The Manx SPCA rehomes a wide variety of animals, not just dogs and cats, and some are more exotic than others.

Cockatiels are definitely high up on the exotics list, and we don’t see them very often, but we currently have two beautiful boys in the unit looking for a new home together. They’re called Snoopy and Tom.

Snoopy is a white cockatiel and he’s 18 years old and Tom is a grey cockatiel and he’s just nine years old.

They have both spent their entire lives with one owner who has had a change in circumstances and has made the heart-breaking decision to let them go to a new home.

They are both real characters and will engage in conversation with anyone who walks past them. Male cockatiels are more talkative than females because being vocal is an intrinsic part of courtship in the cockatiel world.

Males also have more brightly-coloured orange cheek spots than females - again, all part of making themselves more noticeable in the mating season.

As with all exotic pets, cockatiels need extra special care and owners who understand their specific requirements.

Cockatiels are very intelligent and sociable, and so they need to be handled every day - talked and whistled to, played with and stroked. They are affectionate birds and like to be petted, and will lower their heads to encourage you to give them a head and neck scratch.

They sometime reciprocate by preening their owner’s eyebrows or hair.

Cockatiels need a good night’s sleep, and a quiet environment where they can enjoy between 12 and 14 hours of snoozing. If a TV or radio is on until late at night this can cause the birds stress, even though Snoopy and Tom’s cage is covered with a sheet at ’bedtime’.

In the morning the boys enjoy having a refreshing shower (i.e. fresh water sprayed from a bottle) and they spread out their wings to maximise the pleasure.

Tom is the more adventurous of the two and he likes to climb on top of his cage and sit on people’s heads and shoulders, chatting away.

Snoopy, on the other hand, is more of a ’stay at home’ bird and he’s content to spend most of his time in his cage.

A well cared-for captive cockatiel can live for 25 years or more, whereas those in the wild in their native Australia have shorter lives and they generally don’t live beyond 15.

They need a varied diet of fresh vegetables and fruit, seeds and specialised pellets and they enjoy playing with foraging toys - these are usually boxes or balls filled with seeds or pellets that can only be reached through small holes or by opening flaps.

Cockatiels are so naturally intelligent and curious that they will persevere with these toys until they have worked out how to get to the rewards inside.

We’re confident that these charming little birds won’t be with us long before they find a new home, which is more than can be said for our handsome cockerels.

We have managed to find new homes for some of them, but we still have several in our aviary.

They’re content enough, but they would be much happier with a larger space to roam around in - they would be ideal additions to a farm yard, stables or large, rural garden.

We generally stop rehoming animals in the run up to Christmas, and so if you are looking to adopt any of our rescue animals please submit a home finder questionnaire as soon as possible (remember, these forms can be found on the adoption pages of our website, or can be picked up from Ard Jerkyll).