Ask Lafeber

2 young male cockatiels

Hello, I have two male cockatiels, one is a year old and the other is 6 months. They’ve been around each other for a little over a month or two in their cages until I let them interact outside of their cages. And it’s been over 20 days of that and they’ve been singing to each other and preening each other as well. Along with the occasional squabble. It’s never bad, they usually go back to preening after. And two days ago I just got them their big flight cage so they can both move in there. I’ve been observing them and they seem to be okay? Other than my older cockatiel following my younger cockatiel around and singing to him but the younger one gets annoyed and they squabble for a bit but again, never bad. They have different food sources but I do see them sharing. I guess I’m just wondering if you have any advice or what behavior to look out for and if everything seems good so far?

Hi,

Watch them closely because of the age difference. The older bird is likely experiencing hormones, and he may be confused and think the other bird is a female. Cockatiels look like females until their first adult molt between 8-12 months. If the older bird gets too frustrated with the younger one, he may get aggressive. Also, if these are tame pets, they are unlikely to remain tame if they share a cage. They will eventually bond with each other and no longer be interested in being handled. If you want them to be tame, each bird needs their own cage, but they can still interact when out of the cage, or in the large flight.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda