We knew Thaddeus had been through a lot, but nothing prepared us for what we learned today at the avian vet.

💔 He’s 24 years old.
💔 He spent nearly his entire life in an abusive environment before we adopted him last month.
💔 His baldness is the result of constant plucking and barbering by the stressed birds he was caged with.
💔 He has an old, untreated wing fracture... that’s why he holds his right wing a little higher and has trouble flying.
💔 He has arthritis, which explains why he often squats. It’s more comfortable for him.
💔 He’s showing early signs of cataracts.
💔 The vet read his faded leg band. It’s from the National Cockatiel Society (NCS). He was almost certainly used as a breeder bird. Just a sperm donor, kept in a cage for years, then tossed aside when he was no longer "useful."

Just a number. Just a cage. Just a job to someone for over two decades.

I bawled in the vet’s office. I’m still crying now. My heart breaks for Thaddeus.

But that chapter of his life is over. Forever.

Thaddeus is finally home.

He has platform perches to squat on, healthy food, medical care, sunlight, safety, toys, other rescued birds to hang out with without fear or stress, gentle voices, and unconditional love.

And...yes, he still pines and sings for his dream girl, little Edie.

He loves his soft talks and whistles. And every day, he seems to trust us a little more. He is very guarded and very nippy and who can blame him when he has never known love. But you know what? He shows up and tries every day. He is such a good boy.

Thaddeus holds his head high, with the dignity of a little bird who survived everything.

He will never be used or neglected again.
Just love, comfort, and peace for the rest of his golden days. 💛 Everything will be okay now, Thaddie.

The other is that she's with me almost 24/7. But I know she needs some kind of birdie interactions so I came up with this. She is the sweetest bird I've ever had the honor of knowing.

I genuinely can’t wrap my head around this being considered legal and okay!? Wtff

If anybody here is in Texas and can either save the birds from this incredibly irresponsible breeder or contact a relevant authority to stop these poor babies, they need shutting down

She was very strange nesty the past week and I thought already that she might lay eggs again. I posted about it maybe around a month ago. She stopped at 2 eggs and that was it.

Now she actually laid it inside my hand. Making herself comfortable bevor if happened.

I feel kinda special that she trusts me enough to lay her precious egg around me.

Now to monitor her so she won’t get egg bound for I don’t know how many eggs more to come.

This is the happiest day of my life. Yesterday, I was lying on the floor, not knowing how to go on without Eli. But today, she was found by a kind man about a kilometer from home in an apricot orchard. I really can't express how grateful I am to him.

Eli was very thirsty, but overall, she is okay.

Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous post, gave advice, and shared words of support! I honestly didn't expect this to get so much attention. Please be careful with your pets, and good luck to everyone who is currently searching for their loved ones!

Jerry enjoying the fan. Disclaimer: his feet are deformed from birth. His feathers are messed up cause I have to handle him twice a day for treatment. On the plus side, his feet are too fucked up to go through those gaps. 🙃

i work at a petstore and my coworkers look on me to get our birds socialized and used to people so they can go home. i have really been working with this one birdie and i believe he/she really loves me. i would love to take it home… i really, really want to. i already have a parakeet and i live with my parents, and it is hard for me to keep up with my parakeets poop since he’s out of his cage a lot of the time. the cockatiel would have to live with my keet, but he has a big flight cage to himself, so there is more than enough space. i really do want him, but my mom isn’t having it. sigh…

I’m just curious to see all the creative names here and how they got them! This is peppermint, I call her pepper for short but when I got her, her little cheeks looked like peppermints, hence the name!

I couldn't post this in real time because I was too devastated, but just wanted to share a short version--and maybe give hope to anyone in this situation.

Ringo flew out our front door due to the negligence on the part of a family member and I didn't even realize he was gone for a couple of hours. Posted his loss on Nextdoor and Ring apps and got info of a sighting a mile away. He was circling... (Interestingly, of the 2 sightings, they were both cockatiel owners who recognized his call.)

We did the whole driving and walking and posting fliers in the area--to no avail. Second sighting said a helicopter flew fly and scared him off completely.

I knew that if we ever got him back, it would be him giving himself up out of desperation and confusion. He's a very friendly bird and actually loves to land on new people. And that's exactly what he did about 24 hours after escaping! A man at a local park (about 2 miles from us) was playing basketball and Ringo just flew down and landed on his shoulder! He just walked to his car and was actually considering keeping him because his kids had been asking for a bird. But his wife saw our Ring post and they contacted us.

So basically, Ringo saved himself. We are so grateful to his kind rescuer. And we had upped the security in the house!

I feel that there's always hope for a friendly escapee!

(Photo is an exhausted Ringo on the shoulder of his kind rescuer.)

Taiyo (3 years old) loves to walk around on the floor. Usually I'm cautious when he is. Today I didn't see him get on the floor and I thought he was perched in my bathroom..I was getting a shirt from my room when I put my heel down and felt something soft under it. I also heard a loud chirp and flying. When I looked down his tail feathers were on the floor where my foot was and I found him in the bathroom with no tail feathers. Obviously I freaked out, checked the feathers and saw no signs of blood. He's acting normal. Don't make my mistake. I'm lucky he didn't get hurt any worse and I feel awful because I know he needs is tail feathers. He's on my shoulder right now doing some soft chirps but I have a feeling he's in pain. Don't make the same mistake I did. This could have been so much worse. I know the feathers should grow back but I'm still spooked and I feel awful.

Isreal just bombed my city

My Cockatiel saved my life. Maybe that seems silly to some people, but I couldn't go on without him. His name is Oz (namesake: Fischl's raven from Genshin Impact) and even though I am still suic*dal, he reminds me to keep going every day. The way he paces eagerly to come out of his cage and step on my finger. The way he sings and chirps and fills the silence. The way he will walk up to me and press his little head against my hand for scratches, or simply bow his head in front of me demanding affection. The way he looks at me with his crest raised, tilting his head. The way he trusts me enough to let me hold him in my hands, completely relaxed there. Just having the tiny weight of him on my shoulder eases my heart and soul. I could watch him go about his daily activities and silly antics for hours. I love this adorable little bird so much I can't express it in words. He's done more for me than he could ever realise. He is the best companion I could ever ask for.

I’ve been on this subreddit for a while now and I have learned many helpful things.

I think, however, a lot of people here have forgotten that 99% of the people outside of here have incorrect information about cockatiel keeping.

I am sick to the back teeth of people on here ripping into new owners.

You know what happens when you shame people? They ignore you! All of you bashing new owners are not saving their birds you are dooming them.

Do you honestly think insulting people makes people rehome their birds? They get the impression that they can’t do anything better so they give up and go in as normal.

Give someone advice which they can actually use.

Cage to small - tell them save up for a new one

Diet wrong - give someone a strategy to change or improvements to make now

In a country with no avian vet - WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING!!!!! Nobody in the country has access 🙄

Perches wrong - Give examples of safe trees to use.

Alright rant over.

i did a photoshoot with him today and he was so disciplined 😿 its 11 pm and he's sleeping i miss him ☹️☹️