If the pet cockatiel is capable of living for 20-30 years why do they die so young? Learn how to care for the cockatiel. A wonderful pet bird! Cockatiel care sheets and cockatiel faq; how to care for the pet cockatiel. How long do cockatiel's live? Do they make good pets? Can the cockatiel talk? Should their wings be clipped? How do you avoid dangers hidden in the common household? Learn proper cockatiel care for a long lifespan. [URL=http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59768.asp]Cockatiel Care[/URL]

It wasn't many years ago, maybe the 1960's -1970's they did't understand enough about parrots to successfully breed them. They didn't understand the need for diversity of diet. We still have a lot to learn. Cockatiels are wonderful birds. We had some when I was young. For now, my conures get into enough mischief.

It would be interesting to learn more about how they were finally able to successful breed parrots after so many failures.

Diana....your link is not working to connect to your article but I went on the Birds site to read it. Thanks for the great introduction to cockatiels.

I have had many cockatiels in my day, and many died of fatty liver disease before I knew about proper diet. It is hard to find a well educated bird vet, as many vets don't specialize in aviary medicine. But I was lucky in that I had an aviary vet who did autopsies on my birds and I learned a lot.

Exclusive seed diets are horrendous for birds in captivity, no matter what vitamin content they claim to have. Birds in the wild eat fruit, insects, greens, and many other things besides seeds that they may find. A good diet would be an organic pellet without all sorts of colors and fruit smells, and instead offer your bird its colorful food through various fruit, veggies, greens, beans, nuts, some organic seed (can be sprouted for additional nutritional value), even a bit of hard boiled egg now and then. Fresh water, a big cage, rotated toys for play and interest, and socialization will add to the longevity of the bird.

Once I knew what I was doing wrong I even had my canaries living longer........up to 15 years old right up to their maximum lifespan. Captive birds in general may not live up to their full lifespan, but there is a lot we can do to extend the typical caged bird lifespan if we are diligent enough and varied in what we offer them.

Thank you Debbie, for some reason I haven't got moderator status yet and that is why my links aren't working. There are still a large percentage of people who feed an all seed diet. You describe a perfect diet. Though, I'd like to see a bit more protein. Even nectar/fruit eaters end up consuming insects. Pretty much all birds eat insects of one form or another. I use to sprout different seeds and legumes, haven't for a while thanks for the reminder! As soon as I get through the training state though I finished everything the first week I can get the links on the article to continue onto the cage, toys, rotation of toys, socialization, training a so many more things related to the dear sweet cockatiel. I have learned from my mistakes myself and with animals it can be tragic mistakes, but we do learn so many more will live longer and healthier lives.