Say hello to Chip the Cockatiel
For this month’s Meet My Parrot article we are delighted to meet Chip the Cockatiel and his owner Sophie Barnett.
Tell us about your Parrot
This is Chip, our seven-month-old Cockatiel! Chip has many alternative names including: Chip-Chip, Mr Chips, Nugget, Little Monster and Monkey!
He lives with his brother, Fish who is also a Cockatiel, and Pickles our Green-cheeked Conure. He is a rising social media star with over 470 followers on Instagram.
Why did you choose a Cockatiel?
Cockatiels are very inquisitive and playful in nature. When we lost our last beloved Cockatiel, Billie, we knew our life would be incomplete without one.
What is Chip’s favourite food?
Chip loves sprouted seeds, spinach, peas and broccoli – he is a very healthy bird! He also enjoys some millet when he has been well behaved!
Does Chip have any favourite toys?
His current favourite toy is the Popsicle Sticks Parrot Toy – he loves to chew the sticks until they fall off and then use them as foot toys.
Chip also loves learning toys, and is currently learning how to place coloured coins in a box!
Does Chip have any games he likes to play?
His current favourite game to play is ‘I’m going to fly on top of the curtain pole and chew the wall. I know it’s naughty but Mummy can’t reach me!’. He also loves chasing his brother around on the floor.
Does he speak?
He is doing his best to say ‘Chip-Chip’, but he mostly wolf whistles, kisses, imitates the smoke alarm and sings the Pigbag football chant!
Do you have advice for new Parrot owners?
My main advice would be to get their diet right. It can take time and patience to convert seed junkies onto a healthy diet, but the change will be worth it!
Also make sure that you do not use Teflon/non-stick cookware in the house as the fumes are highly toxic.
Cockatiels, like all Parrots, need plenty of attention, and scratches (if they’ll allow it!), so make sure you have time in your lifestyle for decades of commitment.
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