual is very interesting to watch, even though it does not make much sense. Since the poor things don't have feathers, they have to put on fabric of different colors to compensate. They change the colors often, which is very confusing to me. Luckily, I only have one human, but how do they tell each other apart when they get together? Anyway, one of the strange rituals humans follow is to carry clothes around. My human puts her clothes into a big basket and carries them out the door. Where she takes them, I don't know, but it can't be far, because she always comes back right away, but with an empty basket. After a while, she leaves again with her basket and brings the clothes back. She then folds them carefully in a certain pattern. I can only guess that this is a human preening ritual; since they don't have feathers to preen, they preen their clothes. I've tried to preen her clothes before, but I've given up, because they are too big for me. It would take me all day for just one item. Maybe there are some giant birds nearby with huge beaks that preen the humans' clothes for them. I don't want to find out, though; they might mistake me for their dinner!

Anyway, in the evening we all finally perked up. The Tall One made the light come on, and since we had snoozed all day, we had a lot of energy. I, for one, wanted to work on my blog, but the Tall One kept hogging the computer. I may have mentioned that patience is not my strong side; anyway, for a second I forgot all about the fact that my blog is a secret and the Tall One cannot find out about it. I flew from the cage to the top of the computer screen, which is about the same width as a comfortable perch, and glared at the Tall One to give me a turn. Luckily, she did not understand what I wanted, and thought I was coming for some quality time. She put her finger in front of me, and I stepped on it. She talked to me real nicely; I think it made her happy that I came to see her, so I forgot all about her hogging the computer, and I was glad she appreciated my presence like a well-trained human should.

When she tried to pet me, I flew off, but a few minutes later, both Miss Prissy and I landed on her. I even let the Tall One pet me for a little while without biting her. Then, I preened her arm for a while, and then I preened Miss Prissy while we were both sitting on the Tall One's arm. I was in such a good mood, I started serenading Miss Prissy. Like I said, I could have been an opera singer. Since Miss Prissy does not know the difference between a train whistle and a song, the beauty of my performance was lost on her, but the Tall One enjoyed it.

Doctors and Vets

If I did not live in a relatively small cage in a tiny apartment, I would think the Tall One is some kind of millionaire or celebity. She has different doctors for almost every part of her body! She goes to one doctor when she is coughing or has a cold, to another one for her sprained ankle, and today she even went to a special doctor just for her teeth!

The last one I absolutely can't understand. I don't even know why she has teeth in the first place. Miss Prissy and I get along just fine without them. Anyway, the Tall One went to her tooth doctor today, and she said some of her teeth needed fillings and had to be drilled on. Now, why does a tooth need to be filled? Is it hollow? The Tall One says the tooth doctor is nice, but she came home during lunch time with half of her face numb. She looked funny. She couldn't even smile or blink right!

At least she had enough common sense to stay home this afternoon and not go to that place she calls work. Everybody there would have laughed at her. To make her feel better, Miss Prissy sat on her shoulder and I preened her hair while sitting on her head. Then, the Tall One put us back into the cage and went to sleep.

Once I was sure she was fast asleep, I got out of the cage and onto the computer. We birds only need one type of doctor, but a special kind called an avian veterinarian. Other vets may not have studied birds, but avian vets do. Birds need to go to the avian vet at the slightest sign of trouble. That's because we birds are so resilient that we hide our illnesses very well, so by the time our humans finally notice, things are usually getting serious.

I found some information for you on finding avian veterinarians:

Why and How to Find an Avian Vet

Why Your Bird Needs an Avian Veterinarian, How To Find One, and How To Tell If You REALLY Have One....

Find a Local Avian Veterinarian

Finding an Avian Vet

Avian Vet Lists and Search Engines

AAV: Find Your Local Veterinarian

AAV: Active Veterinarian Members

ParrotParrot: Avian Vet

Parrot Connections: Avian Veterinarians

Birds n Ways: Avian Vets and Veterinarian Services

Toolady: Avian Vets in the UK

Vetafarm: Australian Avian Vets


If you have any other good links, please post them under Comments!

Where Did You Put My Computer, Human?

