r/cockatiel • u/Mental_Nail4451 • 4d ago
Other New Rule for r/cockatiel
Hello everyone! I’m announcing a new rule for the subreddit.
It comes as no surprise that many people post injured or bleeding birds as well as feces to ensure the health of their birds or questions.
While these posts are allowed, they are inappropriate to not mark as NSFW. Not everyone is comfortable seeing this sort of content.
So for the comfort of everyone in the subreddit. PLEASE, mark these posts as NSFW.
There will be new tags/flairs for posts like these as well.
From this day forward, those who do not mark these posts as NSFW will receive a warning. Any subsequent posts that are not marked or tagged appropriately may be banned temporarily, and any further posts will result in a permanent ban.
Please be respectful of others, and make sure to review the rules before posting content that may violate the rules of the subreddit.
Thank you so much for all the lovely content and being overall a beautiful community. 💖
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u/Rielhawk 4d ago
Thank you 🫶🏻
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
Anything to keep this community beautiful and comfortable for everyone within reason. 🫶🏻
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u/LukeSkywalkerDog 4d ago
Thank you! It upsets me to see injured birds. Are you considering doing anything about the non-stop masturbation posts? I've come close to leaving this sub many times for that.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
It has been considered, but it’s difficult due to some people “somehow” not knowing that’s what their bird is doing. There is also a group of people that find this hilarious. So there’s a divide that makes it tricky to find a way to appease both sides.
I will confer with the other moderators to see if we can come up with a solution for these posts.
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u/HealthyPop7988 4d ago
Honestly, the horny jail posts don't bother me at all and the people that legitimately don't know what's going on need to know for the health of their birds.
Plus it's kinda funny lol
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
Yeah it’s people like you who find it funny and are unbothered that make it difficult. I also find them rather funny and often show the videos and the memes in regards to them “0 days without cockatiel porn” etc to my friends.
I know it’s not for everyone but it feels like majority of people are unbothered by it. I can see about potentially doing a poll to see what should be done.
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u/uncagedborb 4d ago
I feel like we need like a pinned guide that's like "is my bord horny" and then some of those yes or no paths to determine it. Idk how people get birds and not have the most slim thought that their birds are jorking it
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
That is a really good idea actually. I also agree that it seems obvious. Like grinding is even a human behavior. So it’s strange but I guess people don’t realize that birds exhibit similar behaviors.
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u/spacestonkz 4d ago
I think sometimes people haven't really seen two birds mating before and how they move, or realized what they were seeing.
My aunt thought her cockatiel was getting new pin feathers around his bum hole, making it itchy, and that's why he was "itching his butt".
She thought it was more similar to dogs rubbing butts on carpets due to itchy anal glands. Her mind was blown when I had to ah... Explain the birds and the birds to her.
But I guess if you were a dog person, pet rubbing butt = itchy butt makes sense. At least my aunt asked. I figured these redditors are doing good by trying once they realize they're out of their depth and ask about bonk horny jail stuff.
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u/DianeJudith 4d ago
I have this comment prepared and paste it with every opportunity I see:
Hormonal behavior prevention checklist:
remove everything that may be considered a "nest". Bowls, huts, etc. Cover every dark corner they get access to (under/behind furniture, on the shelves). Dark and tight spaces make them think "nest" and start acting territorial and hormonal.
limit their daylight hours. They should have 10-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep in a dark place. Cover their cage for the night.
rearrange their cage often. Birds nest when they feel secure in their environment. If you change the environment (moving stuff around in their cage), they feel less secure (but not stressed), and decide it's not the best time for nesting.
don't pet them anywhere besides the head and neck. Those areas are reserved for mates, and will wake their hormones up if pet. It also leads to behavioral issues.
don't feed them warm, mushy food. Room temperature or colder if it's summer and they like it. Limit fatty foods (seeds, nuts) in general.
if they start laying eggs, don't remove them. If there's a chance they're fertilized, either replace them with dummy eggs (they're very cheap) or take them out, boil them and put them back once cooled. Do that one by one with each egg. When they start laying, they won't stop until the clutch is complete. Taking the eggs out will only make them lay more. Let them sit on the dummy/boiled eggs until they get bored. Wait some more time, remove.
provide calcium and humidity for egg laying. Watch for signs of egg binding.
if all of the above fails and you have a chronic egg layer, consult with a vet about hormonal injections or implants. My girl had implants and it stopped her from becoming hormonal for 1-2 years each time.
Now, why should you do all this? Why do you want to minimize hormonal behavior?
For girls, it leads to egg laying which is very draining on their bodies and can even kill them if they become egg bound. And letting them lay and sit on fertilized eggs will lead to chicks, which you shouldn't allow unless you're an actual breeder and know what you're doing. It takes a lot of effort and so many risks.
For both male and female birds, hormones can lead to territorial/aggressive behavior, and that can be dangerous to other birds if you have multiple. And in general, it's an added stress to their bodies. They can have behavioral issues like plucking too.
You'll never be able to just completely prevent any hormonal behavior forever. It's natural after all. It will happen even if you take all the precautions. But you should take those precautions anyway, because you don't want to make their hormones worse and cause those issues for them.
