Possible Cockatiel Mating? Birds are acting strange...

CloneFly said:

Hello!
I own several cockatiels, and have some suspicions/concerns about a possible mating between two of them. My birds are about 15 mths and I recently noticed my male lutino (Mango) acting very friendly towards my Pearl split 2 Pied female, (Pïppïn).

Now please bear with me while I delve into the background "drama"

Pïppïn has been "pursuing" Mango for quite some time, grooming him & what not, but alas it was unrequited love. He would usually snap or take advantage of the free grooming & not groom her back. As of 3 days ago though, they have been sleeping side by side with mutual grooming taking place. They also touch beaks quite often. Last night, Mango (male) started pulling Pïppïn's (female) neck feathers and seemed to be attempting to mount her. I interrupted and got yelled at by Pïppïn. (This happened twice by the way.) Now I'm unsure if they have mated or not, I can't feel or see any eggs around the cage, but just to be safe I have moved Mango into a seperate cage. I'd like to breed them later on, but since my girl is so young, I'd like to hold off for another year or so.
After all that drama, here is my main concern: are they okay???? Their behavior has been off lately. The female is usually very spirited, often picking fights with me when perched on my shoulder, while the male usually isn't one for snuggles/scratches and can be bitey. As of late, they are both very mellow, the female is sleeping a lot and is showing concerning levels of patience. My male is also allowed kisses, snuggles and scratches without any attempts at drawing blood.

I just want to be sure they're ok. I hand raised them all together, so they're my little babies View attachment 3186850 View attachment 3186851

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Zoohtasim said:

ADOOORABLE birds! And it's normal for females to act territorial while in breeding mood and by the description you gave, they've either already mated or were just about you. Nothing to worry about though. But about him pulling out her feathers, how manu exactly? Is she hurt in any way? Other than that, things sound normal

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CloneFly said:

Hello!
I own several cockatiels, and have some suspicions/concerns about a possible mating between two of them. My birds are about 15 mths and I recently noticed my male lutino (Mango) acting very friendly towards my Pearl split 2 Pied female, (Pïppïn).

Now please bear with me while I delve into the background "drama"

Pïppïn has been "pursuing" Mango for quite some time, grooming him & what not, but alas it was unrequited love. He would usually snap or take advantage of the free grooming & not groom her back. As of 3 days ago though, they have been sleeping side by side with mutual grooming taking place. They also touch beaks quite often. Last night, Mango (male) started pulling Pïppïn's (female) neck feathers and seemed to be attempting to mount her. I interrupted and got yelled at by Pïppïn. (This happened twice by the way.) Now I'm unsure if they have mated or not, I can't feel or see any eggs around the cage, but just to be safe I have moved Mango into a seperate cage. I'd like to breed them later on, but since my girl is so young, I'd like to hold off for another year or so.
After all that drama, here is my main concern: are they okay???? Their behavior has been off lately. The female is usually very spirited, often picking fights with me when perched on my shoulder, while the male usually isn't one for snuggles/scratches and can be bitey. As of late, they are both very mellow, the female is sleeping a lot and is showing concerning levels of patience. My male is also allowed kisses, snuggles and scratches without any attempts at drawing blood.

I just want to be sure they're ok. I hand raised them all together, so they're my little babies View attachment 3186850 View attachment 3186851

Click to expand...

Serin said:

15 months is definitely mature enough to breed. They are fully mature around nine months. I would not separate them or interrupt them!

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CloneFly said:

I've been told to wait

Until the female is at least 2yrs... I don't want to take any chances of her getting egg bound!

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ButtonHoarder said:

I think cockatiels can mate without laying eggs, if they are like budgies.

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Jessijay said:

Has the shift in Behavior been since they have been separated? Generally cockatiels go through what I like to call the teenage phase and they tend to come out of it when they get a little bit older usually between a year-and-a-half and two years they start to come out of it and come more into what their adult personality will be like . If they are that bonded and affectionate with each other separating them is probably going to cause distress. If you're worried that they're breeding too early, control the amount of light they're getting make sure there are no potential Nest spots and avoid soft foods for the time being. Trick their bodies into thinking it is winter all the time. If you can control their hormones until you're ready to choose to breed them or allow them to breed it's a lot less stressful to them then trying to separate them. Cockatiels get very attached to each other and it can be very distressing to them when they can't get to or be close to who they're bonded to. Make sure they're getting at least 12 hours complete darkness (except maybe with a little night light if you prefer to give them a night light) and just work on management. If you do notice that She lays an egg which she probably won't this young just leave it where it is until she's done fussing over it or she'll feel like she needs to replace it and will lay more. Cockatiels like most parrots are fairly easy to keep out of breeding condition (usually, thetr are exceptions) just by controlling certain environmental aspects like how much light and dark they get each day. If you have more of a flock setting it can be better anyway to keep them out of breeding condition because they can get Territorial and will sometimes fight when they are hormonal. I have seven and they all get along great unless their hormones kick in and then there are a couple that will try to kill one of my other birds who actually is special needs and can't fly. I would recommend not separating them and just making sure they're getting enough sleep hands have nothing that could be seen as a nesting spot. If you're worried that she will potentially lay an egg just make sure she's getting enough calcium because at the end of the day even with proper management they will sometimes pop out a couple eggs. Good luck, they are beautiful!

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