Cockatiel .... "Tiki"

An ongoing diary of my little pal "Tiki." Cockatiel extraordinaire!

As a senior with somewhat limited ability to do the walking I should, I always walked in the local plaza in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada especially when the weather was not being that kind. For several months I would walk past this pet supply store and study the few birds they had in their window. I became fascinated with two cockatiels he had there and would stop by to watch them every time I went by.

After about two months of this I began to wonder why they hadn't been sold so I ventured in there and asked him about them. The owner .... not seeming to be the "sharpest knife in the drawer" .... informed me that they were Parakeets! When I asked him what sex they were ... he didn't have a clue nor did he seem interested to find out for me! As I had done a fair amount of research on the Internet about Cockatiels, one of the warnings in there for when you wanted to purchase a cockatiel was to find a good pet dealer that knew his pets really well ... otherwise .... find one that did! So I did!
I went to a place on the edge of town that had just recently opened (December, 2004) and met the nicest couple you'd want to meet .... Debra and Joe Willens. They owned an operated the "Independant Discount Pet Supply" on No. 3 Highway at the west end of town. Now here was a lady with "THE TOUCH" when it came to pets and birds just happened to be her favourites. She introduced me to "Lilo" ... a seven week old cockatiel .... greenish-grey in color and a female. She could be handled easily by anyone, "kissed" you on the lips and "purred" like a kitten when stroked gently. A real gem for sure but alas .... she was spoken for by a local lady who was just waiting for Debbie to wean her as she had "hand-raised" her . For the record, I shall include a picture of her here for posterity .... I guess.
To make a long story shorter, Debbie went out and purchased a pair of "breeder cockatiels" and brought home two newly hatched ones to try and raise. One of them died fairly soon after the transfer and the one I was supposed to get ... after 20 days old .... died as well. Reason unknown. They are so delicate and a week or so after hatched .... are no bigger than half the size of my thumb so the odds of them surviving get to be pretty slim. The "parents" will only feed them for about three weeks and they "kick them out" of their nest so they can breed again. One has to be ready for the first sign of this and take over their raising by hand-feeding them with an eye-dropper, etc. and nursing them very carefully to adulthood. Quite a job and a lot of love and patience is needed. I drop a picture of the little guy that died on us just so you can see how utterly homely they are when born but amazingly .... sort of like a butterfly ... grow into such a beautiful creature!

When the little guy died, Debbie phoned my wife to inform me but as I was away, I didn't hear about it 'till I got home. Joyce told me how shook up Debbie was so I went over to her store and after a bit I gave her a blank signed cheque and asked her to do an "assignment" for me. I asked her to shop around for another cockatiel that SHE would choose .... hand raised and already weaned and bring it back to her store and do whatever she figured she thought would have to be done with it to get it ready for me to bring home. As she knew just the right places to get them, she brought my little "Tiki" back to her store the very next morning and kept him for a week or ten days to make sure he was alright and compatible with people. I went in to see him once ... sometimes twice a day from the first day and he and I "bonded" beautifully! He's absolutely adorable in every respect ... thanks to Debbie. Debbie had apparently been waiting for Tiki to do something that was very important to her before she would be sure he was right to release to me. On Tuesday morning, 11th October, 2005 when I dropped in to see him, she informed me that I could take him home right then if I wanted to. Want to? You betcha life I wanted to so with Debbie's and Joe's help we "loaded" his cage with all kinds of "goodies" and food and Joe put him in the back seat of my car with a cover over everything but the front so he could see me as I drove him home. He actually "preened" himself all the way home! Nothing bothered the little critter! Amazing! Here he is on the right ..... my little pal "TIKI"

Well, I've had Tiki now for three weeks next Tuesday and I have to tell you that he has come a very long way for a little bird of three and a half months of age. He has bonded to anyone that comes to visit without hesitation and although he's not supposed to talk until he's a year or so old .... by the way he is behaving, I rather think he will be an early talker.

It's getting so we can more or less read his wishes by the way he acts and "peeps", etc.. He goes absolutely esctactic when I gently stroke his neck and when I do this, he comes out with the cutest little "purring" noise to show his appreciation.

