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Posted by walt boeninger on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 21:14 :: Cockatiels
Interested in others who have elderly Cockatiels and their experiences ... our bird Captain is now 28, and so far the only signs of old age are bald spots on his wings and a propensity to sleep a lot. He still flys, though not quite as far as usual.
He's never had his wings clipped, and has never had a serious... or any ailment, for that matter...

Here he is: http://shelbytransam.com/walt/captain.htm

Walt Boeninger
walt@boeninger.net
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Posted by karen on Sat, 03/08/2008 - 21:10.
That is very old for a cockatiel! What do you feed him?


Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI
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Posted by walt boeninger on Sat, 03/08/2008 - 22:40.
He eats almost everything we do. For the last 10 years or so he's been eating mostly millet sprays. His seed cup lasts him a week without refill. Pretzels, bread, peanuts, lettuce, broccoli are all regulars. He also gets his gravel/grit and charcoal which he eats daily. And a cuttle bone.
Never had his wings clipped, has been free to roam the house at will. Currently spends a lot of time sleeping in the pantry or under his personal sun lamp (60 Watt lightbulb)

Walt
Silicon Valley
CA
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Posted by karen on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 22:09.
That really is an impressive age for a cockatiel. I did read about one that made it to 30 (and never let out of his cage, poor thing).
It probably helps that he's getting lots of millet and vegetables and not so much regular seed mix. So often I hear people warning not to feed too much millet because it's fattening. Bu if you look at the nutrition info, millet is actually low fat and very nutritious. People just assume that if a bird likes it, it must be fattening!

Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI
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