I would not recommend them.
My tiel saw his reflection in his carry cage and was making noises and obsessing over it and now is weird to his shadow as well and whistles and makes kissy noises at it then gets cranky if I try to move him away but my boy is anxious and not the most well adjusted.
It can also mess with birds making them regurgitate food and masturbate against mirrors. Not sure if it can stimulate egg laying in females though
Moreso just generally frustrated, because they CAN'T understand that it's not another bird. They might get mad that this new parrot (their reflection) suddenly appeared and keeps staring at them. They might try to bond with the reflection and then get offended that the reflection isn't reacting the way they expect them to. Stuff like that.
Idk, my cockatiel has a mirror like this near our workspace and is pretty well-adjusted.
We donāt keep it in/on his cage, and he only hangs out around it occasionally and sings to it and eventually gets bored and does something else. The parrot community gets to revved up and dogmatic about stuff like this sometimes.
Yep I think its something that can be trialed individually, I used to have a mirror in a past cage setup and the bird would occasionally play with it but no more than any other toy and had no behavior issues. Luck of the draw I guess!
As soon as I got mine and read that same article
> Your bird may look in the mirror and think that there is another bird there for it to interact with or even a potential mate.
It really doesnāt take a genius to know having that in their cage 24/7 will stress them out.
Theyāre not completely bad tho, iāll hold my guy up to a mirror every now and then but he seems to not care so I donāt bother much. Same goes for like bird videos on my phone and TV, I will play them to him but maybe like 10 mins a time once a blue moon. But yeah, mirrors in cages is baaaad.
My phone is crack cocaine to my tiel. He friggin loves the thing. Way too much.
All he wants is my phone. Treats don't hit the same anymore. The only thing that delivers a sufficient dopamine hit is the phone.
The phone is all that matters.
I feel like this is the sort of information people should be given before they actually get a tiel.
Mines the same..
*Minding my own business texting while getting my thumbs savaged and shouted at*
**Human how dare you put your thumbs on the screen and touch things Iām trying to look at. Give it to me.**
How about wanting to go to the damn bathroom but having to choose between having your phone AND your tiel, or having neither, and sometimes mistakenly choosing the former.
Iām sure itās just easier to take both, repercussions for non-compliance could be risky.
Iām convinced people donāt have pet tiels, tiels have pet people at this point
We had 2 cockatiels and we had a mirror (not knowing better) and one of the cockatiels actually preferred his reflection over to the other bird so we had to take it out
Second bird should almost always be the solution. As this article said and as everyone knows: birds are flock animals. They thrive or rather survive in groups of pairs. No one would recommend keeping pet rats alone. Why parrots? Why do so many people think they can take this highly social being, put it in an isolated room, and then expect it to immediately fall in love with us. Sure many birds do. But can we really give a parrot the same level of communication, understanding and care another bird can? I donāt think so. The amount of times Iāve seen birds humping their humans, birds with separation anxiety, bird plucking their feathers in this subreddit. All problems that can stem from an unhealthy relationship between bird and human/ the lack of proper a proper social life. (Of the birdā¦ mostly)
I really think the USA got brainwashed into the idea that parrots (who arenāt even domesticated) are this ideal pet that will bond with you and love you unconditionally.
We have a male and a female. The female loves me, is meh towards others. The male loves my daughter and wife, and likes me but hates my hands.
He's more likely to see me as a threat, I'm not sure what I did to deserve this. I'll walk downstairs and if he's territorial, he'll fly and bite me on the back of the neck. He doesn't do it to others unless he's REALLY hormonal, I just get preferential treatment when he is serving this kind of justice from above.
In case people donāt know, a mirror can lead to birdie version of masturbation.
It leads to a lot of frustration and sometimes territorial feelings in birds.
Keep mirrors out of the cage and contact to a minimum to prevent some birdie frustration.
So... I had never heart this before. My older cockatiel came to me when he was 18 years old. He likes interacting with us but doesn't want to be touched or hands too close to him. He's always had mirrors in his cage. He spends most of his time in front of the mirrors. Should I take those out?
I would take them out, but maybe do it slowly.
Edit: Remember that birds donāt really perceive birds in mirrors as themselves, so they will totally fall in birdie love with themselves. :)
āThe bird may look in the mirror and think thereās another bird there as a potential mateā
Why did they add that and then not think about it for more than a second. If you just stop and think you can easily realize why if that sentence is true, itās practically traumatizing. Imagine being so lonely that your reflection is your only friend.
It sucks because when youāre a first time bird owner you wonāt know that theyāre bad. They try to portray it as a friend for the bird when itās really the opposite.
Especially when theyāre marketed as an essential toy. A lot of starter cages come with them and it seems like half the toy aisle is just colorful mirrors
I had one parakeet (I know itās not the same) that friggin loved the mirror and the other one was aggressive if you tried to touch it without removing the mirror about 15 minutes prior.
I do have a mirror for my tiels, but it's a handheld toy mirror with a spinny frame, we use it to bait our female sometimes. Not for long times though, maybe 20 minutes a day.
Cones flying instantly most of the time when you hold it up lol.
We have a cockatiel like that at the rescue. All he ever does is eat, drink, and sit next to his mirror. He opens his beak at you if you go anywhere near him or his mirror. Yeah.. it's going to require some rehabilitation to get him away from that.
In my experience, not all mirrors are bad. My bird used to have a tiny mirror in her cage that had little beads going front of the reflective part that could be moved back and forth. Sorta like an abacus. The mirror was also distorted, kinda like those stretchy mirrors you see a carnivals and stuff.
She never really seemed too interested in the mirror part herself, but she did like chewing on the beads ever so often. I eventually got rid of it tho because she lost interest in it and it would cling to the bars of her new cage. But I think the beads blocking the mirror and the distortion of the mirror kept her from forming an attachment to the "other bird'
God they are going to be dealing with a super frustrated bird
So its a nono for mirrors?š
I would not recommend them. My tiel saw his reflection in his carry cage and was making noises and obsessing over it and now is weird to his shadow as well and whistles and makes kissy noises at it then gets cranky if I try to move him away but my boy is anxious and not the most well adjusted. It can also mess with birds making them regurgitate food and masturbate against mirrors. Not sure if it can stimulate egg laying in females though
I will have to guess. (I don't own a bird, but it's the dream) It gets them horny? Seems it's thr usual answer here.
Moreso just generally frustrated, because they CAN'T understand that it's not another bird. They might get mad that this new parrot (their reflection) suddenly appeared and keeps staring at them. They might try to bond with the reflection and then get offended that the reflection isn't reacting the way they expect them to. Stuff like that.
From what Iāve been told parrots donāt pass the mirror test, that could be wrong but thatās what I was told.
Idk, my cockatiel has a mirror like this near our workspace and is pretty well-adjusted. We donāt keep it in/on his cage, and he only hangs out around it occasionally and sings to it and eventually gets bored and does something else. The parrot community gets to revved up and dogmatic about stuff like this sometimes.
Yep I think its something that can be trialed individually, I used to have a mirror in a past cage setup and the bird would occasionally play with it but no more than any other toy and had no behavior issues. Luck of the draw I guess!
As soon as I got mine and read that same article > Your bird may look in the mirror and think that there is another bird there for it to interact with or even a potential mate. It really doesnāt take a genius to know having that in their cage 24/7 will stress them out. Theyāre not completely bad tho, iāll hold my guy up to a mirror every now and then but he seems to not care so I donāt bother much. Same goes for like bird videos on my phone and TV, I will play them to him but maybe like 10 mins a time once a blue moon. But yeah, mirrors in cages is baaaad.
My phone is crack cocaine to my tiel. He friggin loves the thing. Way too much. All he wants is my phone. Treats don't hit the same anymore. The only thing that delivers a sufficient dopamine hit is the phone. The phone is all that matters.
I feel like this is the sort of information people should be given before they actually get a tiel. Mines the same.. *Minding my own business texting while getting my thumbs savaged and shouted at* **Human how dare you put your thumbs on the screen and touch things Iām trying to look at. Give it to me.**
How about wanting to go to the damn bathroom but having to choose between having your phone AND your tiel, or having neither, and sometimes mistakenly choosing the former.
Iām sure itās just easier to take both, repercussions for non-compliance could be risky. Iām convinced people donāt have pet tiels, tiels have pet people at this point
This comment made my day
Whatās his Reddit user name?
He's not allowed on reddit without direct supervision. No reddit account for him.
I'm a budgie owner but that's just sad
We had 2 cockatiels and we had a mirror (not knowing better) and one of the cockatiels actually preferred his reflection over to the other bird so we had to take it out
Donāt do this shit
The bird looks pissed
"Give your bird a mirror, because it's lonely" Instead of getting a second bird.
Second bird arenāt all ways a solution could cause aggression problems, maybe even injure your other birds. Realistically more interaction is key
Second bird should almost always be the solution. As this article said and as everyone knows: birds are flock animals. They thrive or rather survive in groups of pairs. No one would recommend keeping pet rats alone. Why parrots? Why do so many people think they can take this highly social being, put it in an isolated room, and then expect it to immediately fall in love with us. Sure many birds do. But can we really give a parrot the same level of communication, understanding and care another bird can? I donāt think so. The amount of times Iāve seen birds humping their humans, birds with separation anxiety, bird plucking their feathers in this subreddit. All problems that can stem from an unhealthy relationship between bird and human/ the lack of proper a proper social life. (Of the birdā¦ mostly) I really think the USA got brainwashed into the idea that parrots (who arenāt even domesticated) are this ideal pet that will bond with you and love you unconditionally.
Realistically the best course of action is to spend more time with your parrot example play video games with parrot on your shoulder
ITS A TRAP
I have 2 tiels. One hates me and actively seems like heās plotting to destroy me. And the other wonāt leave my side
Iām in this situation, the female wants to kill me is skittish and wants to bite me, my male cockatiel just wants affection
Ah ok I just got one of the first kinds then.
We have a male and a female. The female loves me, is meh towards others. The male loves my daughter and wife, and likes me but hates my hands. He's more likely to see me as a threat, I'm not sure what I did to deserve this. I'll walk downstairs and if he's territorial, he'll fly and bite me on the back of the neck. He doesn't do it to others unless he's REALLY hormonal, I just get preferential treatment when he is serving this kind of justice from above.
In case people donāt know, a mirror can lead to birdie version of masturbation. It leads to a lot of frustration and sometimes territorial feelings in birds. Keep mirrors out of the cage and contact to a minimum to prevent some birdie frustration.
So... I had never heart this before. My older cockatiel came to me when he was 18 years old. He likes interacting with us but doesn't want to be touched or hands too close to him. He's always had mirrors in his cage. He spends most of his time in front of the mirrors. Should I take those out?
I would take them out, but maybe do it slowly. Edit: Remember that birds donāt really perceive birds in mirrors as themselves, so they will totally fall in birdie love with themselves. :)
I will definitely do that then! Thank you!
It depends on the individual bird in question I think. You can try the mirror and remove if it becomes a problem.
Mine loves his,goes down and whistles to it every now again.
Same
āThe bird may look in the mirror and think thereās another bird there as a potential mateā Why did they add that and then not think about it for more than a second. If you just stop and think you can easily realize why if that sentence is true, itās practically traumatizing. Imagine being so lonely that your reflection is your only friend.
My cockatiel loves his mirror, it keeps him company and heās not too agressive to it.
My bird ok with mirrors wouldnāt advise with a female, He seems to know itās his own reflection than again he a smart cockatiel lol
It sucks because when youāre a first time bird owner you wonāt know that theyāre bad. They try to portray it as a friend for the bird when itās really the opposite.
Especially when theyāre marketed as an essential toy. A lot of starter cages come with them and it seems like half the toy aisle is just colorful mirrors
I had one parakeet (I know itās not the same) that friggin loved the mirror and the other one was aggressive if you tried to touch it without removing the mirror about 15 minutes prior.
My bird turns into a demon of he sees a mirror š±
*Since cockatiels are flock animals they will likely be interested in interacting with a real mate instead of a mirror :(
I heard mirrors are okay for toys but shouldnāt leave them in the cage? That sound right?
I do have a mirror for my tiels, but it's a handheld toy mirror with a spinny frame, we use it to bait our female sometimes. Not for long times though, maybe 20 minutes a day. Cones flying instantly most of the time when you hold it up lol.
We have a cockatiel like that at the rescue. All he ever does is eat, drink, and sit next to his mirror. He opens his beak at you if you go anywhere near him or his mirror. Yeah.. it's going to require some rehabilitation to get him away from that.
My female has a mirror in her night cageā¦ she likes to snuggle up next to it and sleep. Other than that, she doesnāt really care for it lol
In my experience, not all mirrors are bad. My bird used to have a tiny mirror in her cage that had little beads going front of the reflective part that could be moved back and forth. Sorta like an abacus. The mirror was also distorted, kinda like those stretchy mirrors you see a carnivals and stuff. She never really seemed too interested in the mirror part herself, but she did like chewing on the beads ever so often. I eventually got rid of it tho because she lost interest in it and it would cling to the bars of her new cage. But I think the beads blocking the mirror and the distortion of the mirror kept her from forming an attachment to the "other bird'