Need Cockiteil Advice Asap!

**missboots** · 03-13-2007, 04:20 PM

I am going to call more than one pet store tomorrow to get their opinions. I did want to see what you all know about cockiteils and their habits and get your opinions, the more the merrier.

Anyway, We have a male & female cockiteil. The female has now laid 2 eggs in the past 3 days. The male has become very protective over the eggs. So much so that he is bullying the female. We normally keep the cage door open so they can freely go in and out of the cage. The male doesn't let the female go into the cage much, only a little and if she does go in she needs to keep her distance. He doesn't let her go near or in the nesting box. I tried shutting the cage door so he would have no choice but to let her be in there but he just goes after her & she has no where to go. The male keeps checking on the eggs and goes into the nesting box. We looked to see what he was doing with the eggs and he is just being a nice daddy, sitting on them. This is really the first day we've seen this meaness from him. If he did it yesterday it wasn't bad enough for us to notice. I wondered if this was normal or at least to an exent & maybe he's going over board. I'm wondering if we need to get another cage to put the male in (put it next to her cage) so the female can do her job. Does anyone know? I'm new at this and clueless.

**Advertisement** · 03-13-2007 04:20 PM

**missboots** · 03-13-2007, 04:25 PM

I meant to say... They have had eggs before with the prior owners. The owners said though the babies didn't make it long after hatching (not sure how long), guess there was a fight (or something) in the nesting box and the babies died. They never mentioned anything like this. Plus I don't think they left the cage door open like we do. I'm not friends with the prior owners so I couldn't ask them now. We had got the birds through freecycle.

**pepperpot** · 03-13-2007, 04:38 PM

This might help you: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/breeding.html

There are other sites as well.... http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...ing+cockatiels

**missboots** · 03-13-2007, 05:17 PM

Thanks! I read in there that they can be mean to each other but if one becomes "overly" aggressive, pulling feathers, then it's time to seperate. Other wise it's best to leave them be. The male has pulled her feathers & is just being soooooooo mean that we have no choice but to do this. Thanks again!

**sheila_361** · 03-13-2007, 08:32 PM

I had a pair of cockateils that did the same thing, my male would bite her feet and drew blood so I separated them. The eggs never hatched though.

**tljohn123** · 03-14-2007, 06:44 AM

I think he's being protective, but I've never had a male before, just the female and she'd do that the few times she layed her eggs. Of course, they never hatched either and we had to get a birdy hysterectomy because she got egg bound. I would seperate them, but instead of calling the pet store, see if you have an avian specialist in the area and ask their advice.

**Kyla Kym** · 03-14-2007, 07:35 AM

You can go to this website and ask a expert.

http://www.practical-pet-care.com/bi...04110223350514

**mirage7000** · 03-14-2007, 10:45 AM

Never experienced it but please give an update!

**sdb_ngc** · 03-14-2007, 11:07 AM

My lovebird just laid another 5 eggs and we had to separate the male from her as he was doing what your birdie is doing as well as plucking her feathers and biting at her feet. We had to do the same thing when she laid the last batch. Hope this helps ya and Good luck.

**meep_meep** · 03-14-2007, 12:59 PM

Male agression or bickering isn't uncommon when they are nesting. The female can be bossy about who's around the eggs, etc. Out of my pairs when I was breeding them (I stopped due to a HORRID over population problem-- too many at shelters) I had one pair that would continually seem to fight if I was around. I put up a camera in the room to observe from a distance and concluded that it was human presence that was setting him.

Anyway, you said they have a past history of not having chicks live which leads me to ask: are they at all related? Usually if they are related you will wind up with physically deformed chicks, or chicks that don't live too long.

They could also not be feeding the chicks, in that case are you *trained* or experienced in handfeeding and have the necessary supplies on hand (thermometer, syringes, scale, brooder, etc)? If you don't have a brooder you can simply use a 10 gal aquarium with a heating pad underneath, I suggest setting it up AHEAD of time so you know how far to cover it with a towel on top to keep it at the right temperature. Its very easy to kill or maim a baby parrot by handfeeding, so I suggest going and talking to local breeders and watching how they feed their chicks. Most will be able to help you out or at least show you some basics.

I've hand-raised parrots (cockatiels, quakers, senegals, greys, ringnecks, amazons, 'toos and macaws) from day one, and at that age they require around the clock 2 hour feedings for the first 2+ (more if its a large bird) weeks of their life. Its demanding, yet rewarding work. I worked in 2005 with the local bird club to get quakers from local utility companies-- they would have been destroyed or left to die horrible deaths-- they were chicks ranging from eggs to ~3 weeks old. I was written up in BirdTalk for the effort. We had 50+ chicks in my care at once .... I'd start feeding and need to start all over again with the 2 hour chicks by the time I was done. I was the "holding" person who kept them and got them used to handfeeding so that the other club members could pick them up, so I didn't have that many for long, but sleepless nights weren't my thing.

Make sure you have plenty of humidity where they are at-- a wet towel near but not on the cage would be a good source, as well as a dish for them to bathe in. I'll add a couple of 'tiel breeding links in a minute... ct'd

**meep_meep** · 03-14-2007, 01:06 PM

Thread: Need Cockiteil Advice Asap!

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