Bonding pair?

[jennybean]

Hello All,

I recently adopted a male cockatiel (9mos.) and he has fallen head over heels in love with our middle cockatiel (3.5y). For awhile now, she's been running away from him as he has tried singing to her, preening her and (ahem) mounting her. Within the past week she has started to let him preen her and she's been preening him back. She's not letting him mate with her, though. While I do what I can to prevent nesting/egg laying in general (no dark hiding spaces, reasonable bed-times, etc.) I am still worried about them mating and would prefer not to have any baby cockatiels in the house. I have a bird room in my house and cage doors are left open and they go in and out as they please.

If a pair is bonding, should I assume they WILL mate at some point? If they will, what can I do to prevent it? Thanks in advance!

 

[blewin]

Hey Jenny, if they are in the same cage, mating will happen eventually. Even if you are there 24/7, it'll happen. If it does, you can freeze or hard boil the eggs. It might sound a little heartless, but if you do it very early (within a day or so) there won't be anything there but a small cluster of cells. It's better than bringing more 'tiels into the world, when there are so many that need good homes.

 

[ArowanaLover]

To quote a great movie "Life, uh, finds a way." As blewin said you can't prevent it unless you separate them, and they will not like being separated. If you do plan on keeping them together, you might want to accept that you cant stop nature. You could even embrace it and try to make it a little easier for everyone, if its going to happen, help them along with it. (btw i think nigel was just dancing and hissing while he did it, it was REALLY weird). Get a nest box, some bedding, etc. Also make plans on what do if you want to let the babies live.

 

[CStone]

Yes, they will probably mate. I successfully avoided egg laying for 4 years with my bonded pair by having their cage in the open and not tucked into a corner. I made the mistake of moving it to a corner and eggs soon followed. I've moved it back LOL. If they do lay, you don't have to let the eggs hatch. You can purchase fake eggs and replace the ones she lays with them. She will sit on the fake ones for a couple weeks and then cast them aside and ignore them. http://www.dummyeggs.com/home.html