# Can I house a male and female together and keep them from breeding?



## Puppetfunk (May 27, 2010)

I'd like to add another cockatiel or two into my life because my Cockatiel recently lost her Budgie buddy and is now in a depressed funk. I try to interact with her as often as possible, but when I'm away, I worry about her being lonely. Problem is, she's female. I can tell from her coloration and the fact that she's laid single-lady eggs before. Would is be possible to get a male, and make sure they don't breed? I don't really have the want, or experience to breed birds, and I don't feel that it would be good to bring more birds into the world, when there are already plenty of people doing that, and many 'Tiels with no one to love them. So, do I need to make sure I only get a female, or can I successfully keep a celibate pair?


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## AlbyPepper (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm sure there will be more experienced people to answer your question. But as far as I am aware, even if you get a male tiel, they are not guaranteed to bond and have babies. I had a male and female housed together. Granted, they were slightly too young to breed, but they certainly didn't like each other. As long as they had enough space to stay away from each other, they were happy to be in the same cage. I have recently bought another young female, and have no desire to breed them. So I will be taking precautions to try prevent this happening. Reducing daylight hours is supposed to keep the hormones in check. Covering them up for 12 - 14 hours at night is recommended for this. Otherwise, you could keep them in separate cages, but close enough for them to keep each other company. Good luck with your decision.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's possible sometimes, but cockatiels are easy breeders so it can be an uphill battle trying to keep them from making babies. I did manage to convince Buster and Shodu not to go for it this year by manipulating the apparent day length. I'd like to have one clutch per year but I can't convince them to stop at just one - they insist on producing a second clutch. Getting zero eggs is easier than getting just one clutch, so I'm going to go for two clutches every other year.


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

That is a difficult question to answer and I don't really know anyone who can give you a sure answer. It will be a risk, but don't translate that as it can not be done, because it can be done. You will need to put in a bit of effort in reducing their light hours as mentioned before. Also, make sure you don't have anything that could be mistaken as a nest, like those little huts people tend to get, especially those new to cockatiels. I don't recommend them at all for a tiel and I am definitely against them when you have a female or a pair you don't intend on breeding. Also make sure you rotate the toys and perches often, which I have been told also helps prevent breeding.
If you are still worried about it and don't have the resources to separate them if attempted breeding does occur, I see no harm in finding another female.


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## braveheartdogs (May 14, 2009)

Puppetfunk said:


> I'd like to add another cockatiel or two into my life because my Cockatiel recently lost her Budgie buddy and is now in a depressed funk. I try to interact with her as often as possible, but when I'm away, I worry about her being lonely. Problem is, she's female. I can tell from her coloration and the fact that she's laid single-lady eggs before. Would is be possible to get a male, and make sure they don't breed? I don't really have the want, or experience to breed birds, and I don't feel that it would be good to bring more birds into the world, when there are already plenty of people doing that, and many 'Tiels with no one to love them. So, do I need to make sure I only get a female, or can I successfully keep a celibate pair?



Hi there,

I have kept multiple cockatiels of both sexes before and have never had issues with them breeding. I make sure not to have a lot of nesting material in the cage, I don't provide a nest box or encourage breeding. In the case of a pair that is laying you could simply replace the real eggs with fake eggs.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Right now there's 7 male Cockatiels and 6 female Cockatiels together in the same cage in my bird room, they've never bred, nor have they laid eggs whilst being in the same cage.


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