Speaking of cleaning, your cockatiel’s cage should be cleaned every day.
Cleaning should include removing and cleaning the slide-out tray at the bottom
of the cage, scraping the perches with a perch brush, and cleaning and
refilling the food and water dishes. If you have gravel spread on the floor of
your cage, as some pet owners do, throw it away and replace it with fresh
gravel. Finish your housekeeping by spraying or dusting the cage lightly with a
specially made pesticide for mites. Mites are tiny, blood-sucking bugs that can
make your pet cockatiel’s life miserable.
Feeding
The very best food you can provide for your cockatiel is the commercially
prepared food sold at most pet shops. Cockatiels are primarily seed-eaters and
so naturally enjoy some of the same snacks you do; like unsalted sunflower
seeds and peanuts. In some pet shops, bins of various seeds and nuts have been
made available for patrons that prefer to put together their own mixture of
feed for their pets. Every once in a while you can give your pet cockatiel a
treat in the form of fruit like a grape or an apple slice.
Fresh, washed leafy green vegetables can also be used as a treat if done
sparingly. Giving your pet cockatiel too much fresh fruit or vegetables will
cause it digestive problems like diarrhea. Cuttlebone is also important to a
pet cockatiel’s diet. Cuttlebone is actually the dried-out “skeleton” of the
cuttlefish; a seagoing mollusk. You’ve probably seen one before, it’s that
oval, chalky white object attached to the side of a bird’s cage in a pet shop.
The cuttlebone serves two functions—it provides necessary minerals, especially
calcium, to your pet’s diet, and it also aids in keeping your pet’s beak trim.
Earlier this article mentioned having gravel spread on the floor of the
cage, fine gravel or “grit”, is another important addition to your pet
cockatiel’s diet. Cockatiel’s, like all other modern birds, have no teeth and
so cannot chew their food. Birds counteract this “deficiency” by swallowing
bits of gravel that help grind their food down. This gravel is sold in pet
shops as “grit” and is absolutely essential to your pet cockatiel’s health. Pet
shops also sell vitamin drops that you can add, according to the manufacturer’s
instructions, to your cockatiel’s food or water.