Pet bird lovers thread

Paddy Cow

I have two African greys and twelve cockatiels. I haven't seen many threads on this forum about birds, so I thought it would be good to start one. I called it "Pet bird lovers" so that it can be about birds we own, rather than talking about wild birds in the garden. There has been times when I've had issues with my birds and because they are not the norm as pets, I haven't known where to go for advice. There isn't even that many vets in Ireland that can cater to the specific needs of birds.

The issue I'm having at the moment is in regard to my cockatiels. I should point out that all my birds are free flying around my apartment. Two of my cockatiels, Lexi (female) and Frostie (male) have recently become the proud parents of two chicks. They are very good parents and they are not the problem. Sometimes the other birds will approach the nest box for a look but they are quickly sent away. I have a young male (Jack) who has turned into a bit of a bunny boiler.

He is obsessed with Lexi and the chicks. The first chick was born nearly two weeks ago. He would go to the nest box and look in, which was ok and what the others were doing. It got worse though and instead of looking in the nest box, he tried to get in. Of course the father Frostie was having none of this and sent him packing. After a few days Jack got really aggressive and was attacking Frostie whenever he could. If Frostie wasn't in the nest box, Jack would enter and start singing to Lexi who promptly told him to fcuk off.

It got to the stage where Jack was attacking Frostie and they were having mid-air collisions :eek: Frostie's nare got damaged and I decided enough is enough. Jack was entering the nest box and I was afraid he would hurt the chicks. Even though I hated doing it, I put Jack in a cage to give the parents some peace.

I gave him a day to cool down in the cage and let him out. He was fine for a couple of hours but he started the same sh!te of trying to get into the nest box so for the sake of the family, I had to put him back in a cage. He hates being in a cage and today I thought I would give him another chance. I let him out but this time he went directly for the nest box and got in beside Lexi!

Obviously I put him straight back in his cage, as I can't have him stressing out the parents and chicks but I'm flabbergasted by this. He is dying to get out of the cage but I have to weigh up his freedom vs the safety of Frosty and the chicks. I don't have this problem with any of the other cockatiels. They seem to respect each others boundaries.

Has anyone else experienced this or is Jack just a bunny boiling ar€ehole?

Knine

I think you need to get Jack his own woman. Of course he wants to get in on the action. It is birdie breeding season and he would like to get his wing over Lexie. Sorry if this sounds like something from the Relationship forum.

He is basically trying to have an affair with Lexie. So he is hoping to drive Frostie away by attacking him. You definitely need to keep him away from the nesting pair or it is likely there might be injuries. I think if Jack was busy with his own bird (hen) then you would not have this problem. If he does not appear to fancy any of the other tiels then stick him in a cage with her & a nestbox & hopefully he will fall in love

The best of luck. I have a Parrotlet. They make Tiels seem like fluffy Teddy Bears

Paddy Cow

Knine wrote: »

I think you need to get Jack his own woman. Of course he wants to get in on the action. It is birdie breeding season and he would like to get his wing over Lexie. Sorry if this sounds like something from the Relationship forum.

He is basically trying to have an affair with Lexie. So he is hoping to drive Frostie away by attacking him. You definitely need to keep him away from the nesting pair or it is likely there might be injuries. I think if Jack was busy with his own bird (hen) then you would not have this problem. If he does not appear to fancy any of the other tiels then stick him in a cage with her & a nestbox & hopefully he will fall in love

The best of luck. I have a Parrotlet. They make Tiels seem like fluffy Teddy Bears

Thanks for your reply. A lot of it makes sense but I do think Jack is being super aggressive compared to the other cockatiels. There are two single females here. One has a damaged foot so doesn't get much attention but the other is a very healthy one year old hen. If Jack made the effort, he could probably score with her I have another single cock, who is about a year older than Jack. He has shown interest in the nesting box but he seems to understand boundaries and there is no issues with him.

I hate keeping him in a cage but because of his aggression, I don't see any other way. He didn't get like this until the chicks hatched. I've two other couples who have laid eggs and he hasn't bothered them. Their eggs have not hatched. He really has focused on the chicks of Frostie and Lexi. It's very strange how he is like this. I could understand him wanting to be with a hen but wanting to oust another male cockatiel and take over his chicks is not normal behaviour??

Knine

Paddy Cow wrote: »

I could understand him wanting to be with a hen but wanting to oust another male cockatiel and take over his chicks is not normal behaviour??

Actually it is normal behaviour. It is probably not the chicks he wants. It is likely he is trying to pair off with Lexie or wants that nesting box for himself. While she is around he probably won't even look at any other bird. Is there only one nesting box? Maybe put in a few more & he might entice one of the single ladies in?
Otherwise to ease his breaking heart I think he needs to be put where he can't see or hear her.

Preferably in another room with only the single spinster for company.

Paddy Cow

Knine wrote: »

Actually it is normal behaviour. It is probably not the chicks he wants. It is likely he is trying to pair off with Lexie or wants that nesting box for himself. While she is around he probably won't even look at any other bird. Is there only one nesting box? Maybe put in a few more & he might entice one of the single ladies in?
Otherwise to ease his breaking heart I think he needs to be put where he can't see or hear her.

Preferably in another room with only the single spinster for company.

There are three nesting boxes and all three couples produced eggs. Only Lexi and Frostie had chicks. Jack didn't become aggressive until the chicks hatched. Before that he would just look in the box, as did all the other cockatiels. I thought nothing of his behaviour until I noticed he was becoming aggressive.

At this stage I don't think there is anything I can do apart from keep him in his cage while the parent's raise the chicks. Unfortunately that means he will be locked up for the next four weeks in his cage. I feel bad for him but it would't be fair on the parents and chicks if I let him out and harasses them.

I've given him two chances at freedom and both times he's gone straight for Lexi/the chicks. I don't know what else I can do. I don't like confining birds to cages but this seems the only option.

Paddy Cow

Pictures of baby cockatiels

I posted these in another thread but thought they would be relevant here.

volchitsa

Oh wow their eyes are still closed! My neighbour has homing pigeons but they live in a little shed outside so I haven't actually seen the babies that small, the nesting boxes are in at the back of the shed which is a bit too dirty to spend much time in, apart from scaring the birds.

Knine

volchitsa wrote: »

Oh wow their eyes are still closed! My neighbour has homing pigeons but they live in a little shed outside so I haven't actually seen the babies that small, the nesting boxes are in at the back of the shed which is a bit too dirty to spend much time in, apart from scaring the birds.

We used to have pigeons. They make fantastic parents. They will even steal each others babies. We had one Cock that actually managed to have 2 hens for himself. So instead of 2 eggs we had 4 & the threesome took turns sitting on them. We would remove 2 of the eggs. They are very under rated birds.

volchitsa

What I like about them is that they are out free. I love seeing them up in the sky. Birds in cages make me feel a bit sad. But they are a bit dirty.

Knine

volchitsa wrote: »

What I like about them is that they are out free. I love seeing them up in the sky. Birds in cages make me feel a bit sad. But they are a bit dirty.

Yep.pigeons are fairly dirty. Pet domesticated birds actually love their cages. It is like their little kingdom. I have a fairly large cage for my bird who is about the same size as a Sparrow. However you see many pet birds in tiny little cages or those awful round ones.

Gloomtastic!

Apologies for going slightly off-topic OP but when you say you have your birds flying free in your home, how do you cope with the mess?

Paddy Cow

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Apologies for going slightly off-topic OP but when you say you have your birds flying free in your home, how do you cope with the mess?

The cockatiels have two large cages. They go in there for food and water. On top of the cages are loads of branches so they tend to hang out there most of the time. They fly into the bathroom and go on top of the door. Most of their poop goes into the bottom of the cages which are lined with newspaper so that's easy to clean. Anything that falls outside the cage is moped up.

The parrots have their own "territories" as well and usually the poop is in the same spot. I don't have kids so that's not an issue. I keep a mop bucket with bleach water and use as needed. It's really not that bad.

What's worse is the mess they make from chewing everything. Charlie loves shoes so I hang old shoes from the doorframe and he spends ages tearing them to bits. I get hard duty boxes and make "houses" out of them for Ruby. She spends all day chewing them. If I don't, she'll chew the cupboards :rolleyes:

My goal is to own my own home eventually and have a conservatory built onto the back for them.

Mephala

Don't suppose you know of anyone selling hand-reared cockatiels? I've been onto wag n tails in Loughrea so that's a possibility, but somewhere in Munster would be a bit handier. Or what would your opinion be in regards to petshop-bought cockatiels? I'm a bit reluctant to go down that route because the shops I've spoken to don't really handle their birds at all, and I'd prefer not to have to attempt to tame an adult from scratch.

Paddy Cow

Mephala wrote: »

Don't suppose you know of anyone selling hand-reared cockatiels? I've been onto wag n tails in Loughrea so that's a possibility, but somewhere in Munster would be a bit handier. Or what would your opinion be in regards to petshop-bought cockatiels? I'm a bit reluctant to go down that route because the shops I've spoken to don't really handle their birds at all, and I'd prefer not to have to attempt to tame an adult from scratch.

It's really hard to tame adult cockatiels. Plus you don't always know their back story. It could be two or ten years old and have had lots of owners. Be wary of buying hand reared in pet shops. I got two that worked out really well and were obviously hand reared. I got others where the breeder was lying. I reckon the chicks were parent reared and the breeder interacted with them a little. The last "hand reared" bird I got from a pet shop wouldn't come near me. It was a complete waste of money. I've had him a year and he won't allow me anywhere near him. That's not normal for hand reared. The two I got that were obviously hand reared loved human interaction.

Mephala

I'm hoping to see proof of the birds being 'hand-reared' before I buy, i.e, not being scared out of their wits if the person in the shop tries to interact with them. I was also offered a young cockatiel to hand-rear myself but I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking that on, haha.

Knine

Mephala wrote: »

Don't suppose you know of anyone selling hand-reared cockatiels? I've been onto wag n tails in Loughrea so that's a possibility, but somewhere in Munster would be a bit handier. Or what would your opinion be in regards to petshop-bought cockatiels? I'm a bit reluctant to go down that route because the shops I've spoken to don't really handle their birds at all, and I'd prefer not to have to attempt to tame an adult from scratch.

I know the owner of the Galway shop so can highly recommend him. Family members have a Parrotlet from him and she is definitely hand reared. Sometimes you have to travel to get what you want.