One of the annoying things I have to deal with is my human's sporadic clean-up sprees. I'm not sure if she folded up the computer and simply put it away somewhere, if she had it repaired, or if she took it to the place she calls work, but either way, I could not find it, no matter how hard I looked. Usually, she is very careless and leaves it sitting on my desk, ready for me to blog away, but this time, all that was left was some birdseed and papers. I was not happy at all. I love my computer, and I enjoy surfing the web!

Finally, the computer was back in its place today, and she even left it running, so all I had to do was log into Blogger so that I could finally post the update I am sure you have been eagerly awaiting. My question is: How do I keep my human from putting the computer away again? I heard her telling the Cool One that she is planning to go on a trip soon. I'm not sure when or where, and honestly, I don't really care, because it means the Cool One will be coming over every day for a long time to play with me and give us food, and of course, I prefer his company to hers. The thing that worries me is that she might take her computer with her or clean house and put it somewhere so the place looks organized. I'm not sure what to do to prevent that. What I really need is a tiel-sized computer in my cage, but I've searched the web and found nothing. We cockatiels are shamelessly neglected when it comes to fulfilling our computer needs!

Saturday Snoozing

The weekend started very nicely. The Tall One is staying home so far, which is very good. She let us out, and Miss Prissy flew onto her head right away. The Tall One knows to get Miss Prissy down from there immediately and put her on her shoulder so that the landing space is clear for me. While Miss Prissy preened the Tall One, I climbed down to the other shoulder. I did some preening, too, because the Tall One definitely needs it. Then, Miss Prissy settled in on the Tall One's arm and I climbed on the other shoulder, and we both fell asleep. I love to have a little snooze!

Let Us Out!

Miss Prissy and I tried to get the idea across to the Tall One that we wanted to get out. It took a while, but finally she relented. What she does not realize is that, if we had pushed the door just a little harder, we could have gotten out without her help. But like I said, I want to keep that a secret...

A Knock on the Door

Except for one light, the apartment was dark, and Miss Prissy and I were snoozing in our cage. The Tall One slept in her bed. After a busy day full of eating, chewing, and preening, I like my rest, so I was not happy when there was a knock on the door just a little while after we had all settled in for the night. I opened my eyes, and I saw flashing lights outside. I wondered if we would have to evacuate the apartment, and I think the Tall One had the same idea, because she looked at our cage as she walked to the door. Obviously, she was already worried about getting us out. She has her shortcomings, but at least she has her priorities straight.

She did not open the door, which was very smart, of course, because you never know who might be out there. When she asked who was there, a man's voice answered: "Police!" Of course, I wondered what she might have done to get into trouble. The problem with humans is that they are very hard to supervise. I wondered if jails take bird seed in lieu of bail money, but luckily, it turned out that she had not done anything wrong. He said that he was there because they got a call that she had breathing problems, which sounded very silly to me. My human's breathing is just fine, thank you very much, and when she's sick, I send her to the doctor. I take good care of my human, there is no reason to call the police.

Then he asked: "Do you mind if we come in?" Luckily, my human has been watching more detective shows than is good for her, and she knows that without a warrant, nobody is allowed to come into our apartment and disturb our sleep. She would not let anybody in, and she asked who called. The guy said it was her daughter, and she told him she did not have one. It was very annoying, because he did not seem to believe her. Don't you think she would know the members of her family? Neither he nor the Tall One sounded very happy, and I wondered why he did not go away and let us go back to sleep. He read off the address he had been given, and it matched ours. Then he said that fire and rescue were there. At that point, I began to fluff up my feathers and stretch my wings, just in case I would have an audience. The Tall One seemed to think along the same lines, because she started grabbing the things she calls clothes.

Suddenly, the guy's tone of voice changed, and he became all friendly. He said that the dispatcher had just gotten another call that said our address was the wrong one. See, he should have listened to the Tall One right away, it would have saved him some time! He apologized for waking us up, which, of course, was the right thing to do after all that trouble. Then he finally left. I think he and the rescue people finally went to the right place and helped the human with the breathing problems; hopefully, they got there on time. The lights flashed quite a while longer and then went away. Miss Prissy, the Tall One, and I went back to sleep. I hope we don't get interrupted again!

Getting to the Food, Fireman Style

The Tall One filled up our food dish while we were on top of the cage. As soon as she had put it back into our cage, Miss Prissy and I slid down the cage bars like firefighters to get to it quickly! Guess who won the race...

