aidan724
04-12-2008, 05:35 AM
I'm sorry if this is rather lengthy but I thought some back story might be helpfull to clear up any confusion. Forgive me...
My mother and I have been taken in by Jewel and reached a mutual decision to get a pair of teils with the intent to breed. We plan on keeping at least one as a friend for Jewel. I haven't decided on if I will breed her or not and I have a way to go as she is only just now reaching 6 months. My mother may keep one but she is hesitant due to her age and their life expectancy. We also already have family and a few friends awaiting some babes. So we have no problems there.
So I went to a local breeder whom I have developed a good relationship with over the course of a few years. Her husband is "The Rabbit Man" and she is "The Bird Lady". She has been breeding/raising birds for about 60 years or so, owned a pet store and now runs her breeding business out of a flea market by word of mouth. I know that she has MANY repeat customers and have talked to them etc. That said I am confident in her flock and her practices etc. So 2 weeks ago my husband and I went to see her and came home with 2 tiels (1 male, Drako and 1 female, Gracie) and 2 budgies. I can't help it but I fell in love. They were meant to be breeder birds so they have had no real human contact and are extremely wild. I have made some progress in getting them used to my hand being in their cage and they don't go to the opposite side of the cage when someone is close and they seem to be settled down nicely. They are only about a year old and were not a bonded pair. She had the males in one place and females in another. They are fairly well ignoring each other save for a few nips to get the other out of the way. They sit near each other and will drink and eat at the same time but show no affection. Not a problem for me as I know they had and are still having a stressfull time.
My problem or potential problem is my husband and his not listening. I explained quarantine etc and he blew that as soon as we got home. We had no sooner come through the door unloading all the goodies and he took Jewel out of her cage. She is the most curious little thing and before I could get in the door and know what was going on she was on the tiels cage. Drako had been singing (I'm assuming) to Gracie on the ride home but the moment he caught sight of Jewel he was performing. He was eyeballing her while doing his heart shaped wings and singing his head off. Jewel was enjoying the show so much she kept running all over the top of the cage and flying away from me. She is such a naughty girl. Then he started beak banging away on everything. I have tried to keep the seperated but whenever I let Jewel out (she is usually out from the time I get up till she starts getting sleepy) she flys right back there to them. They are constantly calling to eachother. I don't think that Jewel really gets the point because she pays Gracie just as much attention and even tries to preen them through the cage. Gracie just seems to take longer to warm up than Jewel or Drako. So is this love a first sight? What are the odds that Drako will continue to ignore Gracie who is right beside him for the unreachable Jewel? Should I strangle my husband? Just kidding. It kills me to keep them seperated since they are so interested in each other but they don't seem to care what I think. I don't want to rush anything but I would like to see them do more than just tolerate each other. I had hoped that Jewel would not end up being a temptation for him. So any thoughts? Thanks!
My mother and I have been taken in by Jewel and reached a mutual decision to get a pair of teils with the intent to breed. We plan on keeping at least one as a friend for Jewel. I haven't decided on if I will breed her or not and I have a way to go as she is only just now reaching 6 months. My mother may keep one but she is hesitant due to her age and their life expectancy. We also already have family and a few friends awaiting some babes. So we have no problems there.
So I went to a local breeder whom I have developed a good relationship with over the course of a few years. Her husband is "The Rabbit Man" and she is "The Bird Lady". She has been breeding/raising birds for about 60 years or so, owned a pet store and now runs her breeding business out of a flea market by word of mouth. I know that she has MANY repeat customers and have talked to them etc. That said I am confident in her flock and her practices etc. So 2 weeks ago my husband and I went to see her and came home with 2 tiels (1 male, Drako and 1 female, Gracie) and 2 budgies. I can't help it but I fell in love. They were meant to be breeder birds so they have had no real human contact and are extremely wild. I have made some progress in getting them used to my hand being in their cage and they don't go to the opposite side of the cage when someone is close and they seem to be settled down nicely. They are only about a year old and were not a bonded pair. She had the males in one place and females in another. They are fairly well ignoring each other save for a few nips to get the other out of the way. They sit near each other and will drink and eat at the same time but show no affection. Not a problem for me as I know they had and are still having a stressfull time.
My problem or potential problem is my husband and his not listening. I explained quarantine etc and he blew that as soon as we got home. We had no sooner come through the door unloading all the goodies and he took Jewel out of her cage. She is the most curious little thing and before I could get in the door and know what was going on she was on the tiels cage. Drako had been singing (I'm assuming) to Gracie on the ride home but the moment he caught sight of Jewel he was performing. He was eyeballing her while doing his heart shaped wings and singing his head off. Jewel was enjoying the show so much she kept running all over the top of the cage and flying away from me. She is such a naughty girl. Then he started beak banging away on everything. I have tried to keep the seperated but whenever I let Jewel out (she is usually out from the time I get up till she starts getting sleepy) she flys right back there to them. They are constantly calling to eachother. I don't think that Jewel really gets the point because she pays Gracie just as much attention and even tries to preen them through the cage. Gracie just seems to take longer to warm up than Jewel or Drako. So is this love a first sight? What are the odds that Drako will continue to ignore Gracie who is right beside him for the unreachable Jewel? Should I strangle my husband? Just kidding. It kills me to keep them seperated since they are so interested in each other but they don't seem to care what I think. I don't want to rush anything but I would like to see them do more than just tolerate each other. I had hoped that Jewel would not end up being a temptation for him. So any thoughts? Thanks!