Rescued a cockatiel — need all the advice I can get!
Hi everyone! I recently adopted a rescue zebra finch from a shelter near Roncesvalles. Their name is Storm (the shelter named them but it stuck). They're a bit shy and don't trust easily — no idea what their previous situation was. I want to give them the absolute best life possible. Any tips for helping a rescue bird settle in and learn to trust again?
Welcome to the forum! Great to have another bird lover from the GTA. Your Hahn's macaw sounds adorable — what's their personality like?
Welcome to the forum! Great to have another bird lover from the GTA. Your green cheek conure sounds adorable — what's their personality like?
Welcome! I remember being a new bird owner and this kind of community helped SO much. Excited to have you!
Reading this hit home. My green cheek conure went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was leaving the radio or TV on when I'm out — background noise helps. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?
My Sky read this post over my shoulder and started nodding. I'm only slightly concerned.
Anyone near downtown Toronto should check out the bird section at an avian specialty store — surprisingly good for the area.
Oh man, this brings back memories. When we were dealing with this with Paco, I thought we'd never get through it. Now it's just a funny memory. It gets better, I promise.
I switched to TOP's pellets last year and haven't looked back. My blue and gold macaw's feathers have never looked better.
It took me a while to figure this out with my bird too. Don't be too hard on yourself — you're learning!
This!! So much this. Saving this post to show my partner.
Your bird is in good hands. The fact that you're researching this shows how much you care.
Second vote for BST. They boarded my blue and gold macaw last summer and I could tell Charlie was well cared for when I picked them up. Total peace of mind.
Revisiting this thread because I have more info now. After talking to my vet, they confirmed exactly what people here said. This community knows their stuff.
So what I ended up doing was spending at minimum 2 hours of supervised out-of-cage time daily. Within a few days there was a noticeable improvement. Definitely worth trying.