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I am pretty new to having cockatiels and don't know alot of info yet, plus I have gotten mixed info. I have a male cockatiel (Moe) who is about 1 year old. We've had him for about 9 months. A month ago we got another cockatiel (Larry) who is now about 3 months old we were first told by the breeder she thought Larry was a boy, but then later thought he might be a she....which I just found out today I really think Larry is a girl because Moe was attempting to mate her. My question is, we have them both in one cage (we kept them sept for 2 weeks) and I didn't know if this is ok if Moe is trying to Mate her....I have been told different opinions on this. Thank you for any insight on this.

Donna

Not a good idea. The biggest problem is their ages. If they were older, you could just prevent a chick from developing in eggs, but you don't want a baby bird making eggs, too hard on her body. She should be at least 18 months before you risk encouraging egg laying by giving them unsupervised time together. This means you need to watch very carefully when they're out of their cages simultaneously.

Having male and female cockatiels is very tricky. Really too bad that Larry is a girl. You'll need to be very careful to protect her.

That's not conclusive evidence that Larry is a girl. Oftentimes you'll find same sex birds doing that. Heck, some of mine mate with their water bowls.

Personally, I wouldn't keep two pet cockatiels together in the same cage regardless, because it's SO much harder to keep both birds tame that way. They have each other for company 24/7 - they only have you a fraction of that time. When they don't rely on you for their social interaction, they tend to get a bit more... feisty.

I have two tiels, one male and one female.....when I got he female I was told she was a male, and I was kinda freaked out by it because I didn't want any egg problems. These two are totally in love, so happy together, and are quite tame.....although alot of times I can't get one to sit with me, they always want the other nearby, but I would still consider them both very tame, but yes, they do prefer each other. It's all ok though, I just spend time with both together and it works out fine. They also mate all the time. I have been very lucky, no eggs and no signs of any egg laying and they've been together now for over a year. I do agree that it is better to be careful while they are young, but once they are old enough, letting them be together should be fine......really I think you can work it out and if any eggs come, you can always boil the eggs or use fake eggs....whatever. I am happy with my two together because they are very happy, and seeing them so happy makes me happy! Good luck!

Hi Donna,

I have a flock where the young male birds will mount another male in sort of a "practice" run. If they are a year old or more, you'll probably be safe letting them share a cage, and if they wind up bonding, that's even better, but mating does not always result in the hen laying eggs. Unfortunately, I have brothers and sisters bonded and mating, but nothing has become of it. They are slowly losing their hormonal phases, and the mating has pretty much stopped. They are all cage-free and in their own room, and I don't see a lot of competition for the hens, but from time to time, they will fight one another over the dominant hen.

Sam

Thank you everyone for the advice....I think for now we are going to separate them just so my female (now named Lola) doesn't get hurt. Moe is contstantly mounting her!!! I am glad they like each other so in the future I will be able to have them together. What age for a female is it safe to put her with a male?? she's 3 months now. I've heard 6 months and I've heard 18months....is there any right age???

Donna

Here's one site that explains the different ages you're reading: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Parrots-1638 ... turity.htm