(Part 2) Best products from r/cockatiel

First off, kudos to you for taking in this poor lost birdie! There is a lot to be said, but I'll try to be brief.

• Trying to find her original owners. Put up a listing at Parrot Alert and 911-ParrotAlert, maybe look through the ones in your area to see if anyone has lost their baby. Also check out Mickaboo's site.
  
  
• Diet. Avocado is toxic, so is chocolate. She really needs to be on a pelleted diet like Harrison's or Roudybush (though Harrison's is preferred). My brats converted from Zupreem to Harrison's after they had one batch of bird bread. Go [here] (http://svg-vets.com/AvianCare.htm) for safe foods and more nutrition info. In terms of trying to get her to try fruits or veggies, eat some of whatever you're offering in front of her and visibly/audibly savor the hell out of it. She'll want to try some - don't let her the first time or two, then go ahead and offer it from your hand. Also, don't forget to provide plenty of clean, fresh water! My birds like to dip their pellets which means I end up changing their water a couple of times per day.
  
  
• Cage. How big is it? Basically, your cage should be as large as you can afford. Horizontal width is more important than vertical height. Your bird should have enough room to comfortably spread his wings and flap around. Appropriate bar spacing is proportional to bird size. You wouldn't want a wayward wing or head to get stuck between the bars - more on that here. Also, here is a bit more information regarding cage aesthetics and setup..
  
  
• Bird safety. Never ever, ever, leave the bird unsupervised with the cats. Wash your hands after handling the cat before touching the bird. Also beware of fumes from cooking, perfumes, febreze, basically anything aerosolized. If you have Teflon cookware, try to replace it with cast iron or ceramic. The PTFE vapors released by heating is deadly to birds. Try to keep your feathered friend behind closed doors when cooking.
  
  
• Behavior. Sounds like she was someone's pet. The nipping is either for attention or a signal that she wants to go home/back to the cage. She might also be asking for head scritches - just take your finger and gently rub her head feathers. They tend to love that. Reward the things she does that you like with treats (Nutriberries are wonderful) and/or praise and completely ignore the things you don't like. Yelling when she bites hard will actually encourage her, since noise = attention in birdie's brain. You should interact with her for at least 2 hrs or so daily broken up throughout the day. Birds do well with routines, say maybe an 8 am wake up time and bed time/cage covering at 8 pm. They need about 12 hours of sleep per night in an undisturbed area. She should have as much out-of-cage time as possible. If you end up keeping her, look into getting her a playstand for when she's out. Amazon has them at great prices.
  
  
• Health. You should take her to a board-certified avian vet for a checkup. [Click here] to find one in your area. If you can't find a boarded vet near you, try using [this site] (http://aav.org/search/) to find a member of The Association of Avian Veterinarians instead. I find that it works best if you search by state instead of zipcode or city.
  
  Good grief, that's a lot to read. Hope that helps!
  
  
  

I agree with the other posters- your little tiel looks a little bored and ready to play! a bigger cage would be surely appreciated, and some toys.
Toys are kind of hard because you never know what they will be into at first- and even then their tastes change!
These comfy perches are a good place to start

they are a little easier on their feet. As for toys, I generally go with 3 types of different toys to give my birdie some variety: something to shred, something that moves (likes a swing) and something shiny.

Planet Pleasures has a lot of great bird toys (funny name but good bird toys...)
These shredders are great and perfectly safe

my baby tiel (well, less than a year old) is rather obsessed with this toy called 'falling beads' (3rd one down from the top) and it meets my criteria of something shiny and something that moves.

as for guessing your bird's mood, this article is very helpful

And finally, as for taming your bird and getting it used to you, have you tried feeding it birdie crack millet by hand through the side of the cage? I wouldn't normally give birds millet just to eat but it works as a 'treat', gets the bird to have a good association with you, and is useful for training later on down the road.

I hope this is helpful! Good Luck!

Trico sounds like a true cockatiel, with all that chewing!

Regular paper would work just fine; give her a sheet and let her work through it. You could even let her shred any documents that need shredding; as far as I know, the ink is okay. If you want to dye newspaper, feel free. That works. If you want to make it a little more interesting than just paper, find Trico's favorite treat and wrap it into little parcels of paper. It doesn't have to be origami (though they do enough chewing through origami cranes, especially when you stuff treats into the hole at the bottom). Just rip off a little piece of paper, put some food in the center, and fold it up.

Also, cardboard, like /u/Atiggerx33 mentioned will past for longer and give your bird lots to chew through.

There's a ton of chew toys that are WAY less than $15 than you can find online or possibly at your local grocery store. I swear by this toy. It gives them a comfortable place to perch or sleep, a good alternative to "happy huts" if you get creative, even a "dinner plate" for the bird who likes to carry its food around, but most importantly for you, it's awesome for chewing. My birds love to chew on the twine, which frays easily but holds strong. They can get the wood pieces to fall off, but it'll take a while, and for this price it's worth buying multiple times.

There are other chew toys out there than don't have as many features but are even cheaper.

