Parakeets

[Dangerousdan]

At petsmart, the cockatiels tried biting my finger when I had it outside of the cage, so I would think they, if not all of them are nippy.

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Obviously they are going to try and bite as they have not had quality time and contact with a human. They need to build a trust with people and realise that humans are not a threat. When its in a cage and 100s of people are walkin passed sticking fingers at it, its going to panic and try defending its self only way it can.Bite.
I have a cockatiel thats roughly 13years old. He was hand reared by friends. With a fair amount of time and lot of patience (possably a pair of gloves if your a bit of a wuss) you can teach cockatiel to be very loving and fun pets. Same goes for budgies.
I used to breed both when i was younger. Get a male as they are not as vicious as females.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I'm getting two cockatiels from an animal shelter I just started volunteering at. I guess I'll have to tough it out and deal with the nips without gloves, and since they have been with a family for some time, I expect it to be an easier ordeal for them than if I were to get them from petsmart.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Awesome; I'm glad to see you've chosen to rescue. There are so many homeless birds out there, who need people who will be understanding and tolerant of thier quirks as they acclimate. Congrats, and do show us pics if possible@

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The pictures might be hard for me to do since my digital camera has the worst focus and zoom ever.

The only problem with the birds that I have been informed about is that one of them was attacked by another animal and has lost some of the feathers on its chest. Anyone know how do deal with this? The people said that it lost its feathers a while back, so no infections. I also saw a picture of this (feather loss) in a book I am reading, so if no one here can help me out, I'll find general tips in the book.

Thanks again for all the replies.