# my female cockatiel doesnt want a mate!



## cheetahzee (Jun 10, 2010)

i have a female cockatiel. i got a male cockatiel who whistled and cooed and did everything, she didnt care so we thought maybe she isnt attracted to him. we had him for 6 months but she was so fiesty with him that we had to give him away. then we got another male. he has been with her for months but she isnt that fiesty with him but doesnt let him be her mate.
what i see is that both the male cockatiels made the nest, she would kick them out of the nest and lay eggs in their nest but wouldnt let them come close to the nest or herself. when its time for her to make, she masturbates with a branch or something and then lays empty eggs. the male cockatiel whistles and tries real hard to attract her or go close to her when she is mastrubating or going in the nest, but she wouldnt let them come close. in the end they get frustrated too and end up masturbating with a branch or something.
i hate to write it out so openly like this but this has been happening for a year now and we had two males since then. she isnt fiesty with this new one but its the same story with this one too. she lays eggs every 2 months and we have to discard the eggs once they are laid.

why wouldnt she bond or be with a male? and i feel so bad for the poor males who are stuck with this female who knows how to live alone and give a heck to them.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If she doesn't want to mate with them then maybe she's not ready. You might want to take down the nest box and put the both of them on the long night treatment (12-14hrs of sleep a night) and give them more time to bond. She may never want to mate with a male...


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

If she is a hand tamed pet you might consider selling her to a single pet home. Unfortunitely the stimulation of the males singing is going to keep her hormones going and she is heading towards being a chronic layer, which can conpromise her health.


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## Duckybird (Sep 13, 2010)

You also mentioned discarding the eggs as soon as they are laid. This can also stimulate her to keep laying regularly. If you know they're not fertile it won't hurt to let her sit on them. And she may let a male come help after a few days. Who knows, she could also be mating without your knowledge. Of course, I feel that the others have excellent advice as well, and if it's not crucial for her to raise chicks you may just be aggravating the situation with mates and stimulation.


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## cheetahzee (Jun 10, 2010)

no i do let her sit on the eggs for 21 days so that she wouldnt lay more than 4 and then discard them. but then a month or so later she is ready to lay them again.
i dont want to sell her as i love her the most but dont know why she doesnt want to have a mate? what am i doing wrong?
we did the 12 hours sleep and changing the environment, removing the nest box and stuff but that doesnt seem to help.she is even willing to lay an egg at the bottom of the cage.
she was laying eggs even when there was no male present and its the same with male present.
we got her the male so that she would have productive eggs that would slow down her egg laying.
also she is 2.5 years old so not a baby cockatiel anymore that mating would be harmful


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Yes but constant laying can be harmful to her even if she is getting enough nutrients in her diet. It can cause numerable problems which is why the long nights is suggested as it works with most, but not all birds. How long was she on the treatment for?


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## cheetahzee (Jun 10, 2010)

tried it for a month after a recent eggs were discarded


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

It takes some birds longer to adjust than others...another thing is how much soft food you give her because this will also put her into breeding mode thinking its summer and she has enough food to give to her babies.


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## cheetahzee (Jun 10, 2010)

will this work with a male around and making a nest out of anything and everything he finds?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No it won't....I thought at first that if I just put my girls on the long nights and not the boys that it would stop, but it didn't, the boys continued to try mounting the girls. So I put them ALL on it and they finally stopped. It was a relief because I had one girl that really needed to stop laying eggs for a bit and take a rest.


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