Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 12/26/2006

Question
I just got a pearl cockatiel for christmas, and it's quite young, it's molting, i think it's its baby-molt. My problem is, it's not eating. i try to hand feed her nutriphase cocktiel food, and she pecks and picks some up, and she'll either eat one, or throw it back down. She does not seem interested. So, i tried giving her bread, even letting her eat alone, but she won't eat. She doesn't show signs of being sick, and she does bite when she is about to be picked up, likely out of fear, because it's only at people's hands that it bites, not any other body part. But she doesn't seemed stressed. she cuddles up to me and such, and i just don't know what to do. She looks at the food and doesn't seem to have a clue as to what it is. I don't know if she's used to another kind of food, or what, but i need help in keeping her healthy, by getting her to eat something!

Answer
Hi, Amber.  Thanks for posting!

How old is your new cockatiel?  Your new baby shouldn't be molting until it is about 6 months old.  It will molt again when she is about 12 months old.  What makes you think she's molting?

Birds will not eat anything they don't recognize as food.  You need to feed this baby the same food it was eating before you got it.  If you want to introduce new foods, you'll need to do this gradually, but right now, your tiel needs to be on the same food it is used to eating.  

Since you just got this bird, she needs time to adjust to her new surroundings and the new people in her life.  It's great to hear she cuddles up to you, but just be aware that she might still be frightened and stressed out from being moved.  This is also a reason why she might not be eating yet.  You'll need to contact the place where she came from and ask what the bird was being fed.  

Most birds don't like to be picked up.  This is most likely why she is biting your fingers.  You should allow the bird to step up on your hand/finger...don't grab your bird around it's body...allow your bird to step up by placing your finger against her body below her chest but above her feet and saying "step up."  Is this baby tiel tame, i.e., was it handfed?

Visit my website for lots of information on caring for birds:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys