Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, we have just got two tiels. We were told they are 11 weeks old-ish and we and the pet shop keeper think they are both females. They have been very shy since we got them, one is chirping a little but the other seems quite aloof. They also peck nastily at each other, it is like they are bickering... is this normal? They are very scared if we put a hand in to the cage so I dont think that they have been handled at all. Please help, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

how big is the cage? alot of the fighting could be stress.

The cage size could be causing some stress. When i had both of birds together they often would "bicker" like this as well. It did eventually stop once they got used to each other. Your situation sounds almost exactly like mine. Two birds one chirps the other hardly makes a sound. Give it some time and they will come around. Let them get used to you and then woek slowly with the handling of the birds. They need time to build up trust. I hope that this helps.

the cage is a large one - 18" wide x 10" deep x 30 " high (very approximately, just guessed by my husband) It is around 5 times larger than the one in the pet shop.

to be honest those measurement sound way too small for 2 'tiels see the "Cage Size" post below, the birds need enough space so they can get away from each other and feel comfortable, otherwise it's just stressful.

That's very small for 2 tiels. That's the same size as my cage but Cricket ONLY sleeps in there at night. He's out by day. If he lived in there I'd make it much bigger for him. You shouldn't be putting 2 tiels in a cage that size. You could either get a larger cage (much larger) for them both or another cage & seperate the 2. If they continue to fight I would seperate them for good. Some birds just don't get along.