Ask Lafeber

Budgie (nest box question)

Hello, I’m hoping you can help. To clarify, I am not a breeder, don’t believe in it, nor do I want to be. I have 4 pairs of rescues in large homes/cages. about 4 months ago I noticed (with letting all out together for their playtime) that there was a male with another one that took a liking to a female that was with another mate/friend. (Vice versa; cause she definitely liked him). Feeling obligated to try putting them together, I did. I admit I felt guilty not letting them be together. THEN, the mating started right away almost. I don’t have this with any of my other pairs.. these ones are different and it seems daily. I decided which was silly to put a nice wooden nest on the corner /side of the cage to allow IF it happened to happen just once and let them have a few babies. So the mating kept up, she spent and still does a fair amount of time in there and he is Mr. Helper and busy trying to feed her etc, but I look and it’s been no eggs in that next. SO I really don’t want to push this as I know it can be stressful on the female and male too. My concern is do I leave the nest in there for comfort for her even if she isn’t , maybe she just likes it. Or can I remove it without causing too much stress on her? Also I might need to separate them if I do this, cause he doesn’t stop mating with her sometimes or doesn’t leave her alone and I think that must be tiring for her too. Maybe he should be with his male friend he was with before so he can be calmer too. Please help! Thanks a lot.

Hi,

As far as breeding goes, responsible breeders are important to preserving many of the parrot species. I would say that there are too many budgies out there, so it’s best not to breed your birds. And if they came from an actual rescue organization, breeding is prohibited. I would take the nest box away and instead make some changes to discourage breeding and nesting. A temporary separation might also be in order, to see how they react. Generally it is not good to separate a bonded pair, but I’m not sure this pair has a true pair bond versus an obsession on the male’s part. Also, a nest box or nest is not a comfort item or a bed. A nest is only used by a pair during breeding season in the wild – this is once per year. Pet birds should only be given a nest box for breeding purposes, and should never be left in the cage year round.

Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, they need longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions.

Limit their light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening

Do not give them anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.

Do not give them anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.

Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.

Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever they show signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.

If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.

When they are let out of the cage, do not let them get in any dark cozy places and don’t give them free roam. When you let them roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.

When you handle them, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.

If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda