Getting my female cockatiel a male friend

[Rosalindagg]

Hi I have a 1 year old female cockatiel named Sushi. She is very clingy and doesn’t like being alone so eventually I want to get her a little friend. I know that I want to find her a mature male cockatiel. I don’t plan on adding a male friend until summer time (june-aug) I have read about how to properly introduce them and watched some videos, but my question is what are some things I can do to avoid breeding. I do want her to have a partner because she has been a bit too hormonal lately and in August I’ll start student teaching so she will be alone for a much longer amount. Any tips or advice will help! Thanks !

 

[Rosalindagg]

When I visit my parents house she ignores the parakeets and ignores my sisters conure or will fly away from him.

 

[StormyPica]

Hi I have a 1 year old female cockatiel named Sushi. She is very clingy and doesn’t like being alone so eventually I want to get her a little friend. I know that I want to find her a mature male cockatiel. I don’t plan on adding a male friend until summer time (june-aug) I have read about how to properly introduce them and watched some videos, but my question is what are some things I can do to avoid breeding. I do want her to have a partner because she has been a bit too hormonal lately and in August I’ll start student teaching so she will be alone for a much longer amount. Any tips or advice will help! Thanks !

Well, here's the issue... female cockatiels are known for being chronic egg layers (as in, many need semi-frequent Lupron injections so they don't pass away from the stress on their bodies), and a mature male increases her chance of becoming a chronic egg layer, especially if she has places to hide that would make her nesty. If you want to reduce hormones, then I strongly suggest you don't get a male, as that will most likely make her even more hormonal and nesty.

I don't have personal experience with cockatiels, but I do know a fair bit about them, so this is my advice. I'll tag some members with female tiels for you, hopefully they can help even more: @PippTheBananaBirb @LaManuka

 

[Rosalindagg]

Well, here's the issue... female cockatiels are known for being chronic egg layers (as in, many need semi-frequent Lupron injections so they don't pass away from the stress on their bodies), and a mature male increases her chance of becoming a chronic egg layer, especially if she has places to hide that would make her nesty. If you want to reduce hormones, then I strongly suggest you don't get a male, as that will most likely make her even more hormonal and nesty.

I don't have personal experience with cockatiels, but I do know a fair bit about them, so this is my advice. I'll tag some members with female tiels for you, hopefully they can help even more: @PippTheBananaBirb @LaManuka

Thank you for the reply! I think sushi has shown some nesting behaviors already ? I found her in my trash can bin and she got a little territorial when I tried to get her out! Or when I open my dresser drawers she likes to go in them and acts a little weird.

 

[LaManuka]

Hi I have a 1 year old female cockatiel named Sushi. She is very clingy and doesn’t like being alone so eventually I want to get her a little friend. I know that I want to find her a mature male cockatiel. I don’t plan on adding a male friend until summer time (june-aug) I have read about how to properly introduce them and watched some videos, but my question is what are some things I can do to avoid breeding. I do want her to have a partner because she has been a bit too hormonal lately and in August I’ll start student teaching so she will be alone for a much longer amount. Any tips or advice will help! Thanks !

Personally I think the first thing to consider is whether you have the space for two cages. Particularly if you go end up going with a male cockatiel, either one of two things is likely to happen - a) they'll hate each other, or b) they'll like each other just a little too much! In either situation, it's best that you ensure your hen has a safe place to escape to should your new male become either too aggressive or too amorous - and in my experience males can be both at the same time! Breeding type hanky panky can still occur outside the cages of course but they can be supervised or be let out separately to minimise it happening. Hormonally driven aggression is something you do need to consider. My previous female cockatiel (Twinkle) would elicit THE most aggressive hormonal response from my usually mild-mannered male (Fang), and he would chase her round and round and round the house quite relentlessly in his attempts to mate with her, and would also attack me quite viciously when I tried to intervene! I would have to cage poor Twinkle for a while until Fang cooled down, and I most certainly would never have been able to house them in the same cage together full time. They were generally fine interacting with each other (with supervision!) outside the cage, but the moment Twinkle gave Fang any kind of barely imperceptible signal that she might accept his advances, Fang turned into devil bird and got quite out of control and it could have been very dangerous for Twinkle. These days I have two male cockatiels which you'd think might get on better together, but their personalities are vastly different and again, I couldn't even think about caging them together.

To eliminate the prospect of breeding altogether, you may be better served getting another female if you can, again perhaps an older one so you can be sure of gender as juveniles all look alike. Even then though they may get on very well, or their personalities may clash and it's more advisable to have separate quarters just in case. In the wild if two birds don't get on they can simply fly away and look for a more suitable companion, but in our homes they don't have that luxury, so I generally recommend separate housing where practicable to help ensure everyone's safety

 

[StormyPica]

Thank you for the reply! I think sushi has shown some nesting behaviors already ? I found her in my trash can bin and she got a little territorial when I tried to get her out! Or when I open my dresser drawers she likes to go in them and acts a little weird.

Yes, that is most likely hormonal behavior. Please try to discourage this. Do not give her cuddle huts or any hidey hole (including PVC hideouts and jolly balls), do not leave your dresser open for her to go into, and if she's just slipping inside the drawers whenever you open it, keep her caged until you get dressed in the morning, and cage her before you get dressed at night, and occupy her with a treat or cage her (preferably occupy her, so she doesn't see the cage as a punishment) before you open the drawers.

As for the trash bin, that needs to have a lid. Both for reducing hormones, and so she doesn't get stuck in there and die. Try to reduce or eliminate all hidey holes her area/room where she could lay an egg. Also, be aware of her going under the bed if she does that. It's a recipe for disaster if you don't see her or if she gets all hormonal down there.

And or course, ask any questions you need answered! We are here to help.

 

[LaManuka]

Yes, that is most likely hormonal behavior. Please try to discourage this. Do not give her cuddle huts or any hidey hole (including PVC hideouts and jolly balls), do not leave your dresser open for her to go into, and if she's just slipping inside the drawers whenever you open it, keep her caged until you get dressed in the morning, and cage her before you get dressed at night, and occupy her with a treat or cage her (preferably occupy her, so she doesn't see the cage as a punishment) before you open the drawers.

As for the trash bin, that needs to have a lid. Both for reducing hormones, and so she doesn't get stuck in there and die. Try to reduce or eliminate all hidey holes her area/room where she could lay an egg. Also, be aware of her going under the bed if she does that. It's a recipe for disaster if you don't see her or if she gets all hormonal down there.

And or course, ask any questions you need answered! We are here to help.

Excellent point, Stormy. Unfortunately cockatiel hens can be prone to chronic infertile egg laying, whether they have a male partner or not. My previous female Kang, while not what you'd call "chronic", did lay about 9 or 10 eggs in her lifetime and on one occasion she did find it very difficult to get that egg out - fortunately we were able to remedy it ourselves as (naturally!) the vet was closed, but we may not have been so lucky. I also lost my precious little lorikeet, Lilly Pilly, due to complications resulting from chronic infertile egg laying even though we tried desperately hard to manage it, so it most certainly can have tragic results. It's awfully cute when they get all nesty and go looking for those hidey holes but it really should be discouraged so that reproductive complications don't cause problems that can end up being very hazardous.

 

[Rosalindagg]

Yes, that is most likely hormonal behavior. Please try to discourage this. Do not give her cuddle huts or any hidey hole (including PVC hideouts and jolly balls), do not leave your dresser open for her to go into, and if she's just slipping inside the drawers whenever you open it, keep her caged until you get dressed in the morning, and cage her before you get dressed at night, and occupy her with a treat or cage her (preferably occupy her, so she doesn't see the cage as a punishment) before you open the drawers.

As for the trash bin, that needs to have a lid. Both for reducing hormones, and so she doesn't get stuck in there and die. Try to reduce or eliminate all hidey holes her area/room where she could lay an egg. Also, be aware of her going under the bed if she does that. It's a recipe for disaster if you don't see her or if she gets all hormonal down there.

And or course, ask any questions you need answered! We are here to help.

She’s probably been in my drawers twice! I do discourage that behavior. I have been putting her to sleep early and that’s been helping but she has to be in almost complete darkness cause if she hears I’m awake she will chirp non stop for me. So I have to have my tv on for light. As for the trash bin I now have it covered. I got lucky the day she went in it only had paper!

 

[Rosalindagg]

Personally I think the first thing to consider is whether you have the space for two cages. Particularly if you go end up going with a male cockatiel, either one of two things is likely to happen - a) they'll hate each other, or b) they'll like each other just a little too much! In either situation, it's best that you ensure your hen has a safe place to escape to should your new male become either too aggressive or too amorous - and in my experience males can be both at the same time! Breeding type hanky panky can still occur outside the cages of course but they can be supervised or be let out separately to minimise it happening. Hormonally driven aggression is something you do need to consider. My previous female cockatiel (Twinkle) would elicit THE most aggressive hormonal response from my usually mild-mannered male (Fang), and he would chase her round and round and round the house quite relentlessly in his attempts to mate with her, and would also attack me quite viciously when I tried to intervene! I would have to cage poor Twinkle for a while until Fang cooled down, and I most certainly would never have been able to house them in the same cage together full time. They were generally fine interacting with each other (with supervision!) outside the cage, but the moment Twinkle gave Fang any kind of barely imperceptible signal that she might accept his advances, Fang turned into devil bird and got quite out of control and it could have been very dangerous for Twinkle. These days I have two male cockatiels which you'd think might get on better together, but their personalities are vastly different and again, I couldn't even think about caging them together.

To eliminate the prospect of breeding altogether, you may be better served getting another female if you can, again perhaps an older one so you can be sure of gender as juveniles all look alike. Even then though they may get on very well, or their personalities may clash and it's more advisable to have separate quarters just in case. In the wild if two birds don't get on they can simply fly away and look for a more suitable companion, but in our homes they don't have that luxury, so I generally recommend separate housing where practicable to help ensure everyone's safety

That is why I’m gonna wait until summer time to get the second cockatiel because I’ll be moving into a bigger apartment! So I will have room to have separate cages and rooms! I do want her to have a friend so would you suggest to get an older female then ?

 

[LaManuka]

That is why I’m gonna wait until summer time to get the second cockatiel because I’ll be moving into a bigger apartment! So I will have room to have separate cages and rooms! I do want her to have a friend so would you suggest to get an older female then ?

In terms of it absolutely eliminating the possibility of unwanted breeding - yes. I had two females, Kang and Twinkle, who got on VERY well together though they still had separate cages. They did sometimes get a tiny bit obsessive over trying to find nesting spots so you still need to be mindful of that, but my two hens never laid any infertile eggs while they were together - individual results may vary there of course. When we lost Twinkle I went out and got Fang as a baby and managed to convince myself that he was a she based on plumage alone, not realising at the time how much juvenile plumage all looks the same, and all looks very female. My bird vet took one look at him during his wellness check and said "nice looking rooster you've got there" and I was floored! Hence why I mentioned an older female, then you know exactly what you're getting. Younger ones who have not had their adult moult yet can be very deceptive and you'd probably have to have it DNA sexed to be sure of the gender!