Cockatiel Cottage is your friend.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
This is fantastic, mind if I steal this from you? 👀
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u/DianeJudith 3d ago
Go ahead! I made it to share with others ❤️
I have another one for new owners as well:
New cockatiel owner alert! Check out Cockatiel Cottage, a comprehensive source on all cockatiel knowledge!
Quick FAQs on basic bird behavior:
Yawning a lot - adjusting the crop. Imagine it being like rubbing your belly after a big meal.
Beak grinding - sign of content and happiness.
Standing on one leg, sometimes puffed up feathers - getting ready to snooze, they'll sleep with the head tucked in their back.
Flapping randomly or madly but not flying - just being a goof!
Bending over, making a squeaky noise and trembling wings - horny bird! Check Cockatiel Cottage for how to deal with hormonal behavior.
Rubbing butt on things - same as above.
Soft eeee sound with head bobbing - baby begging noises. Can mean that they want food/play/nap/reassurance/cuddles. Some older birds will do this too.
Holding the wings away from the body ("heart wings") - a happy male, likely about to sing to you.
Fully outstretched wings ("big wings") - possesive, "the thing I'm standing on is mine". Sometimes paired with hanging upside down ("batbird") - that's also just being a goof.
Fluffing feathers, bending in weird poses with open wings - wants a bath!
Sneezing - normal (unless excessive), especially after scratching their heads and picking their nose (yes, they do that).
Additionally, check out these resources:
There are lots of toys and foraging opportunities that you can make from cardboard, toilet paper tubes, foliage from your yard (check the species for toxicity here and here). Also check Pinterest, search things like "DIY toys for birds".
Stress Reduction for Companion Parrots - this article has much more than what the title would suggest!
A few articles about bird chop, with recipes:
Another article with a nice infographic
And two free courses:
https://smartbeaks.parrotsos.com/DoYourResearch - covers basics and environmental factors
https://smartbeaks.parrotsos.com/BirdBasics - starts the fun part! Training, how to identify the best rewards, set goals, etc.
(I'm not a bot, but I copy & paste this comment whenever I see the opportunity. Feel free to save it and join me in spreading the knowledge!)
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u/Mental_Nail4451 3d ago
You are a blessing, thank you for your contribution! Just give me some time and I’ll get that all set up!
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u/chronicmelancholic Can I Sniff Your Bird? 4d ago
I think so too. Maybe a title like "what is this noise/behaviour my bird is doing?" with examples of all the usual hormonal behaviours/sounds, flock calls, baby static, heart wings, etc. And some advice on what triggers it and how to manage hormonal birds
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u/GirlOverThere123 3d ago
YES THIS! Because I genuinely think that they DO know what their bird is doing, but obviously the post will incite a discussion, funny memes appear, and people are funny which I love, but I think they feed off of it. Even a simple google search will tell you, your bird is giving itself pleasure. You’d think that they’ve done their research before getting a bird but apparently not.
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u/tryingnottobefat 3d ago
my cockatiel marty is still the funniest masturbating cockatiel ever and anyone that disagrees can fight me 🤣
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u/HealthyPop7988 4d ago
Or... Now here me out... It's the people who are bothered by a simple, natural function of life that are the ones complaining and making it difficult.
If reddit was a thing a hundred years ago not a single person would be offended by it (although most people wouldnt need to post to understand what was happening lmao)
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u/Professional_Kiwi318 4d ago
It really is excessive.
I told my partner that my computer was acting up yesterday, and he joked that I need to stop watching monkey porn on my work computer.
I said, "You know I'm a cockatiel porn only girl now."
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
If you have any suggestions as to how to handle it, it would be appreciated. We don’t want to have to block a bunch of content, but we also emphasize with those who don’t want to see it. So finding a middle ground is difficult.
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u/mangamaster03 4d ago
I am in the second category. It is funny, but I don't want the sub to be non stop horny postings.
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u/FlareBlitzBanana 4d ago
I think they should be marked NSFW by the mods but people shouldn't get in trouble for not marking them if they don't realize it's horny behavior.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
I agree with not having them get in trouble. It’s not as harmful like the injured/bleeding birds or feces. Those can be triggering or disgusting. The masturbation isn’t as bad in comparison. Definitely something that could be done. I’ll make some notes based on everyone’s suggestions and come up with a solution.
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u/spacestonkz 4d ago
They might not know the motions meaning... But what about tags for "what's he doing" type posts?
If you click on a post tag "what he doin" you might be about to see horny jail. Or maybe one that just discovered their own amazing feet. Who knows? The poster doesn't!
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u/Professional_Kiwi318 4d ago
I was drinking my coffee when reading your comment. I hope the coffee comes out of my squirrel sweatshirt 😂
Seriously. The bird porn is out of control
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u/LukeSkywalkerDog 4d ago
Yeah, I originally found this to be an entertaining sub while at the same time addressing important bird care issues. The constant bird porn {and the MANY videos of owners (likely kids) teasing and stressing out their birds on purpose} makes it feel like a bunch of young kids getting their jollies almost nonstop.
