Before you bring your cockatiel home:I suggest before you bring your new bird home that you have everything you need.You should have the cage, food and water, all the perches, and the food dishes. If you by the bird without everything set up it will end up making your bird more nervous then it already is.
Purchasing: I suggest purchasing a bird from a well known pet shop or well known breeder. I suggest you get a banded bird so that it can be traced. When you walk near the cage the bird should be active and try to stay away from you and watch you. Look at the breeders cages for miscolored droppings and for dirty cages. If there are miscolored droppings, diarrhea, or dirty cages you shouldn't buy from that breeder or petshop. You should also see if the breeder or petshop has a guarantee. If you plan on breeding the bird you should ask about the sex of the bird. If you want a quiet bird you should get a female because with my experience most females are quiet. If you want a bird that you want to talk or whistle tunes you should buy a male. Remember that young birds can learn to talk easier and are also easier to tame. Another thing a lot of people do is see an add for a $20 bird and go purchase it and then end up paying $100 and more on medical bills. It is best to just pay a little more for a bird and get a quality one. And one other thing look for bald spots on the top of the head and anywhere else. The bald spot on most lutinos is from all the inbreeding when they were first bred.
Cages: First of all make sure you buy a cage before you buy the bird. When purchasing a cage for your cockatiel you should look for horizontal bars because cockatiels like to climb and they have a lot of trouble climbing vertical bars. Also make sure they bar spacing is about half an inch because if the bars or to far apart then your bird can get its head stuck between the bars. Another thing to look for is just a simple cage because most of the fancy cages aren't really designed for birds just for looks most of the time. If you would like a large cage but don't have the money but have some extra time you should build it yourself with j clips and galvinized wire mesh but make sure you scrub the mesh with a strong solution of hot water, soap, and bleach to get rid of machining oil ect. When building your own cage you can let your imagination go wild.
Color Mutations: There are 10 mutations and they include normal (gray), cinnamon, fallow, lutino, pearl, pied, silver, pastel, yellow cheek, and whiteface. Over 100 combinations of mutations and over 2000 if you include splits. I like all the color mutations but like whiteface the best. It depends on your personal taste of what mutation you like best. I recomend you get a gray cockatiel at first because they usually aren't ever inbred.
Food and Water: I personally use lafebers cockatiel pellets. You really have to experiment because not all birds are the same. I personally like pellets because there isn't really any mess and my cockatiels are all healthy. As long as your birds are healthy then thats all that matters. I highly recomend that you give your birds bottled water (in the gallon jug) because it is all purified.
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