How to Buy a Cockatiel

Video Transcript

"How to buy a Cockatiel. Well, buying a Cockatiel is a lot like buying a parakeet, or any other bird or animal. First thing you need know, is you need to know what you want out of the Cockatiel. Do you want an animal that you're going to be able to play with and handle, and be best friends with? Or are you looking for an animal just to look at? Once you've decided that, then you know whether or not you're looking for just an animal that you're going to find physically attractive, or one that you can actually play with and handle. Then go to your local pet store, or breeder, or bird show, or whatever. Look around and find people who've got parakeets for sale. And then you want to find the parakeet that meets your needs. Now if you're looking for one that's handleable, of course you're going to want to get him out, and play with him and touch him. Chances are, most Cockatiels from a pet store or breeder, or you know, someone who is doing this professionally, are not going to be super, super hand tamed. They're going to be kind of like this guy here. Which is, he'll get up on you, he'll stay on your finger. He'll deal with you handling him. But he's going to take a little bit of working still to get down to be that super friendly Cockatiel. And be able to talk about that in a different video how to do that. What you're looking for here is signs of good health, so we want an animal that is active, attentive. He needs to be moving around, making noises. He's picking on me a little bit. He's got clear and attentive eyes, there's no discharge coming from the nose. He's not being lethargic. He's got all of his toes intact, nothings been beaten up on, or ripped off by a cage mate or something, which can happen. He's not missing any feathers, all of his feathers are intact. He doesn't have any broken blood feathers. He's not sitting lethargically, puffing himself up, which is a clear indicator of illness in a Cockatiel. As long as he meets all of those needs, than really all you are looking for is personality and attractiveness. Any bird for the most part can be tamed down, so, you know, keep that in mind if you find one that's maybe not as tame as you would like it, but you really find it attractive, you can probably work with the bird and get him to relax and tame down, but don't count on that completely. Because some birds just never, never get used to people. They're just always going to be a little bit, frustrating and a little bit annoying to work with. So, but you know, it's difficult, and just make sure you have healthy one, and you'll both a great and healthy relationship in your future together. And, that's pretty much all there is to it."