Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    Frances,
    
    It sounds like your little girl has taken a fancy to you more than
    your husband and prefers to be with you.  It is quite common for
    a bird to bond with one individual. I had a similar experience 
    when I purchased my Yellow Nape Amazon.  I searched everywhere to
    find the right bird and when I finally got him, he chose to bond
    with my husband instead of me!  He adores him and will only tolerate
    me when he is not around...otherwise I will receive a nasty nip
    from him. (By the way, I am not sure whether my Yellow Nape is a
    male or female).  Are you sure that your cockatiel is a female?
    Many times the bird will bond with a person of its opposite sex
    however that is not always the case.
    
    I have an older male cockatiel (12yrs.)that loves women and 
    he would have nothing to do with my husband.  Each evening I would
    take him into the livingroom and let him explore the couch when
    we watched television.  He would always want me to rub his head
    and if I was pre-occupied with my needlework he would venture over
    to my husband and quietly sit on his leg.  Finally he edged his
    way to his chest and found that my husband would whistle softly
    to him which he LOVED!  Now he likes my husband as much if not
    more than me.  But it took several months to accomplish this.
    You can never tell what they are going to do next.
    
    I can relate to your husband's hurt feelings, for my Yellow Nape
    abandoned me for my husband, but she may come around and befriend
    him again as she matures.  I would suggest that you consider clipping
    her wings though.
    
    Best of luck and keep us updated on your progress!
    
    Regards,
    Denise
    If you want to keep her manageable, you may just want to clip her
    wings.  That way she becomes much more docile and less independent.
    If they know that they can fly , they will!  Most of my pet cockatiels
    are wing clipped.

    Hi,
    
    Denise in note .1 is very correct in her explanation of what is 
    happening.  I had a similar situation where I had purchased two
    birds at the same time ..... a Lutino cockatiel that I purchased
    for my wife and a Yellow Collared Mini-Macaw for myself.  The birds
    had a different perception however.  The cockatiel bonded with me 
    and the macaw to her.  I was crushed ..... it wasn't supposed to happen
    this way.  Anyway, that was two years ago and with patience and 
    understanding the situation has reversed itself.  Astro, my mini
    is my buddy.  
    
    I guess the key to it is to understand that there is always a chance 
    that this will happen.  When it does it is prudent not to force a 
    change in the other direction.  It does hurt and I can sympathize
    with your husband.  By the way, buying another cockatiel for your 
    husband may not be a good idea either.  Cockatiels are very social
    birds and they may totally reject both of you for the companionship
    of each other.
    
    I hope this helps.
    
    Jim Buccieri

    
    Hello Denise,
    
    I think most people that have more than one bird find how they 
    can be so very different and take to different people! We have
    2 cockatiels - a cinnamon (Casanova) and a normal grey (Samantha),
    and a Blue Crowned Conure. Sam loves only me and goes after my son
    and tolerates my husband. Casanova loves everyone - and will let
    anyone pet and rub his neck. Casper loves Only my husband. Even tho
    I am the one that feeds and takes care of him. He barely tolerates
    me. But that is what makes birds neat!! 
    
    Casanova was an experiment. I know the breeder - so when he was only
    a week old I started by picking him up and rubbing his back and just
    holding him. I tried to do it as often as I could and she did the
    same. The babies were all fed by the parents up till they were 5
    weeks old and then I finished with two hand feedings a day. Casanova
    is the most loving bird I have ever seen. I can put him on his back 
    and scratch his tummy - rub his neck - rub him all the way down his
    tail feathers (all tiels seem to be touchy about their tail feathers).
    
    	That might be an option - if you can find a breeder that you
    could work with.  Just know that that is Normal behavior for birds
    of all types. 

    I came out of the shower this AM to find my female lutino perched on
    the edge of my coffee cup, slurping away.  It contained coffee and
    cream only, no sugar.  Does anyone else's bird like coffee?  Is this
    harmful for them (any more so than for humans)?  I've read that sugar
    is a no-no, but what about caffine?  Sunshine is already the most hyper
    cockatiel I've ever seen, so she probably doesn't need the buzz, but
    she did seem to be enjoying it an awful lot.
    