Looking for a Good Book

I was bored, so I decided to look for a good book in the Tall One's bookshelf. The next question, of course, is: Should I read it, or should I shred it?

Bread!

I'm finally in a much better mood! The Tall One brought home some of that yummy bread and gave us a large slice. I chirped happily and started eating, and pretty soon, Miss Prissy joined in. It didn't take long for us to make it disappear!

I'm Cranky! Get Out of My Way!

I am the king of the cage! The pictures show you what will happen if you come too close!

Leisure Time

The Tall One went to work later than usual yesterday, so Miss Prissy and I took the opportunity to move about the apartment while the cage was open. Afterwards, we settled in on the porch for a little snooze.

She's Not a Duck - Or Is She?

Bonjour, mes amis!

There comes a time when even an extremely intelligent and resourceful cockatiel like moi needs some advice, and that time is now. You know about my beautiful companion Miss Prissy. As gorgeous as she is, she also has some strange habits. Most of them are harmless, like looking dreamily into space as if she were seeing angels, or being startled easily.

However, lately she has taken to a very strange behavior that I can't quite understand. She likes to sleep while sitting on the water dish, with her feet in the water! She's not a duck! I'm worried about her possibly getting sick. Not to mention that our drinking water doesn't exactly taste better that way! The Tall One was not very happy when she saw Miss Prissy acting that way, and I have a feeling that she is thinking about taking our water dish away overnight. What if I get thirsty?

My faithful human, cockatiel, and canine readers, has anyone experienced this with a tiel before? If yes, what should I do? Please post your experiences, ideas, or advice under comments!

Merci!

J. L. LeMone

Paper Fun

I spent most of the morning tearing up the paper the Tall One put underneath our cage while Miss Prissy looked on from our porch. Here are the pics:

Go Away, Tall One!

The Tall One is getting on my nerves. She just does not know what she wants! Sometimes she sleeps in the other room, sometimes in our room on her couch. Sometimes she sleeps during the day and covers us up (she calls it a nap), and other times, she is gone all day long. Sometimes, she gets up before the sun rises, and other days, she sleeps when it's still light outside. And sometimes, she gets up in the middle of the night, and then she goes back to sleep!

I just don't understand these humans! We cockatiels like having a routine! To make matters worse, the humans have control over some of the light, so sometimes it's dark for a while, and then the light comes back on when the Tall One wants it to, and at the craziest times. Usually, it's not that bad, because she goes to bed at almost the same time every night and then gets up early five times, and then she goes to bed late and sleeps late two times, before her routine starts all over again. Ever since she got sick, though, she's been sleeping or waking up at the craziest times!

In my opinion, she needs to go away for a while and let the Cool One come over instead until she can return to a routine like a well-trained human should. I tried to get the message across to her by fluffing up and turning away from her when she talked to me, but I don't think she got it. I like having a human, but sometimes, the behavior issues are a problem.

Entertaining the Tall One

The Tall One has been home all day. She says she has a stomachache. If you ask me, that's because she eats all kinds of strange things. Maybe I should convert her to a pellet diet, hehe! She says someone called the Flu is going around, and she did not sound happy about it, so I hope he does not come here; she's already unhappy enough as it is.

Miss Prissy flew on the Tall One's head right away this morning, and I followed. We sat on her shoulders for hours. I preened her hair and her neck, and I think that made her feel better. Finally, both Miss Prissy and I fell asleep for a while. The Tall One has her shortcomings, but she does make for a great perch! Later on, I chirped at her for a while so it would not be so quiet and boring around here, and then I got behind the cage and tore up some of the newspaper while screeching at it. I pecked at the wooden cabinet for a while, because the Tall One likes it when I act like a woodpecker. She was getting too quiet, though, so I got ready to chew on the rubber cord. Just like I thought, she told me to quit, and I was happy that I at least got a reaction out of her.

I'm telling you, it's pretty hard to entertain a human who is sick!

Cockatiel Safety

It is extremely important to keep your bird safe and healthy. We are very sensitive to many plants, foods, and chemicals. Remember, what might be dangerous to us could also be dangerous to you, so it's in your own interest to keep us safe. Make sure to read all the links below and to check your feathered friend's environment for hazards.

