I have both male/female cockatiels. The male trys so hard to mate but female ignores him, or hurries away from him, even gets physically mean to him. 3 days ago I find 1 egg in breeding box. Male is always setting on it only coming out seconds to eat. Neveŕrrr seen female in box. If she laid egg but he didn’t fertilise it, will he still set on it day and night??
Hi Paula,
Are your birds at least 2 years old? If not, then you should not have them together or be trying to breed them. This could be why the female isn’t interested in the male. If that is the case, you should separate them until both birds are over 2 years old.
Are you sure the male is a male? Just because “he” tries to mate, doesn’t mean it is a male. If you want to send me a pic at [email protected] I can try to see if it is male or female.
Some males are known for taking over the nest box. He can get really aggressive towards her or even hurt or kill her. And it’s not good for him to spend day and night sitting on an egg that isn’t fertile. Since the egg or eggs will not be fertile, and since the pair isn’t bonded anyway, I would take the nest box down. The nest box is the last thing you do when breeding birds, and you should not hang it up until your birds are bonded as a pair and mating or showing signs that they want to mate.
Some birds simply aren’t compatible. Regardless of their age, take the nest box down. Give the pair more time to see if they will ever bond. If they don’t, and both are over 2, then I would separate them and try them with other mates.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