Yes a sleeping cage is a good idea. It will go far in helping her feel more relaxed and less likely to be stressed and pick. When shopping for a cage be careful that it does not have zinc. I have this cage which used to be carried by my avian vet so I know it was good. I got it somewhere less expensive. Amazon has it here https://www.amazon.com/Avian-Adventures-Nina-Playtop-Bird/dp/B000AOECM8/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1487052998&sr=1-1&keywords=avian+adventures+bird+cage It is a great cage. You can remove the top playstand and put it by a window or on a table as you work. As you may know they need to spend time out of the cage every chance they can get when you are home. When you are out you can leave music on (we use classical). Also our tiel fell in love with a mickey mouse stuffy. He gets excited and talks to him happily. We keep him close to his cage when we go out. We had another tiel who passed away 7 years ago and although they were not bonded they seemed to like to have each other close
by but in separate cages. If she isn't taking baths in a bowl or enjoying spritz by a water bottle, that will help keep her skin moisturized and help with preening. My 21 year old tiel only liked spritzes until recently and then he accepted going into a bowl of water while being spritzed. I'm sure to do it once a week. When it comes to picking feathers my tiel for a long time (it seemed years) tended to pick at only his right wing. There were times when he would look at his wing and then at the toy that he masturbated with and seemed to try to make a decision as to which he would do. So his stress seemed hormone related but not sure. A couple years ago he seemed to be shrieking for periods of time and we did not know what the problem was. We discovered he needed to get off his feet and thought maybe he was getting age related arthritis. We made sure he had a flat surface to sit on. When we got his blood work done, the vet suspected an infection and so she had a swab done and discovered he had an infection. It was from the bacteria we have on our skin. We don't let him pick at us but he got it anyway. I forget why but the vet wanted to see if it was in his lungs. He had to get an xray. It was. So in addition to oral antibiotics we had to put him in a 5 gallon aquarium for 30 min twice a day with a nebulizer that pumped a vapor of antibiotic in. After this treatment (weeks) he improved a lot. He was less fatigued, more energy, wasn't picking as much (he's a little neurotic I think) and was not shrieking. These infections can get into their joints. It was expensive to have the tests and xrays but we feel it probably saved his life. He gets a check up every year. Birds will mask illnesses until it can be too late. That is why it is good to keep an eye on any changes in their poop (although after a bath it can be watery for a bit or at moulting time just a bit)and any changes in their behavior. It is sweet that she loves her head rubs. You two will bond for life!

Sometimes it can take time ( normally weeks) for them to get use to new toys.

Here are a couple I personally used:
A) Foraging wheel. Super popular among all parrot owners.

B) Probably my tiels' first foraging toy I got them.. They love to chew up the seagrass and I would hide seed balls in the 'flowers'. The seagrass mat won't last long but I did keep the bulbs to use continuously.

C) This is a tad trickier foraging toys. You can first make it easier by taking out the wooden blocks and balls. Then slowly add it after they get use to it There are also paper strips that they will probably love to take.

D) Foraging clear ball

E) Another one of the 'first' foraging thing I would do for my tiels is this millet holder. This is super easier to set up. I would especially do this for longer trips out of the house. I would throw in millet and hang it and they would go to town on it. A couple other option is stuff it with veggies or seed balls with paper in between.

F) If you don't wish to put too money down at first, you can use a shoe box and shredded paper. Here is my flock using a slow feeder bowl with rock decor

G) You can put paper over their food bowl. At first your bird will knock it off. Then you can put a rubber band and poke huge holes. Then you bird will do little work to tear through the paper. Later make the holes smaller and smaller until you stop making holes. Then your tiel will have to tear through the paper to get to her/his food.
H)This tippler toy A tad harder toy for your tiel to figure out. You will have to fill it up a lot and probably tip it a couple times for him to see.

H) This clear, drawer toy Anotehr challenging one. You will have to leave it open at first then over time close it. Your tiel will learn to open drawer by himself eventually :D

Here are some pictures of my flock using these toys I mentioned.
I covered their play stand with paper so they will have to forage through it
My conure with the tippler toy
My tiels with the millet holders
Shoebox example with my flock
Millet with seedballs and paper
The put paper over their food bowl example
I used my late dog's slow feeder and rock decor for them to forage
Clear drawer toy
Example of C foraging toy

Good luck! :D

Yeah, I don't think millet is really bad for birds, but feeding them only one thing they really love like that will make them hesitant to try anything new. My cocktail is a pretty picky either, but you might try having it sit by your plate while you are eating to see if he will try anything. You might try popcorn, ramen noodles/pasta, apple, pear, carrot, broccoli, cheese, figs (our birds especially love these!).

As far as your bird reacting to noise from videos, that is totally normal. I like to whistle to my bird quite a bit, and you can tell she really enjoys it and will frequently respond. Try playing cocktail videos for your bird and see what happens! I think this sort of stimulation is good for them.

If I were to say "what stresses my bird out," it would be extremely loud and sudden noises, seeing or hearing other birds outside and putting strange or unfamiliar things in their personal space.

