We brought a new cockatiel into our home on July 3rd 2005. Welcome to Abby's Page and enjoy our photos and stories about him! We thought Abby was a girl when we brought him home..thus the female name. Once we discovered Abby was a HE it was too late to change his name. We do have the nickname "Abbu" for him and that is used often here on his site.

Nice side view of Abby.

Abby after a shower!

Abby enjoying the bird tree..

Abby or "Abbu" as we affectionately call him really tries to be a budgie..since he has two budgies living in the cage next to him.

Abby has a WIDE vocabulary including:
Hello Bird!
Scratchy scratchy! (when he wants to be scratched)
Scratchy Bird!
Goodmorning!
Goodbye!
Goodnight!
Momma's Baby!
Grendel/Hello Grendel
Monster Bird
Abby
What WHAT??!!
Abby also LOVES to whistle: So far he has mastered:
Wolf Whistle
Alabama Fight Song
Mexican Hat Dance

Abbu is very sweet and docile. When he wants to be scratched he will put his head down and say, "Scratchy bird."

Abbu enjoys some scratches from his Mom

Baby Abby!

Abby getting head scratches!! Her favorite!

Abbu is definitely a member of the family...I joke that he is our 3rd dog with all of the attention he demands!

I finally feel more confident in my care of our cockatiel. I cannot emphasize how important a GOOD diet is! Seeds alone is NOT enough. One tip my avian vet gave me is to rotate out different types of pellets so Abbu wont get tired of one type. I mix two types of pellets and rotate out brands. Abby enjoys the following brands of pellets:

Harrisons (fine or superfine)
Roudybush Maintenance (crumbles)
Zupreem Wild N'Spicy

The Zupreem he is currently eating has some dyes. I am thinking about trying Zupreem Garden Goodness next time. Abby absolutely LOVES the huge chunks of red peppers in the Wild N' Spicy formula..so that is why I have continued to use it.

Abby ALSO loves to eat:
Edamame
Broccoli
Fresh Spinach Leaves

As a treat he will sometimes gets:
Sunseed Sunscription Seeds
Millet
Seed treats
Lafabers AviCakes

*11-18-2005**My husband got some really cute videos of Abby!! Visit the link below to see them!

Click Here for Abby Videos...will open another window

We got a new cage this month for Abbu! We found a fantastic cage for him on Ebay. I highly suggest searching on Ebay for a bird cage. Just remember to figure in shipping costs.

For a cockatiel cage get a cage with NO MORE than 5/8 inch bar spacing. The larger the cage the better. Your bird should be able to spread his wings comfortably.

Abby's new cage is 24"L x 20"W x 60H. That measurement includes the playtop gym. The interior height NOT including playgym is 28 1/4".

The photo below is the cage as it appeared on the Ebay listing. I have replaced the bulky bowls with smaller ones that hook to the side of the cage. I found those bowls were way too big for Abby!

In the photo above you can see the new food dishes that hook onto the side of the cage. You can find these dishes at any pet supply store. (see photo below of Abby's food dishes)

Above Abbu investigates his new home! Again the bowls on the top have been removed. I now just put some of his food on the floor of the playtop gym..to encourage foraging.

The photo above shows the playgym without the bulky cups. Abby shares his playgym with his best friend, Meadow.

A handsome Abby preens on top of his new cage.

I love this photo of Abby!! :)

My Blog! Best source for current Abby info!

My Favorite Links Site: Bird Related Links are listed first.

Abby's MySpace Site: "Abbu Rules"

Cockatiel Cottage! LOTS of fantastic info!

Cockatiel Care Sheet

Squawk and Howl's Bird Information Page: Just about everything you want to know in ONE place!

Roudybush's main website

Harrison's Bird Food! Great organic pellets!

Bird Safe Store--where we got our Roudybush Crumbles. SUPER FAST Shipping. This will be our Roudybush source!