    Opinions?
    

    Our conure (Pancho) shows signs of *real* interest around
    the coffee cups on the endtables. I've been reluctant to let him
    perch on the cup and sip (luke,luke warm of course) coffee. If
    I walk by the cage with coffee, I see his little eyes following the
    cup :-)
    I'd be interested, too, in finding out if coffee is harmful.
    

    We made the mistake of mixing the hand feeding formula in a coffee cup
    all the time when we were hand feeding our first babies about 6 months
    ago.  After that, we couldn't have a cup of coffee without the birds
    going crazy in their cage and we could NEVER have a cup while they were
    out!!! 
    
    Chris D.

    
    Our Congo Grey, 2 of our tiels, and our Conure LOVE Coffee - also love
    Coke. Actually - They love Almost anything that We like. But Coffee is
    a real favorite! We try to keep it to a minimum as I would guess that
    it is not really good for them . My coffee is black and my husbands
    has all the junk in it - so it is not just the cream and/or sugar.
    But - the little buggers lean off their cages and make all sorts of
    raket if we don't give them a little. Who has who trained?????

	For what it is worth, my Vet said absolutely NO caffine.
	I haven't seen anything in print though.

	Doug

    
    I'd be worried about giving birds caffienated beverages, too.  Their
    little respiratory and circulatory systems seem to be in high gear to
    begin with!
    
    On the other hand, a taste for coffee or cola seems to be common for
    lots of birds - I've seen more umbrella cockatoos (mine included!) dive
    for coffee cups than I can count!
    
    On weekends, Layla (my umbrella) and BooBoo (my citron) have brunch and
    extended playtime with us.  They get to eat scrambled eggs, or
    pancakes, or french toast, or some other goodie, and hang on the sofa,
    get petted to excess, watch TV, plague the dog, torment weekend guests,
    etc.  Ever since Layla became obnoxiously interested in our coffee cups
    (and she is a 'too, so "obnoxious" is probably an understatement!) to
    the point of occasionally pulling them out of our hands (!) we looked
    for a workable solution.  Displacement (giving her fruits, nuts, chewy
    toys) sometimes worked, but more often results in the object being
    thrown across the room.  When that doesn't do the trick, I sometimes
    make her a *tiny* amount of instant *decaf* coffee (a special little
    jar, just for her!) with lukewarm water in a paper hotcup.  She will
    drink the little bit of decaf, and then she and BooBoo are kept
    occupied for at least 20 minutes shredding the paper cup into the
    living room carpet and the sofa cushions :-)
    
    Yeah, yeah, I know, she's spoiled, and I'm well-trained!
    
    
    						/Rita
    

    Speaking of what not to give the birds, I was told this past weekend
    never to give a cockatiel Avacado or Chocolate.  I would never give
    mine chocolate anyway, but I didn't know avacados were bad.  She said
    avacados will kill them, and chocolate acts like a poison to them.
    
    Chris D.

    
    Well, actually, Chris, it is not the avocado itself, but any bits of
    the brown "skin" from the avocado pit, or any part of the pit itself
    that is poisonous.  Because there may be bits of that "stuff" clinging
    to the avocado that are too small to see (but big enough to do damage!)
    it is really best not to give any at all.
    
    

    Hi Chris,

    we must have been talking to the same person!!!!! The bird vet we found
    also warned us against Avocado. He said the skin and seed are bad
    enough but the plant and leaves are especially poisonous. My wife has 
    two or three avocado trees around the house and of course the first place 
    Cassie heads for is the top of one of them. (we never gave him a chance 
    to eat any of it though and after we spoke to the vet we moved the trees 
    to another part of the house where cassie is not alowed. (behind closed 
    doors)

    Cassie by the way for the rest of you is a Gray cockatiel that I bought
    from Chris.