How many cockatiels to get?

[TwiggyB123]

In November our cockatiel Stella died.

Both me and my husband work all day during the week, and we felt guilty about leaving Stella all day (we gave her lots of attention and spent lots of time with her before and after work though), and we used to leave the radio on for her during the day.

Stella is sorely missed, and we'd really like to get another bird but we're wondering whether it's better for us to get 2 birds, rather than one, so that they have company?

Stella wasn't very tame - would not come on to your finger or anything, and this time I would like to get hand reared bird(s).

If we got 2 hand reared birds would that tameness be lost because they would be more interested in each other than us?

Also, what would the noise be like?! Stella wasn't too bad (unless particular songs came on the radio!).

Any advice welcome please.

[charmedagain]

Hi i am sorry to hear about stella.

I always keep my birds in pairs, Cockatiels when in pairs will sing alot especially the males as they try to woo the females.
It can get quite noisey during the breeding season when the male sings all day to get the attention of a female.

If getting hand reared birds its best to get them at around 8-12 weeks of age and keep handling them before work and after work, That way they should stay tame.

If you get them both at the same time then and both are hand tame also reduces the chance of them wanting to spend more time with each other.

What i used to do is find out what there favourite treat was and i used to have that in my hand when i held the birds this made them trust my hand and show them that i was not going to hurt them.

Cockatiels like most birds love music and i still leave my radio on for my birds when i go out and i have never had a complaint from my neighbours, At one point i had 12 cockatiels around 26 budgies, Finches but now i only have 2 cockatiels.

My female i hand reared from 3days old as her clutch mates where killed by there parents so i took her from them and raised her myself she is now 4years old and has had a mate for the last 2years and she is still tame even though he would rather bite than be handled

Mike