Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, all.

We have 3 Tiels, 2 males and a female. The female is with one of the males. She has laid eggs several times on the bottom of the cage, although none have hatched, and we are considering getting a nest box.

I read that they mate for life, and she was originally with a different male that died soon after.

She looked like she was beginning to pluck at herself, so we put her with the other male for several days now. She seems happier, and it's very possible that she wasn't plucking herself, but washing herself or getting her neck wet, which made her feathers look "thin", giving the appearance of plucking. The next day, it didn't look like she was plucking.

Should we put her back with the first male?

I know, lot's of questions!

Thanks in advance,

Roger

I would suggest leaving it up to your birds. If you are not sure whether the female was plucking or not there could have even been another problem. Sometimes one mate will overpreen the other which could have happened with the first male. If your female seems happy, is eating well and shows some interest in her new cage mate I don't see that there would be a problem. The mating for life is usually when you have an aviary with many birds. The female (or male) will choose one mate to share a nest with and stay with that same mate. I haven't really noticed this behavior as much in cockatiels kept in individual (just one pair) cages though. Usually as long as cage mates get along they will still produce eggs with a new mate. Somtimes the first set of eggs with a new mate in a new nest box will not be fertile. Also make sure you have homes for them before deciding to breed as many people will breed birds and then not be able to find homes for them after breeding.