As most Cockatiels are suspicious of anything new that he is approached with .... such as a "goody" food treat or toy ... he is guilty of that characteristic for sure. However .... I've noticed that if he sees whatever new Joyce or me are putting in his cage, etc. he seems to accept it more readily.

He's truly a gem if ever there was one and he spends most of his time on Joyce's or my shoulder no matter where we go! I do have a little difficulty with batheing him but once he gets soaked down good, he just revels in it. Then when I finish, I hold him against my chest with a towel over him and as long as he hears me talking or humming, he doesn't make a move! He loves that and I think he looks forward to his bath mainly because he knows he's going to get nice warm cuddly hugs afterwards.

Debbie of Independent Pet Supply here in Port Colborne has been a great help to me and I would highly recommend anyone go to her with anything for pets. Her and Joe came out to our place last Sunday (at my pestering of course) and I know they were very pleased to see Tiki. I do know that he immediately went to Joe, her husband and stayed with him all the time he was here!

To see a little about Debbie's Pet Shop, go to click here

Well, it's now into our fourth week with "Tiki" and I have to say that he is one entertaining little guy. He's as good or better than watching television for sure! He goes everywhere my wife and I go ... taking turns on our shoulders. Joyce even does her washing downstairs and vacuums throughout the apartment and the sounds don't bother him one bit. The only sound that seems to bother him is my "smoker's cough" when I do it suddenly. That seems to often startle him but if he's on my shoulder when I do it, he doesn't re-act the same to it.

I noticed after I got him that it took him a little time to "get palsy" with us so I cultivated his trust as much as I could. We offered him "goody treats" a lot but we found that he took a long time to "accept" them before he would venture to approach them. Even yet he has really accepted only broccoli and a mixture that Debbie sells in a long square, tightly bound block which we attached to the side of his cage where he eats most of the time and he finally started into it after about a week of "hitting and missing" it. Now he attacks it with a vengeance. The picture to the left is a typical pose he goes into to show you how handsome he is when you come into the room. Believe me, it takes some patience to get your camera ready for that right moment though as he doesn't usually hold that pose for too long at a time. I am trying to train him to respond to the command ... "Tiki. Pretty Tiki" and as of 11th March, 2006 (yes I've been trying to catch up a bit!) ... he has done his display several times when "praised" so he's learning fast.
It has become a daily ritual for Joyce and him to have breakfast together at the dining table. He really likes a little piece of egg off her plate but even then he only takes it in tiny bits at a time. The picture at the left shows you what I mean about breakfast time. His main treat thus far seems to be me stroking his neck! He goes almost into a trance when I do it to him and he can never seem to get enough of it either. If I'm sitting and watching TV with him on my shoulder, after his "preening" is over, he goes fast asleep there .... often "cooing" into my ear for me to stroke his neck! He's really one of God's wonderful little creatures that we can easily love and care for and he always rewards us by his very presence and beauty. Debbie ... I can't thank you enough for the pleasure you made possible for Joyce and I.

Here's an interesting shot of the "little brat" that my daughter took of "Tiki" when I had laid down for a snooze. Oh yea ... I know I'm a "grizzled old man" that don't shave as often as the "politically correct" crowd would like but I don't give a tinker's damn! Anyway .... he had been on my shoulder (as usual) when I simply "plopped down" onto my bed .... leaving him to fend the best he could and this is where he wound up ..... on my bloody nose no less! so when Bonney and Joyce saw this, they immediately got the camera and Bonney got the shot. I have to wonder where he would have "gone potty" if the desire hit him. I have no doubt whatsoever where he would have planted it but fortunately, he didn't have the desire ....... at least this time!!

Well it's now 13th November and I have to confess I have been somewhat lazy about reporting Tiki's progress. I've only had him a month and a week now and already he is "KING OF THE CASTLE" at our house! Maybe I'm prejudiced but I see him do something new every day thus far and I did intend to "diarize" his activities each day but ... being the old man that I am ... I procrastinated and am way behind. I'm beginning to add him to my website and will shortly devote a new website to "TIKI" and his progress and antics. He is the friendliest little guy you would ever want in your home. I can hand him to anyone that comes in and he goes to them readily! He especially loves me to stroke his little neck. He seems to be in absolute ecstacy while his neck is being stroked and he lets out a little "coo" once in a while while you do it. I'm told that later on they will purr like a cat so I'm looking forward to that,

