Printable owner manual
A twenty-five-year cockatiel starts with the food bowl and a night light.
A 41-page printable manual with the cage and the bar spacing that is a safety limit, the night light that stops night frights, five ways to convert a seed eater, the levers that prevent chronic egg laying, nine health pages, and the printable owner tools.
Not sure yet? Download the first 4 pages free, contents page included.
- 41 pages, print or view
- Beginner friendly
- No external links inside the PDF
Edition 1.2
Oct 2026 路 41 pages
Care-sheet roulette
- A seed bowl sold as a complete diet
- A tall, narrow cage bought for its looks
- A bird thrashing in the dark at 2am, and nobody saying why
- A hen laying clutch after clutch with no male in the house
This guide
- 75 to 80 percent pellets, five ways to convert a seed eater, and the weight loss that means slow down
- A 20 by 20 inch floor, a 24 by 24 by 30 inch target, width over height, and bars at half an inch
- Night frights explained, and the dim night light that prevents the injury this species is known for
- The trigger list for chronic laying, why the eggs stay where they are, and egg binding as a same-day emergency
What's inside 路 41 pages
Everything from first setup to daily routine.
Cage, placement and hazards
Cage size and the half-inch bar spacing, perches and dishes, where the cage goes, and the household hazards page, starting with nonstick pan fumes (PTFE).
Sleep and night frights
10 to 12 hours of real darkness, the dim night light that prevents the signature injury, and day length as the hormone lever.
Diet and pellet conversion
The 75 to 80 percent pellet target, five conversion methods, vegetable and fruit charts, and the never-feed list.
Handling and the crest
Taming in steps, reading the crest, one bird or two, wing clipping from both sides, sexing, and the daily gram scale.
Health and red flags
Chronic egg laying and egg binding, vitamin A and fatty liver, psittacosis, beak and feather disease (PBFD), Giardia and plucking, molt, and quarantine.
Owner tools
Setup checklist, emergency card, budget and shopping list, first 30 days, symptom reference, pet-sitter sheet, and the logs.
Every page, section by sectionThe package's own contents page, all 41 pages of it. Nothing here is a teaser for something sold separately.
Getting Started
- How to Use This Package
Quick Profile
- Quick Profile & Cost Overview
Full Care Guide
- Cage Size, Bar Spacing & Placement
- Perches, Dishes & What to Leave Out
- Light, Sleep & Night Frights
- Household Hazards & Bird-Proofing
- One Cockatiel or Two, and the Whistling Trade-Off
- Diet: Pellets, Seed & Converting a Seed Eater
- Safe Vegetables, Greens & Herbs
- Fruit, Treats & the Never-Feed List
- Common Mistakes & Enrichment
- Handling, Taming & Reading the Crest
- Wing Clipping & Flight
- Sexing, Weight & Body Condition
- Hens, Hormones & Chronic Egg Laying
- Egg Binding
Health & Common Issues
- Health Red Flags & What to Tell the Vet
- Vitamin A, Calcium & Fatty Liver
- Respiratory Disease & Psittacosis
- PBFD (Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease), Polyomavirus & Other Viral Disease
- Foreign Bodies, Heavy Metal, Mites & Injuries
- Feather Plucking & Behavioral Health
- Molt & Seasonal Behavior
- Reading Droppings & Hydration
- Quarantine & Adding a Second Bird
Quick Reference
- Setup Checklist & Targets
- Emergency & Quick Targets Card
Owner Tools
- Budget & Shopping List
- First 30 Days Checklist
- Symptom Quick Reference
- Daily, Weekly & Seasonal Routine
- Power Outages, Travel & Transport
- Pet-Sitter Sheet
- Owner Log
- Equipment & Vet Log
Reference
- Glossary, A to M
- Glossary, N to Z
- Sources & Further Reading
- Where the Sources Disagree, Version History & About
Take a look inside
The pages that make a five-year bird a twenty-five-year one.
Click a page to see it at full size. The contents page is complete; the others fade out where the paid content starts.
The first 4 pages, free
Pages 1 to 4 as a PDF: the contents page and the introduction, so you can see every page the full package covers. None of the care guide itself.
Who this is for
- New cockatiel owners buying the cage before the bird
- Keepers with a bird on a seed mix who want it on pellets without a hunger strike
- Anyone with a hen who has started laying, before it turns into a habit
What it's not
- Not a substitute for an avian veterinarian
- Not a live website mirror, a clean printable package instead
- Not a subscription, one purchase and every corrected edition is free
Ready when you are
Cockatiel Care Package
41 pages. PDF. Print it or keep it open on your phone, tablet, or computer. Yours the moment you check out.
Edition 1.2, published October 1, 2026. Paid through Stripe. The download link arrives on the next page, and it stays in your library for as long as the package exists, always as the current edition. Not a substitute for a vet.
More care packages
Same format, other animals.
Budgie Care Package
"Easy first bird" isn't the same as easy cage.
40 pages 路 PDF 路 edition 2.1
Cockatoo Care Package
Four to six hours most days, for decades. Take the honest test first.
47 pages 路 PDF 路 edition 1.2
The free cockatiel guide is still free
This package is the same research as our cockatiel care guide, reformatted into an offline manual with the checklists, logs, and triage tables the web pages do not carry. Read the free guide first and buy this only if you want it in your hands.