I have a lot to say about the Tall One, and not all of it is good, but she will go to extremes to keep us safe. As soon as she got me, she researched cockatiels on the internet, and when she found out that non-stick pans can kill birds, she threw all of hers out and bought a new set that had no Teflon or any other non-stick stuff on it. She'd rather scrub the sticky mess than put me in danger.

When the apartment people come to spray for bugs, she either puts Miss Prissy and me in the other room and completely seals off the door, or takes us over to the house of her friend with the long dark hair, who also has a tiel, so that we can stay in a safe place. She did the same thing when they painted the apartment, even though everybody told her the paint was non-toxic. She left us at the dark-haired one's house for several days until all the fumes were gone. She said she was not going to take any chances. She won't even use bug spray, spray starch, or insect repellant in the same room with us.

Even though she's completely addited to chocolate, she won't let us near it. She won't even let us out of the cage when she's eating the stuff, and she washes her hand before handling us.

One time, there was a fire alarm in the building, and there was smoke in the hall. She covered us up with a thick blanket and took us outside, where the firemen admired us after finding out that it was just a washing machine that had broken and overheated. There was no way the Tall One would have left us in the building, exposed to smoke. She took us into the fresh air right away (luckily, it was warm outside) and made sure the building had been aired out before she took us back inside.

Part of a human's job is to keep the tiels safe, and so it's important to keep yourself informed. Of course, I can't guarantee the accuracy of the information on these sites, but they seem like a good place to start. If you know of any other good sites on the topic, please post them below under "Comments". Of course, I will keep you updated on other informative articles I may find in the future.

Read these pages carefully! Your tiel's safty depends on it!

* Hazards and Care of Your Bird. By Bobbi Brinker, Winged Wisdom Pet E-zine, 1998. This article describes potential hazards, such as teflon pans, self-cleaning ovens, links to articles about toxic foods, plants, chemicals, and toy safety, roaming, guests, other companion animals, windows and mirrors, vet visits, bird fairs, bathing, toys, and more.

* Household Hazards. Another page on the very informative Cockatiel Cottage site. It describes all types of visible and invisible household dangers, some of which I was not even aware of. A must-read!

* Hazardous Plants. A list of potentially dangerous plants to birds.

* Safe Plants and Trees. Before exposing your bird to a plant or perch, make sure that it is on the list of safe items!

* Safe and Toxic Plants. Two useful lists by my friend Eleanor at the Cockatiel Cottage: a list of safe plants, and a list of toxic ones.

* Poisonous Foods, Metals, and Compounds. A list of dangerous stuff.

* Safe Cleaning and Pest Control. By Carolyn Swicegood, Winged Wisdom Pet E-zine, 1999. We cockatiels are very sensitive to chemicals. Some cleaning and pest control products can hurt or kill us. This article describes safe alternatives to these chemicals. Think about it: if it's bad for our lungs, it's probably not good for you, either, so using safe products makes your environment safer not only for your feathered friends, but also for yourself.

* Gillian's Help Desk. This page contains links to bird safety lists and short articles, including first aid, holiday hazards, scented candles, pens and markers, safe wood for perches, potentially toxic plants, dangers in new homes, and many more topics. Concise and easy to understand.

* Cages, Cages, Cages! By Sharron Salas, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 2000. I posted this link previously under "Setting the Stage for the Cage", but I think it's important to include it in this post as well so you can inspect your bird's cage for safety.

What Should You Feed Your Cockatiel?

Now that we're on the topic of food...

We cockatiels like to eat all kinds of things. Personally, during my first years with the Tall One, I would only eat bird seed, millet spray, honey treats, and my cuttlebone, no matter how hard she tried to get me to eat fruits, vegetables, and other things that she considered healthy. She even tried to convert me to pellets a couple of times, because they are supposedly well-balanced, but when she realized she was facing a hunger strike, she gave me my bird seed. You show me the human that's eating a well-balanced pellet diet, and I'll eat it, too, but in the meantime, I want some real food!

Once Miss Prissy moved in, though, I realized that I had been a little narrow-minded about food. She actually tried all the stuff that the Tall One gave us, not only the bread and pizza crust, but also the fruits and veggies. Of course, I didn't want her to have anything I couldn't get, so I tried it, too, and I have to admit that some of the stuff is pretty good. I really missed out before. The other day, she brought something called a hamburger and gave us a little piece. I'd never had one before, and it was yummy! Yesterday, she gave me something called a tortellini. It was a little softer than the things I usually like to eat, but by now I had learned to try new things anyway. It was soooo good, I ate the whole thing!

