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Question:

June 27, 2024

Female attacking male cockatiel


Hello, I recently asked a question relevant to this. My female from the “pair” attacks her mate. She had laid an egg which is infertile. They don’t mate anymore and she had laid the egg in the nesting box. The male was very interested and willing to help at first, but now he’s just terrified to go near the nesting box. Another thing, they only fight when I’m in the room. Sometimes she’ll allow him to incubate the egg when I’m not around. I don’t understand. Should I take the nest box down? If I do what do I do with the egg? Thank you


Answer:

Hi,

I really don’t have any new advice to add to my previous reply. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/questions/female-cockatiel-attacking-her-mate/

This pair is not compatible for breeding, and barely compatible just as companions. Some harmless sparring is normal, but when one bird regularly attacks the other, that bird lives in a constant state of stress, not knowing when he might get attacked again. Basically it’s an abusive relationship. As I said before, I would not keep trying to breed this pair. Remove the nest box and discard the egg, and any new eggs she might lay. If her attacks do not stop once the nest box is gone, then you should separate the pair. It’s not fair to the male to be trapped in a cage with a female that attacks him whenever she feels like it. Unless you have a camera in the room, you don’t know that the attacks are only happening when you are in the room. These are just the attacks you see. Again, you can’t do anything to make 2 birds get along – sometimes they simply aren’t compatible.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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