To those of you who have cockatiels can you tell me what the differences is between budgies and cockatiels in terms of personality and behaviour, coz I have been thinking about getting a tiel.

To my utter horror I woke up on Monday morning to find my beloved budgie lying dead on the bottom of his cage. I was, and still am, devastated and have no idea of what could have killed him as he was fine and chirpy on Sunday, absolutely nothing wrong. I'd only had him for three months and he was still a baby, he hadn't even moulted yet. My room seems so empty without him .

Only now am I starting to think of getting another bird, but thought that since my budgie was so good, I would be constantly comparing the new bird to him and getting disappointed. I've heard that tiels are great birds and was wondering if maybe I should get one intead of a budgie.

Of course I am still open to getting a budgie but was wondering about tiels so thought I'd find out some more about them.

hugs that is terrible

 

I am sure someone with more experience will come in with tiels but from my own I can tell you these few thing.

 

Tiels are louder then budgies, males more then females.

Tiels need more time with you then budgies

If not given proper attention tiels can pluck budgies rarely do unless there is a health reason

Tiels are messer then budgies (bigger bird bigger mess)

Need a bigger cage, not sure what you have now but a budgie cage is too small for a tiel.

 

Tiels can be more affectionate in the case of head scratches and cuddling.

They are not as flightly and budgies are, mean jump they are a calmer bird.

 

you can go to cockatiel.org for more information on them and the different mutations. When you observe them in a pet store most a quiet because they are by themselves or with maybe a couple more you can't determine their personality in a pet store vs budgies they seem to be chattering and going about their business even when they are in the store. That is one big thing I really noticed.

Hugs from me, too.

 

I had tiels for many years. Lovey's right. Tiels are much loudder than budgies and you really will have to clean up arround the cage more often. And tiels really need a bigger cage than budgies do.

 

And Sherbie_Birdy, please do the tiel (or budgie) a favor and give him a second tiel (or budgie). The bird will be happier and you will have lots mor fun.

I agree with that stay with the same species then they really can be buddies

I have 2 Tiels in an outside cage with 2 budgies.

The trouble with Tiels is that unless you are an expert it is so hard to tell if they are male or female.

The male tends to talk more.

 

One of my Tiels is hand trained and always comes over for a play when I am changing food etc.

 

I tend to think budgies are smarter and they are certainly the agressor of the two types of birds.

 

And I agree Tiels are big mess makers and I am for ever cleaning up after them.

 

 

And Sherbie_Birdy, please do the tiel (or budgie) a favor and give him a second tiel (or budgie). The bird will be happier and you will have lots mor fun.

 

I was planning one getting a friend for Jr. (my budgie, named coz he looked like his dad) from his bredder, a close friend of mine. I was waiting to build a strong bond with Jr. before I got him a buddy, and we were already really close. The day before he died I was lying on the floor of my room reading and he was wandering up and down my back (and of course across the book) and then he perched himself on my arm and went to sleep.

I miss him so much and I don't think I'll ever find another budgie like him. He was really special!

 

If I get another bird I will probably get him a friend (parents willing) after I've developed a good strong bond with him.

 

Also, about not being able to tell if a tiel is male or female, I've heard that females have more grey around their faces while males faces are yellow. Is that true?

For sexing the females have stripes or barring under their tail feathers and the males don't. But with pieds you have to have them DNA sexed or see if you can tell by their behavior. Go to cockatiel.org there are the mutations there and which ones you can tell the sex and which ones need to be DNA sexed. For regular grays yes the male's head is yellow and the females is gray but with so many mutations you really can't go by that standard anymore.

With budgies the males (generally) make better pets, is this true with tiels also?

Males are louder and tend to talk faster, females tend to be quieter.

As with personalities I hear both are awesome

I have male and female tiels - both are awesome as pets. Just be careful with a young male when he reaches maturity - I have had all kinds of problems with my hand raised male. He got to the point where I couldnt let him out of his cage without attacking me. Thankfully he is just about over it and is a sweet crazy nutter bird.

 

Its true they are less flightly birds than budgies and easier to tame in my opinion. They are MUCH noiser than budgies especially the males who can (not also) scream a lot when not getting enough attention so need lots to keep them occupied - they love chewing ropey and leathery things.

 

Good luck which whatever sex you choose.

Edited June 13, 200618 yr by Boomberry