Cockatiels Foraging

Neptune and Devito are two male cockatiels that get very excited about food.  Especially millet seed!  As instructed, I placed a little millet inside this cardboard egg carton and they immediately knew exactly what to do.  Together, they went to town.  It was opened and they were inside within seconds. 

These two boys were very very possessive about any food.  They are both rescues and it is my opinion that they must have gone hungry in their past.  Around here there is plenty of food for all, however, D and Neppie would fiercely defend any communal food bowls when all were out playing. 



This reminded me of anxious and neglected dogs that growl when you attempt to take away their food bowl.  These two would not play nice so I had to rotate their out-of-cage time and then the rest of the flock's out-of-cage time.  Very unusual.  Cockatiels typically flock together nicely.  Each will find their position in the flock, either submissive or dominant.  I feel that the more these two are assimilated into a flock like mine, the sooner they will become comfortable with the idea of enough food for everyone to share.

Please only use clean cardboard style egg cartons.  Any spilled raw egg or dirt could contain Salmonella.