# Help me breed my tiels!



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

I have a pair of cockitiels that have lived together for the past year. They do everything together and seem to be in love. We have seen them do the "Nasty" before they had a nesting box but didn't have any eggs after. So we put a nesting box on thier cage last weekend and they still haven't been in it as far as we have seen. What should I do? Do you think that they are going in when I'm not looking? I moved them into a quite room is that what I should have done?

Thank's Nickiey


----------



## CindyM (Jun 10, 2008)

mine didn't breed for almost 2 years they will when they are ready or they might not want to breed with each other just because you have a boy and girl doesn't mean they want to breed with each other


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

How often is it that you will have a pair of tiels that don't breed?


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

are you 100% sure you have a male and female? 2 males will do the "nasty" along with 2 Females. 

but are you 1000% ready for when they do breed, are you prepaired to hand feed babies if the parent's don't take care of them?

it's not easy and if done wrong you can kill the baby. 
Breeding is not as simple as putting a nest box in and leave it at that, the birds have to be of age . which is a year old (18 months is recommended), they have to be in tip top shape, Fed high quality foods. have a cuttle bone/ mineral block 

it's not all fun and games, Yes baby birds are adorable. But it's more heart ache then a lot of people think. Babies die for no reason, parents eat eggs, Parents kill the baby after it's born or a few days later 

so much stuff could go wrong - Egg binding is one of the top problems. This alone can kill the female. 

Breeding birds (any animal for that matter) is not something to take lightly or jump into head first.


----------



## CindyM (Jun 10, 2008)

Birds are like humans some are just friends and some mate. Give them time to get it right. Mine looked like they were mating last year and nothing. This year they gave me 6 babies. You should read up on breeding and know as much as you can before you have babies. If they are young then the have to figure it out. Feathers get in the way and have to be trimed sometimes. The male has to learn how to be on the female just right. I had to put one of my pair in the box a few times before they knew it was ok to go in. Give them time and make sure you have male and female.


----------



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Longer periods of light and fresh greens can trigger breeding. You said the box was on top of their cage. I usually attach mine right to the cage. Sometimes that means cutting bars but if you have a food dish door on the side you might get away with that. Just tie the door open and attach the box up against the cage. The box should be 12X12 and the opening should be 3.5" .A little smaller box may be OK but the could end up with bent tailfeathers. I use fir or aspen chips in the box (2 or 3 " deep) no cedar or pine. Pine isn't toxic but it's a little too pungent for babies. I make sure my pair have a cuttle bone and a mineral block and I feed quinoa seed. It's very high in calcium and protien. You can soak it overnight or cook it like rice. I offer beans, broccoli, spinach and mustard greens. Good quality seed as well as pellets. So far their favorite pellet is Zupreme. One of the best seeds to ad to their diet to get them in breeding condition is hemp seed. It's not the kind of hemp that gets people high. It's industrial hemp but it's high in protien and fat. You can find it online out of Canada I think. Canary breeders used to swear that a canary wouldn't sing without hemp. If all this doesn't get them in the mood to lay it won't do them any harm.


----------



## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Breeding is a huge responsibility. I would take down the nest box and research as much as possible before deciding what to do. Alot can go wrong and it will be a ton of work if you had to learn how to hand feed the babies. Just my opinion


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

Thank you all very much for you opinions I have done load of research on breading and taking care of the young. I have talk to loads of people on how and when to do it. And do know for sure that they are a male and a female. I have my hole family to help me throw all of this emotionally and physically my husband is the one that talked me into breeding them.They are great birds and love each other very much they are going to be great parents. We do understand that anything can happen and are totally ready to take care of any babies. I'm a stay at home mother and my child is 2 years old and a great kid so he want be a problem with the baby's my birds have there own bedroom so they have there own place and peace and quiet.

They have a very rich in vitamin diet and I have a cuttle bone in their cage . I have their nesting box on the side of there cage at the top as high as it could be put and my husband cut the wires so that they could get in the box. I have a small amount of pine shaving in the bottom of the cage but think that I might but a small amount of moss in there. I've read that that his what is the best thing to use I just hadn't done it yet because I didn't want it to be filled with bugs and or what ever.


Thank You


----------



## Laura (Jul 30, 2007)

I would stick to the shavings peat moss should be avoided as it supports the growth of fungi and bacteria also make sure the pine shavings are untreated.


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

thank I'll keep the shivings in the box then!


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

How much shavings to do think that should be in the box or wheir should I place them in the box?


