Possible Cockatiel Mating? Birds are acting strange...

[Serin]

Yea, 9 months is not mature for a female Tiel, 2 years for a female. Good call waiting, egg binding is a serious concern in young birds.

Correct

This is one of my pairs from 2016. They were both twelve months old when the photo was taken, fully molted into adult plumage and at complete physical growth. The babies were about ten days old, and they went on to have additional clutches, two or three a year. They lived in an aviary setting and were allowed to behave as naturally as possible. While an argument can be made they are not mentally mature at this age, my experience has been they know when they are ready. Good mothers (and fathers) are primarily if not completely instinctive - they don't learn it from their own parents. If a young parent does a bad job, it will likely continue to be a bad parent even at an older age.

 

[Jessijay]

This is one of my pairs from 2016. They were both twelve months old when the photo was taken, fully molted into adult plumage and at complete physical growth. The babies were about ten days old, and they went on to have additional clutches, two or three a year. They lived in an aviary setting and were allowed to behave as naturally as possible. While an argument can be made they are not mentally mature at this age, my experience has been they know when they are ready. Good mothers (and fathers) are primarily if not completely instinctive - they don't learn it from their own parents. If a young parent does a bad job, it will likely continue to be a bad parent even at an older age.

Because they can doesn't mean the should. They are at a much higher risk at that age. You do you but the recommended age is 2 years.

 

[CloneFly]

This is one of my pairs from 2016. They were both twelve months old when the photo was taken, fully molted into adult plumage and at complete physical growth. The babies were about ten days old, and they went on to have additional clutches, two or three a year. They lived in an aviary setting and were allowed to behave as naturally as possible. While an argument can be made they are not mentally mature at this age, my experience has been they know when they are ready. Good mothers (and fathers) are primarily if not completely instinctive - they don't learn it from their own parents. If a young parent does a bad job, it will likely continue to be a bad parent even at an older age.

Thank you for the advice, your birds are beautiful! Mine are caged as we do have cats around the house and have never properly flown due to clipped wings. (Their wings remained clipped due to horror stories of lost birds.) They get plenty of exercise though in their jungle gym and are taken out daily to stretch wings
I am not ready for them to have babies yet, and my fear is that harm could come to  my baby girl if they start too early... they are on a pelleted diet and have access to cuttle bones. My main concern was the behavior change which took place before I seperated them...

 

[CloneFly]

I understand that once they hit maturity, the instinct to mate will always be present. But will my male calm down eventually? He visits her daily, but I would like them to be able to stay together in the same cage. Will I have to wait an entire year or should a few months suffice for him to cool off?

 

[CloneFly]

Has the shift in Behavior been since they have been separated? Generally cockatiels go through what I like to call the teenage phase and they tend to come out of it when they get a little bit older usually between a year-and-a-half and two years they start to come out of it and come more into what their adult personality will be like . If they are that bonded and affectionate with each other separating them is probably going to cause distress. If you're worried that they're breeding too early, control the amount of light they're getting make sure there are no potential Nest spots and avoid soft foods for the time being. Trick their bodies into thinking it is winter all the time. If you can control their hormones until you're ready to choose to breed them or allow them to breed it's a lot less stressful to them then trying to separate them. Cockatiels get very attached to each other and it can be very distressing to them when they can't get to or be close to who they're bonded to. Make sure they're getting at least 12 hours complete darkness (except maybe with a little night light if you prefer to give them a night light) and just work on management. If you do notice that She lays an egg which she probably won't this young just leave it where it is until she's done fussing over it or she'll feel like she needs to replace it and will lay more. Cockatiels like most parrots are fairly easy to keep out of breeding condition (usually, thetr are exceptions) just by controlling certain environmental aspects like how much light and dark they get each day. If you have more of a flock setting it can be better anyway to keep them out of breeding condition because they can get Territorial and will sometimes fight when they are hormonal. I have seven and they all get along great unless their hormones kick in and then there are a couple that will try to kill one of my other birds who actually is special needs and can't fly. I would recommend not separating them and just making sure they're getting enough sleep hands have nothing that could be seen as a nesting spot. If you're worried that she will potentially lay an egg just make sure she's getting enough calcium because at the end of the day even with proper management they will sometimes pop out a couple eggs. Good luck, they are beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[Serin]

I understand that once they hit maturity, the instinct to mate will always be present. But will my male calm down eventually? He visits her daily, but I would like them to be able to stay together in the same cage. Will I have to wait an entire year or should a few months suffice for him to cool off?

He will not cool off - he is showing normal behavior that will be worsened if he is kept singly for any length of time.

 

[CloneFly]

Thank you all for your tips and advice! Final question, on the off chance that they did mate will she lay/how long after mating do cockatiels lay their eggs?