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Question:

June 29, 2021

Why is my male budgie not breeding!?


I have a male budgie who’s about 1 year old and his cere also looks like he’s mature enough to breed. But when the female accepts to mate, he just climbs on her and do nothing. I don’t know why he won’t do anything after flirting for so long


Answer:

Hi Gary,

Your bird isn’t old enough to have a mate and breed yet. Even though they may be capable of breeding right now, they are not ready physically or emotionally. It’s best to wait until they are closer to two years old. Younger birds may end up mating and laying eggs, but they are much more likely to make mistakes or develop bad breeding habits that can ruin them as being good breeders. A young male may be ready to mate, but will often be more interested in the mating part and not be ready to settle down and care for eggs or chicks. A young female is at a higher risk of becoming egg bound and dying because she still has some physical developing to go through. Young pairs often lose interest during incubation and leave the eggs to get cold, abandon the eggs after a week or so, break or eat the eggs or fail to care for the chicks if they do hatch any. I would keep the pair in separate cages side by side, and put them back together when they are closer to two years old. Do not provide a nest box until then. If they still fail to bond and mate when they are older, they may simply not be compatible as mates. Not all birds get along, and not all birds will be good breeders. It’s also very important that they are on a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets or our foraging diets. A loose seed mix does not provide the nutrition they need. They also need dark leafy greens and chopped veggies, and once old enough for breeding, feed them an egg food – a commercial egg food or cooked egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg.

Thank you for Asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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