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, Now that box has been on the cage for almost a month and still nether of them have been in the nesting box unless I put them in it. I've even tried putting a millet branch or stick on the box thinking that they would never be able to resist that but they still haven't eaten a drop off from it. And when I put them in the box the female runs out like the box is on fire and the male will make love calls to her but she just really doesn't care I'm about to pull my hair out. I can't wait for them to have baby's I know that they are going to be the best parents in the world. 

If anyone has any other subjections on how to get them to go in the box let me know?

Thanks and have a great weekend hope it's not raining where you are it's still raining here for the last to days

Nickiey


----------



## Plukie (Aug 26, 2007)

You can't make them breed, perhaps they just don't like each other enough. Some do, some don't.


----------



## Laura (Jul 30, 2007)

You should not be trying to force them into the nest box it doesn't work that way, its doesn't sound like they are bonded enough to each other to want to breed yet, its not something you can force or encourage they are either going to do it or there not if the female doesn't care and doesn't want to go near it she is either not ready or not interested in him enough to breed with I would take the box down it will just cause frustration on the males part if he is ready and she is not.


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

I use carefresh bedding for my nest boxes, and i put an inch in - they kick out what they don't want i have a budgie who kicks it all out but a piece or 2 from each corner 

if they do not have Chemistry they won't breed. and like others stated you can not make them breed. 

I think it would be best to remove the box, let them go on with their normal life and try again later down the road. 

while the box is removed, its best for you to do tons and tons and tons of research.


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi everyone it's been a long time sence I posted about the progress of my tiels. My 11 year old son had the idea to leave the box open a crack so that they can have some light in the box to be able to see Well it worked. They jumped right in the box the very min.:blush: If only I had thought of that! They have been going in and out all on their own and the male has become very portective of the cage so I think they just my be getting ready to have an egg soon. I wrote down the date and I think it's like 4 more days till there SHOULD be an egg:clap: I just can't wait they are going to be the best parents in the world.:angel: So hope for the best:thumbu:

Thanks
Nickiey


----------



## allen (Aug 25, 2007)

is there a breeder near you that you can contact to see if they are handfeeding so you can watch them because if done the wrong way can also kill the chicks and i no you don,t want that also do you have everything for a brooder just incase don,t to to upset if the first time the eggs turn out to be duds it happens with first time parents or all the eggs may hatch and they do at times lay up to 7-8 not all the time but they do at times


----------



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

They can take as much as 2 weeks after they have gone into the box to start laying. Make sure their enviroment isn't too dry. 52% is what it should be. You may want to mist the birds daily now and place a bowl of water in the cage. I use a couple of inches of aspen or fir shavings covering the whole bottom of the box. They usually scratch out a spot where they want to lay their eggs. Good Luck!


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

allen said:


> is there a breeder near you that you can contact to see if they are handfeeding so you can watch them because if done the wrong way can also kill the chicks and i no you don,t want that also do you have everything for a brooder just incase don,t to to upset if the first time the eggs turn out to be duds it happens with first time parents or all the eggs may hatch and they do at times lay up to 7-8 not all the time but they do at times


Yes, I do have a friend that owes a local petstore that said if I had any problems to just call and she'd come right over. But that's for caring!


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

sweetrsue said:


> They can take as much as 2 weeks after they have gone into the box to start laying. Make sure their enviroment isn't too dry. 52% is what it should be. You may want to mist the birds daily now and place a bowl of water in the cage. I use a couple of inches of aspen or fir shavings covering the whole bottom of the box. They usually scratch out a spot where they want to lay their eggs. Good Luck!


Thanks For the information! should I wet the shavings or just leave them dry? 
Thank You
NIckiey


----------



## AniBudgie (Aug 15, 2008)

You should contact a breeder like they said. That's all I can tell you.


----------



## Nickiey (Jul 11, 2008)

AniBudgie said:


> You should contact a breeder like they said. That's all I can tell you.


LIke I said I have a friend that ownes a PETSTORE and she breeds tiels all the time she always has a laying pair. And she handfeeds ALL of her babys. And I have the breeder that breed my tiels and She has had to handfeed and she's on call all of the time for me!


----------



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

As far as moistening the shavings. I don't directly wet the shavings but I step up the misting of the breeding birds to daily and I like to mist the inside of the nest box top. No so that it's dripping but so that it increases the moisture in their enviroment. They should carry a little moisture in on thier bodies.


----------

