# Behavior in bonded pairs?



## urchin_grey (Jun 23, 2014)

I hope this is the appropriate subforum for this. :blush:

So we have 4 tiels. Luna and Tonks were hand fed and are very young still. Tonks is about 3 months now. Luna, we're not exactly sure of her age but we purchased her at a local pet store the week she got there so we're assuming she was at least hatched this year. She's a bit bigger than Tonks and while very tame, not QUITE as trusting as Tonks.

Lucius and Narcissa are a pair we found on Craigslist. They were in the same cage with another breeding pair and set up with a nest box. >.< The family we got them from said they acquired each tiel one at a time over the last few years and each pair ended up bonding and each had multiple clutches. We wanted all 4 but the other pair was already spoken for so we just took the one pair.

Anyway, my concern is that they don't really seem to do much more than tolerate each other! As my husband pointed out last night, Tonks and Luna haven't even known each other very long and yet they seem to like each other more than Lucius and Narcissa like each other. I mean, they don't fight or anything but any time one gets in the others way, they nip each other. And I don't see any behaviors I'd expect to see from a bonded pair like preening each other. Is that normal of a pair that's bred before? Their previous owners seemed to know a lot about breeding and even told us what kind of babies they have (cinnamons) so I wouldn't think they were pulling our legs.


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

I can't imagine a bonded pair becoming unbonded that quickly. You were probably lied to, or this is a pair that has grown tired of each other and has no sexual interest in one another anymore. I never buy bonded pairs, always buy young birds and try to bond them yourself.

On a personal note, its nice to see somebody close to my area on here, welcome to the forum!


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

My pair don't preen each other unless they're breeding. On the off season they mostly just follow each other around and sit together. I've noticed that their pair bond is exhibited the most when they are actively breeding. They'll eat together a lot, try to preen each other (they're not very good at each they just sort of rubs heads together haha), explore nooks and crannies together etc. Otherwise, they don't do much of those things although they are bonded very well.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

I was looking around old posts on this site yesterday; I read that sometimes with a major change, the dynamic between pairs may change ie pairs may become uninterested in each other. That may be what's happening but it also may be that they are stressed from the move. I'll try to find the original post for you.


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## urchin_grey (Jun 23, 2014)

Yeah, that all makes sense! They were very shaken up when they got here. We've had them now for about 2.5 weeks and they seem a bit more comfortable. But they're not tame at all so they always seem to be on the alert any time I go near their cage. I never see them playing with their toys and they won't come out of the cage at all. I got them to eat some seed from my hand a few times but they've been holding out on my lately.


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