So, if you're a cockatiel, I'd encourage you to try and eat what your human gives you, unless it really seems to be bad to eat. If you're a human, you need to make sure that everything you feed your tiel is actually good for him or her. Things like chocolate and avocado are actually toxic for birds, and feeding your feathered friends only seeds is not good for them, either. Following are some links on cockatiel nutrition.

The National Cockatiel Society: Feeding Cockatiels. By Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, DVM, 1997. This is a concise article about how to make sure that your cockatiel gets adequate nutrition.

Health and Diet. This page is part of the Australian National Cockatiel Society's web site, and it contains articles on Caged Birds and Diet, Vitamin A Deficiency, and Weeds for Birds.

Cockatiel Cottage: Diet. My friend Eleanor has a very informative page about cockatiel diet on her Cockatiel Cottage site.

20 Things You Must Know About Nutrition. This very informative list refers not only to cockatiels, but all species of pet birds.

Understanding Pet Bird Nutrition. By Gary D. Butcher and Richard D. Miles, University of Florida, IFAS Extension. This is a well-researched article from a reputable source. It describes the six essential nutrients: water, protein, carbohydrates and fiber, lipids, minerals, and vitamins in a relatively easy-to-understand, but scientific format. It also includes a Question-and-Answer section on bird nutrition.

Avian Nutrition, Winged Wisdom Magazine. By P. J. Schimel, 1997. This is an easy-to read general article about pet bird nutrition. It is split up into food categories, for example water, vegetables, sprouts, fruits, nuts, tablefood, birdy bread, and food toys. The author also points out that different species have different nutritional needs.

Some Random Ideas on how to Get Your Cockatiel to Eat Veggies. This is a fun, short, easy-to try list of ideas. Some of these ideas may not work for you and your tiel, but some of them may, and they sound like a lot of fun. Try them out!

To Peel or Not to Peel: Parrots & Natural Living Foods. By Monica Gonzalez, 2003. Another list of creative ideas on how to get your bird to eat healthy food. Actually, I might print it out and leave it on the Tall One's desk...

Avian Nutrition. By Cynthia L. Kiesewetter, NACS. Despite its title, this article focuses on cockatiels in particular. Each nutrient is described in detail. There is even a chart that shows how much fat each type of seed contains.

Cockatiel Nutrition Guide. This guide is organized by food components such as carbohydrates, proteins, etc. It explains what role they play in cockatiel nutrition and where they can be found. This site is especially useful if you have some background knowledge in nutrition.

What Should I Feed My Cockatiel? By Mary Beth Voelker, Online Pet Consultant, National Cockatiel Society. If you decide to switch your cockatiel's diet to an all-pellet diet, this article gives good advice and a step-by-step guide.

Converting the Seed Junky to Pellets. By Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, DVM, National Cockatiel Society, 1997. This is another article on the same topic.

What to Feed? A Solution. By Peter Feldman. This article gives a different perspective on pellets, considering them a part of a healthy diet rather than the main or exclusive source of nutrition for birds.

As you can see from these articles, there are different issues and opinions involved with providing good nutrition for us birds. While humans know what foods are unhealthy for us and what nutrients we undoubtedly need, there does not seem a consensus on exactly what a good diet should look like. My advice for my human readers is to offer your cockatiel a diet that contains different types of nutritious foods, and to continue doing your research on cockatiel nutrition and new developments in the field. If I hear of new information, I will certainly keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you have any other informative links on the topic, please post them below under "Comments".

Food Fun!

I really like the Tall One! She came home with a couple of bags last night, and it was full of cockatiel treats! There were different types of bird food, millet spray, fruit treats, and a toy that has seeds inside. She also put some yellow stuff in our drinking water so that it looks like some of that lemonade she likes to drink. I've always wondered what she does that for, but this time, I got a chance to look at the bottle, and it said it had vitamins in it that are healthy for birds. That's good, because Miss Prissy needs extra nutrition now that she is recovering from the pink things. Of course, vitamins are good for me, too. I played with the new toy right away, and it was so much fun!