His wings had been clipped when I got him so he wouldn't fly away while we were getting accustomed to him but I see he is losing the cut ones now. He had eight cut off and has now rejected seven of them ... making room for the new ones to grow back .... I hope. Although Debbie my Pet Lady (her website) tells me that it generally takes about six months for the "flight wings" to grow back, I am sure that he has two new ones coming on each side already. I know that today (Sunday) when I was about to bath him, he escaped from me and "flew level" from the kitchen sink to the cupboard top the opposite side of the kitchen. Up to now he has only been able to "fly" at an altitude-losing angle but I think these new feathers are already improving his flight ability. I really look forward to him getting enough "flight feathers" so he can flit from room to room. This hopefully, will be when I try to "potty train" him. That will be a big plus as we are always wiping up behind him, although he is pretty good .... we get it "in the neck" sometimes though ...... literally!!

Well it's now the tenth of March and I haven't written a bit more! The privilege of age I guess .... plus good old fashioned laziness! Actually, Joyce and I spend so much time with Tiki we wonder what we did with ourselves before we got him. The book says one should spend at least twenty minutes a day with your bird .... hell .... we are lucky if he leaves us alone for twenty minutes a day! He's a little marvel to say the least and we just love him to pieces. Quite a while back, some of his flight feathers started growing back so we "tossed" him back and forth to each other and MADE him fly! I think he was capable of flight much sooner than normal because of this ... however .... we quite naturally "created a little monster" by doing so! We have handled him so much we can do almost anything with him and because of this, he's "people friendly" as well ... as is very noticeable when we have company. I can even put his head into my mouth without a squawk fom him. He loves to have his neck rubbed and kicks up quite a storm when I get up in the mornings. When he hears my voice in another part of the apartment, he "squawks" (not shreeks) loudy demanding my attention and keeps it up until I go to him. That's when (by experience) I wait until he does his "potty" which is generally a whopper from sitting overnight ... then I open his cage and the fun begins! I have his cage in my computer room, which is on the front of the house looking out onto the street. The room has windows on all three sides of it, which gives him lots of sunlight in daytime. It also looks out to the front street where I generally park my car across the street. Apparently he sets up a great "hue and squawk" even as I get out of the car so not only has he great eyesight but is really attached to Joyce and I.

After the "hugs and kisses" as soon as he gets out of the cage, he's "off to the races!" First thing he does is look for my wife for which he flies all over the apartment until he finds her. Then he'll squawk heartily as he flies all around showing how pretty he is to us. For this, he generally lands on something and .... leaning forward .... spreads his tail and wings out as far as he can and displays the most beautiful picture to us he can by staying in this position long enough for us to "praise him soundly" ... then he's back to Joyce and "bugging" her to have her breakfast .... then he settles down beside her plate and helps himself. Among many other things .... he just loves eggs! Yes ... that's right .... EGGS! Little does he know that he's probably eating some of his relatives!

Well, I am trying to keep this section about my little pal "TikI" a bit more up-to-date lately. Maybe it's just that it's spring now (March 21st, 2006) and I'm "getting the shutter-bug" fever again. Anyway ... here's a picture I shot of him just this morning and figured I was lucky to get it at that. Have you ever tried to get a close-up picture of a little VERY ACTIVE and MISCHIEVOUS bird? Well ... try it !! I couldn't get him to settle down for any shot I set up so I finally took the "bull by the horns" ... or in this case "the bird by the feathers" by grabbing him in my hand, which by the way I can do without a problem ..... put the camera on "macro" and just kept shooting until I figured I might have got a decent one. It's hard ... to say the least, as he's still very active but I'm inserting two of the pictures in here for your perusal. By the way .... we have handled Tiki every day (and half the night sometimes) since we got him last October and I can do almost anything with him .... even put his head in my mouth as I "threaten" that I'm going to cook him up for lunch when he misbehaves! I hold him almost any which way ... cuddle him ... kiss him ... and we play "peekaboo" every morning when I get up. As a matter of fact, he doesn't really give me time to wake up properly before he "assumes the position" challenging me to play the game with him! He's a real hoot this little "Tiki" to say the least.

For Page Two please click here.