Ask Lafeber

My budgies won’t mate :(

My friend gifted me a pair of budgies who were initially a pair. At the time, the female budgie was laying eggs however, when she had a change of enviroment she no longer sat on the eggs therefore, I removed the nesting box.

Fast forward, I have given them some time to take a break and put the nest box back in the cage. The issue I’m facing is they won’t mate with one another anymore. The male budgie is wanting to mate however, the female wont allow him.

I have a spare cage and I’m wondering if I was to split them for a short time and then put them back together would that help them mate?

Hi,

The best thing to do is be patient and see if the pair will settle into your home. It sounds like the hen isn’t satisfied that she has a safe place to raise chicks. Breeding birds need privacy and a quiet place, with minimal human contact. If they are in a family room or high traffic place in the house, they aren’t going to breed. He may want to mate, but that doesn’t mean he really wants to raise chicks there. They do need a minimum of 6 month’s rest between clutches. And when moved, some pairs never breed again. Some might breed right away, some need months or longer to feel like they have a secure environment. Also, keep in mind that budgies have a fairly short lifespan. Because of inbreeding, many only live 6-8 years. It’s possible this pair is past their breeding age. The bottom line is it takes a lot of patience to breed birds, and most of your time is spent waiting for something to happen.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda