Care for VERY Senior Cockatiel

We have a 21-year-old cockatiel - Petey.  He has been with us since he was 6 months old and is quite the dignified bird.  LOL!  I'm curious to know how many tiels live this long?  We've done nothing special - he's in the living room and around people and dogs and our quaker parrot, so he has plenty of socialization.  We've always used pet store seed food and for the past couple of years I've added a moulting vitamin preparation to his food.  Petey never cared for fresh fruit, but loves green veggies.  

I know he's on borrowed time already, but wonder just how long tiels can live?  He's been noticeably losing weight for the past few months although he's eating well.  Is there anything else I can try to help him gain some weight?

Also, any opinions on clipping wings out there?  I don't care for it myself, but my husband insists on it and does it after I go to bed.  He's a freakin' butcher!  In my opinion, my birds need full flight capability for proper exercise.  They don't fly recklessly around the house, but do get "uppity" when they realize they can escape capture.  They'll fly to the top of a door and go back and forth when they don't want to head back to their cages.  LOL!  Our dogs are completely trustworthy with the birds, so no worries about the dogs harming them.  During the day, their doors are open and they can do whatever they like.  Often one or both will show up in my husband's office if nobody else is in their immediate area.

Thanks for any replies!

[ireneo]

I don't know much about cockatiels but looked up some information. Seems there are records of 'tiels living as long as 30 years. Of course good nutrition and home care is important but much depends on his genetic background as well. So far, so good.

I'm not wild about clipping wings either but I know many people do that to prevent escapes. You said your husband "butchers" them. How many feathers is he clipping and how far in? We've had birds come into the center where a complete wing was sheared almost to the skin. Horrid! I think all that needs to be done are a couple of primaries on each wing and they don't have to be cut that far to slow down the bird. I'm sure you can find something online about proper trimming.

[Jaybay]

Thank goodness he doesn't go to the skin - I'd skin HIM alive if he did that!  He cuts the entire length of the wing so that when the wings are folded, all the primaries are gone.  I have tried and tried and brought up pics to show him how to do it correctly, but he persists.  Drives me nuts!  Petey isn't going anywhere, and I doubt Nick the quaker parrot would either.  They follow us around the house and even follow the dogs.  LOL!

[Tammy2009]

Average life span for a cockatiel is normally 15-20years so you are good with a 21 year old!!  I work at a pet store and there are many people with 'tiels that are 25-28 years old.  

Wind clipping is good for training and for a dominant bird.  You should only be clipping 4-6 feathers (the long flight ones) down to the level of the other smaller feathers present.  However with cockatiels, I've seen some that fall like rocks when all feathers are cut so play around with the length and number that are cut.

[Jaybay]

Unfortunately, "falling like a rock" is exactly what my husband is after.  :-\  I don't know why he is so dam paranoid about an escape, because we are diligent about watching the doors.  While our dogs completely accept the birds as part of their pack and we both feel they are trustworthy, I still want the birds to be able to use their flight capability just in case.

Tammy, that's very interesting to hear that you have had personal contact with tiels that old.  Thank you for responding!  Do you happen to know if the owners of those birds did anything particularly special in caring for their senior birds?  We've had Petey for so long I can't imagine the day he leaves us, and want to put that day off as long as possible.  :-)