Ask Lafeber

Birds trying to nest?

My two cockatiels (one male and one female) have suddenly started obsessively shredding paper. I bought them a few months ago and both have relatively settled well (i.e. theyre properly eating, chirping/singing, flying around and coming back to their cage on their own). Since about a week now, ive noticed that the paper has bitten edges and recently, i spotted a collected mass of shaved paper. The newspaper is used for collecting their droppings, so i change it everyday. By some research, ive understood that this is a mating thing for birds. My query is what to do to prevent that, and also is there a hazard for chicks considering i have both sexes? If so, how to avoid. Thnxx!!

Hi,

Yes, this is nesting behavior and eggs will soon follow if you do not make some changes to discourage them. The best thing to do is use something besides paper – something they can’t shred. They sell different kinds of cage bedding for pet birds. Aspen shavings work well – use 100%, unscented. But also, they can’t have access to use it as a nest. Since you have a male & female, they almost certainly will mate and lay eggs. However, unlike mammals, there is no such thing as accidental offspring. If they lay eggs, just discard the eggs. Fertile eggs are not developed at all when laid. They must be incubated around the clock for at least 48 hours for any development to begin, so there is nothing wrong with discarding eggs before they have had a chance to incubate them. I’ll give you a list of changes to make to discourage nesting – you need to do all of these things for best results.

Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, she needs 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