The Taj MaBlanco

We went to the bird store and got a proper home for Blanco. It's so big, we almost wound up putting a deposit on a baby 'tiel to join him in it but fortunately saw the light before we did it. LOL. The price was right on this cage and it is huge, but it does lack horizontal bars. Has a ton of shelves and ladders though, so hopefully we can make up for that. Much to my surprise he didn't seem very stressed by changing homes.

Is this bird getting spoiled or what?

Such a spoiled fid! (Also LOVE that cage!)

Awww! I'm so happy that it was you that found little Blanco. He's going to be so happy.

Cockatiels are very chillaxed.

So, whose bird is he? Yours, or your husbands?

Trying to let him be Bill's, and me being the bad guy that took him to the vet may help with that. He doesn't trust me quite as much.

Only problem with his new palace is that he's no longer quite so eager to come out of it! That little hotel cage was not nearly as appealing. LOL.

So if we did get another male, would they likely get along? My understanding is that 'tiels are such big-flock birds that you can house more than one together without aggression and without causing them to go off humans. I was promised a cage discount credit-back if we buy one of the babies at the store... they are just weaned and ready to fledge and, of course, adorable.

The 'tiel and Scooter may get along so well that the 'tiel wouldn't need a new 'tiel friend. CB and Piper are BFFs.

Well, since Scotty and Blanco are your husband's birds, and you only have Scooter, doesn't that seem unfair? You need another bird of your own

I told before, that Blanco is smart, knew on which tree to land
Deb, sooner or later he will have enough of his cage. Cockatiel are flock birds. Our Mickey still doesn't like to be touched, but she is always around us.

Yeah, tiels generally get along fine. Just with a new baby don't throw it straight in the cage with Blanco. Side by side in different cages for a few weeks. Maybe with Blanco back in the small cage and baby in the new cage to break up any territoriality.

zazanomore wrote:

Well, since Scotty and Blanco are your husband's birds, and you only have Scooter, doesn't that seem unfair? You need another bird of your own

Been thinking about this one and you may have a point!

To be fair, Scotty thinks he's MY bird, but I think I'd really like the experience of having ONE handfed baby with no negative history. It's a motley crew we have!

Blanco seems to be thriving in the Taj. He's way more happy to go back in after being out. It's just so huge for little him that everyone else's digs seem too darned cramped. I know I'm going to guilt myself into a new cage for Scooter sooner rather than later.

Blanco no longer seems to be starving all the time, but the flip side of that is that he's being more picky. Not sure converting him to pellets is going to be any walk in the park. (That may be a poor choice of words given his history...).

I've stopped looking for lost cockatiel ads. Bad of me, I suppose, but I have yet to find anyone who hasn't said "keep him!" I called animal services to see if they had any missing bird reports (they don't log them) and the guy basically said, "If you want him --- keep him. We NEVER find homes for the lost birds". Now we just need to find a Hyacinth Macaw and a 'Too on our front stoop and we'll be complete. On 1.25 acres maybe we could get away with a 'Too....

How picky is Scooter?

Get one bird to eat something, and they all will try it. That's what happened with my flock. Now, they'll try ANYTHING.

Has Blanco made any vocalizations? Singing or talking?

Scooter is picky. He eats fresh food, but he's never taken to pellets much. He eats fresh foods really well though. Scotty eats pellets happily, but is a hard sell on the fresh food. Everybody eats sprouts including Blanco. So there is hope...

He did some whistling the other day. No sign of talking. Mostly the "weep-weep" call. Now that he's sort of secure, he's actually withdrawn a hair, at least from me. I think he's still settling in, really. He definitely has opinions.

I had no idea 'tiels could make T. Rex faces. Hard to miss when they are saying "bug off!" he doesn't bite, but he does pull that face if I stick my hand in and he doesn't want to come out. I think he has zero training. We are still leaning towards the "escaped from a pet store shipment" theory, but who knows?