| Title: | Captive Breeding for Conservation--and FUN! |
| Notice: | INTROS 6.X / FOR SALE 13.X / Buying a Bird 900.* |
| Moderator: | VIDEO::PULSIFER |
| Created: | Mon Oct 10 1988 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 942 |
| Total number of notes: | 6016 |
I have two cockatiels, Ava (male) and Marilyn (female). Ava is about 5-6 years old and Marilyn is about 8-10 months. I've had her probably 6 months. This morning I found Marilyn snuggling with her cuttlebone, head down like she wanted it to preen her. Ava was just sitting on his perch ignoring her. I bought Marilyn to keep Ava company when Garkon died a while ago. Marilyn was just a baby, and Ava had been terribly depressed. They seemed to get along ok. They didn't spend any time at all together and Ava would hiss at her unless he decided he wanted to mate with her. He wouldn't do any preening or anything before, he'd just mate and then he'd go back to ignoring her. I have to admit that Ava is no longer depressed, but he keeps pushing Marilyn around like he's a king. Her flight feathers have been cut so she's not flying to well. Ava pushes her right off the cage and she keeps breaking off her tail feathers. They are finally growing back in though. I think Marilyn is a "simple" bird and maybe short a few marbles. I really felt bad this morning when I saw her snuggling with her cuttlebone. Has anyone ever heard of this type of behavior? This is the only weird thing she does (except when she falls on the floor she flaps her wings wildly and tumbles around the room for an unusually long period of time, maybe she's fallen 1 too many times, I don't know). She eats great and plays with her toys so I don't know if I'm making too much out of this. Does she sound OK to you?? do you think they will ever be pals and snuggle and preen each other?? Any input would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Donna
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 836.1 | Mine Too! | SWAM1::DEFRANCO_JE | Mon Dec 06 1993 16:37 | 23 | |
Oh Gosh, I'm still laughing. Marilyn sounds just like my cockatiel,
Ruby! I often tell people " she's not too bright, but she is soooo
sweet!" Ruby also flutters around the room and also breaks her tail
feathers. She also catches her wings in the cage bars and falls off
her perch more often than the other two tiels do. I guess some birds
just aren't with the program.
As far as your tiels not getting along, well, I'm in the same boat there
too. I bought Sunny to keep Rosie company. Rosie hates Sunny. Sunny
hates Ruby (her own chick no less!). Ruby hates Rosie. In short, they
all dislike each other equally. They do share the same large cage but I
suspect they would all like their OWN cages/spaces.
The 3 of them compete for my attention in the evening and seem to
prefer human company to bird company. I've also noticed that my male
tiel is much more assertive and pushy than my 2 females.
I'm not an expert by any means, but your guys sound like mine. I
suspect this is normal behavior.
Jeanne
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| 836.2 | too young? | SPARKL::COMPTON | Wed Dec 08 1993 10:05 | 10 | |
Hi,
Your hen is probably not sexually mature yet, and your male certainly
is.....Marilyn is not accepting his advances and he keeps pushing, so
it seems normal she would cuddle up with something less aggressive.
Some 'tiel hens are mature at Marilyn's age, some are not. Can you
provide separate accommodation for the next 3 - 4 months? I can loan
you a spare cage for Marilyn if you live in So. NH or Mass.
Linda
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| 836.3 | Poor Marilyn | ICS::LANE_B | Wed Dec 08 1993 13:35 | 6 | |
Actually, it must be pretty funny watching her roll around the
living room floor trying to get her balance. She sounds adorable,
but it's sad that she doesn't get attention from the male bird.
Regards,
Tweetie Bird
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