[.ca] Cockatiels For Dummies (ISBN 0764553119)

Wonderful for the new bird owner.....:
After Christmas, my husband and I visited the Animal Welfare League of Arlington shelter with the idea we would adopt a cat to replace our 19-year old kitty who died last year. I never made it to the "cat room". I wandered into a "miscellaneous pets" area just off the entrance, and found cages of bunnies and ferrets and other creatures including a pair of bonded cockatiels. When I was a child, my grandmother raised love birds, and I had always wanted my own bird, but the presence of cats made that difficult. Currently catless, I decided to take the birds home. After I purchased two cages, and a few other things at the shelter, I made a trip to the local bird store for seed, pellets, cuttlefish bone, toys, and other assorted necessities the shelter folks recommended. When I told the proprietor of the bird store I was a new owner, she recommended COCKATIELS FOR DUMMIES. Over the past few weeks, I've been seeking all the information I can find about cockatiels. Although my daughter and daughter-in-law have pet birds (love birds, parakeets, and a dove) none of us knows much about cockatiels. Diane Grindol's approach to happy and healthy cockatiels includes advice about preventative health care maintenance, but she also provides plenty of suggestions for ways to bond with your bird. She gets down to the nitty gritty with: what to feed your bird and why; how to maintain his or her cage; why wing clipping, toenail trimming, and other grooming matters; what it means when a bird molts; how to distinguish between nutritious and poisonous plants; how to avoid bird hazards like scented candles, the toilet bowl and Teflon-lined pans; what to do if your boy bird masturbates on his food cup; and how to avoid reproduction without stressing the female, but the best tips involve how to have a good relationship with your birds. Grindol's book is perfect for a novice like me who knows plenty about wild birds but precious little about caged birds (actually two cages since the male was a bit hen-pecked so he spends part of the daylight hours in a separate establishment). So far, I am doing really well with my feathered friends who have a place of honor next to my PC (but far enough away they won't be radiated). If you're thinking about getting a bird, I suggest you read the DUMMIES book first. Birds require much more time than a cat, but for me it's worth it.

Racehorse or Cockatiel:
I bought this book and then returned it -- I was not impressed. It did not tell me what to do when my bird laid an egg (eat it I presume!). That was the main reason for my purchase. It has a large chapter on the cost of owning a cockatiel. I may not be wealthy, but even I know that its not a ****ing racehorse -- how much can it cost? What a waste of print. Can anybody suggest a better book?

It's for more than just "dummies":
Diane Grindol has a very natural and entertaining style of writing that makes this book as much fun to read as to use as a reference. It's a great title about these wonderful birds with a lot of useful information I haven't seen much written about prior. My own bird unfortunately suffers from night frights on a regular basis, and this is the first cockatiel book I've looked at that spends any time discussion the issue. I'd read something about it on the internet, but it was nice to see an expert put it in print. As a reference, this book certainly holds its own against any other consumer-level guide on the market.

Excellent for any tiel owner!:
Cockatiels for Dummies is a wonderful hand-guide for cockatiel care. It's written in an easy to read and understand format, which makes this book an absolute must for everyone interested in owning cockatiels!

A wonderful, informative and entertaining book:
If you are going to buy just one book about cockatiels, this is truly the one to own. It's well written and researched, and presented in an unintimidating, friendly manner, and covers all the basics you'll need to know to nurture and share a happy relationship with a devoted pet. There's excellent advice about choosing, housing, feeding, training and caring for one or more of this wonderful species of bird, and solid advice about handling emergencies, choosing a vet, etc. And as other reviewers have mentioned, this book's insight into cockatiel psychology and development is exceptional, and it really helps to understand why a bird might be behaving in a certain way, and what this behavior might communicate. Previous to acquiring a cockatiel, I owned a halfmoon conure for a number of years, and although I'm an experienced bird owner, I learned a lot from this book. I'll be sure to keep it handy in case I need to consult it in an emergency. I can't recommend it highly enough.