WELCOME TO PRESTIDGE AVIARIES
Here at Prestidge Aviaries (Western Sydney, Australia), we are a private breeder of cockatiels, committed to provide healthy, happy, friendly and beautiful handraised baby birds. Each baby bird is sold only to the right person, making sure that it will go to a home where it is well cared for and has a long and happy life. We do not sell bulk to pet shops or to resellers and for the safety and well being of our babies, we do not freight our birds, they are pick up only.
I have been breeding & handraising cockatiels for over 15 years, starting just with one baby cockatiel as my pet bird. It all grew from there once I moved to a house that had enough room for a small aviary where I started breeding just one pair of cockatiels.
All my baby birds are handraised with spoon on Passwells Handrearing formula from around 14-20 days of age, being fed 2-3 times a day. From around 5 weeks onwards (or time of fledging), they are introduced to and being weaned onto seeds & vegetables and when they are ready to go to their new homes they are fully independent. From the time they are born to their total independence is around 7-9 weeks, some babies take longer but we do not force them to wean, we let them take their own time to become completely independent. All the handraised babies get handled every day and are very tame and happy to be sitting on shoulders, hands and heads, learn to step up onto fingers and love to be out of their cage to interact with people. We let them fly around while with us so that they can develop strong & healthy muscles and only cut their wings when they are ready for a new home and requested so. They come from specially selected show quality parents, that are healthy big birds with large clear eyes and I select my breeding birds that have good temperament to make sure that they produce babies which will become very tame and stay that way even if they end up in an aviary without much human interaction.
All our birds are fed on a good quality AviGrain Peachface seed mix, fresh vegetables, multigrain bread and vitamins. We strive to maintain a high quality of life for our breeding birds, without crowding them, having our aviaries located outdoors in a sunny position with green leafy surroundings. We breed most of our birds in large aviaries where they can fly about and get plenty of excercise and we never keep any of them in small breeding cabinets in our garage. We do breed all year round but alternate between the breeding pairs so they all get a long break between having a couple of clutches each, which is why we don't always have all the mutations available at the one time.
Whistling & Talking: Most people believe that only male cockatiels whistle, and yes males have a natural ability to whistle when content & as part of their courtship but I have in my time of breeding seen female cockatiels that have whistled close to as good as a male would whistle. Cockatiels can learn to talk but males are usually better at talking and are much easier to understand. A male cockatiel will gladly entertain himself in front of a mirror for hours while whistling or talking. A female cockatiel can also learn to talk & whistle tunes if the proper time has been invested into developing her speech and especially if she was handraised and they tend to be more cuddly & affectionate.
Training: Cockatiels can be taught to perform tricks, such as wave with one foot, turn around, nod their head, or flap their wings. More advanced tricks such as placing coins into a piggybank, or ringing a bell can also be taught, however, more time needs to be invested to yield such results. If you wish to train your cockatiel tricks, find a motivation that he/she is willing to work for such as treats (millet spray or sunflower seeds) or affection (scratch on the neck). Always use positive reinforcement when training and keep sessions short and productive. The tricks your cockatiel can learn are only limited to your imagination and the dedication you put forth.
I hope you enjoy looking at my pages and photos. If you like it, please feel free to leave me a comment on my guestbook page.
Regards & happy bird keeping,
Judit
email: madarka@ozemail.com.au
Mobile: 0402 566 678
Please note: We are not able to ship birds to other countries outside of Australia. Birds are pick up only or local delivery within Sydney, NSW.