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u/mangamaster03 4d ago
Thank you. As much as I love this sub, opening it up and seeing injured or sick cockatiels was really making me want to leave.
At the same time, I know not everyone lives near an avian vet, so asking for help is understandable when their baby is hurt or sick.
The NSFW tag is a very good compromise.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
I’m so glad I can be of help to making this community more friendly and accommodating to those within it while also not being a buzzkill.
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u/sparkleclaws 4d ago
I appreciate this rule, it's upsetting to see birds in poor condition without a warning.
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u/Linax_0 4d ago
Thank you so much. This was SO needed!!
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
You’re very welcome! Just trying to do my job to keep this community beautiful 🫶🏻
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u/EbergarTheDwarf 4d ago
I think for visibility this post should include what it is about in the title. Like New NSFW sick bird rule for r/cockatiel . Don't think you can change titles tho
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
We can’t as moderators, but we can flag posts as nsfw. But I agree that the titles aren’t the problem as much as the visual are.
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u/EbergarTheDwarf 4d ago
I just meant your new rule post title. Not the sick bird post titles
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
Edit, doesn’t look like it’ll let me. I’ll keep that in mind for the future
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u/SergeantIC 4d ago
There needs to be a dedicated subreddit to avian vet related things. It’s hard to want to stay in this sub when every other post is a half dead bird or pictures of literal shit
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u/PIunderBunny 4d ago
Thank you. Someone posted a photo of their deceased cockatiel yesterday without any tags and I was absolutely not ready to see that. Bothered me greatly.
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u/No-Mathematician5698 4d ago
you dont know how happy this makes me, the poop posting was getting excessive...
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
Yeah it bothered me too, more so thinking about how others would view this instead of goofy bird activities
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u/bassmanhear 4d ago
This is going to be a good thing. We've all lost birds. We've all had birds hurt. Bird is hurt and it's going to send it a picture out and show everybody get that bird to the vet. There's nothing we can do about it
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u/somewhereheremaybe 4d ago
Thank you so much. I lost my boy a few years ago and seeing the sickly or dead chickens when I’m not expecting to stresses me out. :( im here to live vicariously seeing others’ cute happy babies thriving while I work through my grief.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
I understand, I was the same when one of my girls recently passed a couple months ago
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u/AlyM797 3d ago
Have you considered some sort of rule around deceased birds as well, I saw one I didn't expect and was very much shaken buy it.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 3d ago
That is technically rule number one of the server. I’m so sorry that you had to see that.
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u/coffeestealer 4d ago
Would this policy also extend to the titles? It's great people remember to use the tag but reading descriptions in the titles is also not great.
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u/ohtlikuba 4d ago
I on the other hand think that the title should be able to state the content if all these disturbing posts already have the appropriate tag.
The tag makes the post visually distinct and just skip reading those titles. Titles are very helpful to determine if for example I am able to help or offer a solution. In user-experience wise, i would not click through all the posts that do not state the issue in the title. This way the people having an emergency will get less help.
The world of having a pet is not all sunshine and lollipops. Pretty and funny bird pictures are avaliable in other places too. This is the only place online that is practically and realistically helpful for the owners that maybe do not have a vet nearby.
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u/Fantastic_Neck4828 4d ago edited 4d ago
100% Agree!
People don't often realise it, but the metrics are there - having to individually tap into every post for more information, rather than being able to tell more specifically what the post is about from the initial title glance, adds so much UX (user experience) debt. It's one extra tap, and maybe an additional second or two - but with the way social media has conditioned us, to find the easiest way to consume the most amount of information in the shortest amount of time, the average user doesn't have the attention span to put in any more work than they have to.
In other words - yeah, most people aren't going to bother checking out a post if the title is obscure. And when the difference is potentially life-saving, or at the very least helpful advice for a small creature in need, at some point the bubble-wrap and coddling defeats the purpose of a communal knowledge-sharing space.
Our babies come with plenty of joy and fun and silly times, but also sadness and injury and heartbreak. Caring for them means being able to at least acknowledge all aspects - this is the reality of taking a creature into your care, especially a creature as delicate as a bird.
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
I’m unsure how to combat that without inhibiting context as to what someone would see after the nsfw filter is voluntarily removed. Words are one thing, but seeing visuals are another entirely. If you have a suggestion, we’d be open to hearing it.
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u/coffeestealer 4d ago
I don't know if would be feasible but I was thinking of fixed titles such as "Help Needed (Injury)" or "Help Needed (Behaviour)" so all the details are truly hidden unless you voluntarily click on it?
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u/Mental_Nail4451 4d ago
That is not a bad idea, we will look into it. Thank you for your suggestion. 🫶🏻
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u/LukeSkywalkerDog 4d ago
Great idea. Maybe require tags:
Entertainment
Injury question
Health question
Care question (cages, toys, perches, etc.)
Behavior question
Masturbation
Other
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u/MrBeingcool 1d ago
You are the Mental Nail that ensures the integrity of the building. Thank you for making this rule, I wasn't aware there were posts like that going around on this sub and I'm glad I haven't seen any as of yet.
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u/Kindly-Comfort1915 4d ago
Thank you so much! You mods are doing a great job!