I have 5 cockatiel boys who were fine in one cage but now I had to separate them. 2 pairs are bonded and the 5th is singing to one of the boys in the pairs and shredding paper. The boys are trying to mount each other which ends in an argument. Should I stop it once it starts or let them “work it out themselves”.
Hi Kathleen,
I’m sorry we didn’t get to your question during the May 8 Webinar, but Dr. Lamb did answer live during the May 15 webinar – please view using the link below.
This is a great example of why it is best to never have an odd number of birds caged together, even if they are the same sex. While you do not have the issue of egg laying with all males, you have found that they will still bond with another bird and exhibit some hormonal and nesting behavior without a female present. When these guys are not feeling hormonal, they may possibly all get along together again, until someone’s hormones kick in again. Loud squabbling is harmless, but birds should be separated if the feathers start flying or if blood is drawn. So unless it escalates, they can generally work things out. However, had you left all 5 together, which would have one unpaired bird, the two pairs could end up ganging up on him and things could go badly very quickly. As far as paper shredding – with males it mainly leads to aggression or aloofness towards the owner. Dr. Lamb discusses hormonal triggers in both webinars, so if their behavior becomes too aggressive, or anti social or “nesty”, then I would make some of the changes that she recommends.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