Hopefully you have a fairly large cage with different perches and toys to keep the little guy occupied. Although they might be a little freaked out if you put a new item in the cage, they will eventually get used to it. This is an example of a popular toy our birds chew up pretty fast:

https://www.amazon.com/Caitec-Paradise-Popsicle-Sticks-12-Inch/dp/B001ODZ70A

Harrison's, mixed with
Roudybush, topped with mixed human grade freeze dried veggies (broccoli, spinach, peas, corn, tomato, bell pepper, and carrots). He gets a couple nutriberries in his hanging treat ball. Plus he eats his share of whatever we're eating.

It sounds like a lot, but I mix the pellets in one container, and the veggies in another. In the morning I put half a shot glass scoop of each in his bowl, plus a couple nutriberries in his treat thing.

He is a healthy weight, and recovering from a blood infection. If I could get him to eat fresh veggies instead of dried, it would be great, but he refuses. Loves the dried. It would cost a lot to get everything at once, but buying over time wasnt that bad.

Edit: fixing the formatting.

How long have you been trying to teach her how to play?

It took a little while to find out that Sunny loves popsicle sticks, Luna loves seagrass, Cosmo and Titan love paper/playing cards. It was trial and error for us.

Sometimes it’s just the placement of the toys within the cage that can turn off a bird from playing with them.

Have you tried a foraging toy?
We put Nutriberries in this one and the birds were entertained

( Super Bird Creations SB751 PVC Forager Bird Toy with Colorful Birds & Flowers, Large Size, 3" x 5" x 8"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JL05TJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QtYUDb87Q7Z40 )

Maybe you could try and assemble toys with her on the table next to the material. She might interact with the material that she finds interesting.

You might want to look around pet shops and see what styles suit you. I've had one of those for my eclectus back in the day and it was fairly big even for her. The shrouds don't help to keep food off your carpet. And those shrouds are kneebusters. You'll hit them all the time. Also, if it is all metal. The tray where the poop and food go is fairly heavy to slide in/out.

I bought a wider cage with a stand. This is similar to what I bought. The color on Amazon is horrible but you can find something similar. Mine is steel gray:

Amaz.on

You can find similar ones if you search Amazon for victorian bird top cage.

It opens in the front and at the top. The tray is plastic which makes cleaning easier and because the tray is midlength you don't have to bend over to clean. Also, the bottom part of the stand can keep your bird food, cleaning supplies and newspaper. The best part was I got it used from a bird shop for half price. My cockatiels love it.

Oh yes! It totally is fine. My bird was abused before I rescued him, so it stresses him out trying to get a harness on. But I have invested in a couple travel carriers where he can look and see out and be safe. But as long as your bird is comfortable with the harness, go for it! You just really should have them either safely harness to you or in some other safe form of travel. I love taking my bird with me out and about whenever I can.
https://www.amazon.com/Colorday-Lightweight-Carrier-Travel-Parrot/dp/B07G748NQF/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=bird+carrier&qid=1558566235&s=gateway&sr=8-3

The link above is something I've invested in for my bird that he loves a lot.

Some recommendations - from my own experience of fostering 5 birds in a similar condition as yours. Big big big cage, lots of different perch types, and use a towel or sheet to form a backing to part of the cage, to give it some area that it isn't worried about what's behind it. A radio set low on something like jazz or classical through the day will help set it a bit on ease, especially if it is a single bird. Keep him in a nice quiet spot, and I wouldn't even attempt handling for a couple weeks. Through your daily routine it is likely to freak out a little and scurry away. Just move calmly and slowly, just handling the food and water bowls, no sudden movements or grabs/touches, and praise in happy tones, whistle, or imitate whatever sounds it makes.

I also found my foster birds to be quite lacking in nutrition; once they settled in, I began to offer pellets, cuttlebone, Nutri-Berries, and birdy bread (cycled them through). Mine were seed only, but have moved to Rowdybush pellets and destroy a cuttlebone in a couple weeks.

As for dust/bath, when the bird is settled in, you can try light spray/misting, and to encourage the bird to bathe to find a water 'relaxation' device and the sound and sight of the bubbling water will make it do the bathing motions (half-open wings, rubbing head under them), then spray/mist or offer water in a pie dish. Until then, consider an air filtration device like these: http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Compact-Purifier-Permanent-HHT-011/dp/B000N9CPQK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395162523&sr=8-4&keywords=honeywell+air+purifier

Best of luck to you and your new buddy!

One of my cockatiels love his mirror and is still bonded with us. When we're home he runs to us, when we're not he loves his mirror, is it should be fine. I also have food high on the cage to avoid droppings falling on it. I guess the only thing I would say is to add one or 2 more small toys? Something he can destroy easily? I usually have one or 2 for these: https://www.amazon.com/Zig-Zag-Rainbow-Shredder-Toys-Foraging/dp/B01MQJ5VJ3/ . I cut a 6 in strip, fold in half, and clip on the side of the cage using a paper binder. My birds love to destroy and they take so little space. Your setup looks good to me!