confused!!!

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okie-dokie-- I guess I have a little work to do 2-day. I will try your advice.. 1 more thing..How do I stop Mini from biting me when I clip her wings?

rose

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Chrys.. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out...
There is no way I could morally play God..The box is in with Cooper and Mini..But how can I keep Cooper from Twisted without coupling them up? Would that also be mean.. since they are used to being free? Also I have been trying to put Mini in the box.. she shows no interest..And she is a BITER! OUCH!

Rose

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What happened was Cooper was by himself for 5 years.
My good friend had Twisted for about 8 months.. She was laying eggs.. Ok we got the 2-together thinking they would bond.. didn't happen.. they fought..
then in another couple of months I got Mini..Cooper and Mini bonded right away..
Yes I do have a nesting box and I also have 2 cages set up! Now don't get me wrong I have been researching and have bought the things I need to accommodate the necessities...
My tiels are very spoiled! They are free to roam and choose which cage to sleep.. But still are separated at night for sleep..I'm wanting to tackle maybe 3 chicks but that is about it..

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I started off with 1 male tiel. Was given a (aprox..!year old) female. Cooper (my male) and Mini (female) bonded. 6 months later I took in another female (Twisted) had to keep seperated because she is overly aggresive (no big deal).. I had all 3 tiels for about 1 year. Cooper is my original tiel which I haved had for 8 years.. Now all of a sudden not only are Mini and Cooper are mating but Cooper is also mating with Twisted! Am I in over my head? I didnt think that once I had the pair that Cooper would mate with another female.. Does this mean I am in for twice the eggs? Twisted has been the egg layer.. Mini (I believe) is just now of age.. Mostly I would like some advise in not how to have more than I am equiped to handle..I have ZIP in experience! Thank you
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Hi, Rose.  Thanks for posting!

Usually, birds mate for life.  However, I've had 2 pairs of tiels who switched mates after being with the first mate for many years.  Don't know why this occurred.  

Is Cooper feeding either of these females beak-to-beak?  This is a sign of pair-bonding.  Parrots have to pair-bond before they will mate and lay eggs.  Are all these birds in the same cage?  Do you have any nesting boxes up?  

Whenever you have female(s)/male(s) birds together, there's a chance mating will occur (a really good chance)!  

You might be in for twice the eggs, but I don't have enough information on the situation in order to predict this.  

Has Twisted laid eggs since you've had her?  This would mean she is either laying due to hormonal reasons (infertile eggs) or she mated with Cooper previously.  

Female tiels are able to lay eggs when they are 6-8 months old, but you shouldn't allow this to occur until they are 18-24 months of age.  They aren't physically mature until the latter age.

To be honest, if you have zip experience, you shouldn't be taking in birds until you have more knowledge, especially birds of different sexes where mating and egg laying can result.  If you don't want them to lay eggs, you need to keep them separated so they can't bond, mate, and lay.  Again, if you put a male/female together in the same cage, they will likely bond, mate, and eventually lay eggs.  Sometimes, bonded tiels won't lay eggs unless there is a nesting box present, but this isn't always the case...some will lay in the cage bottom.  

Since I don't know your knowledge base, I don't know what's more than you can handle.  Are you interested in breeding/raising baby tiels or simply having some pet tiels as companions?  How you proceed from here will depend on the answer to this question.

Chrys
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Hi again, Rose.

If 3 chicks is about all you can handle, then don't let your birds breed at all.  There is no way you can guarantee that only 3 chicks will hatch from a clutch of eggs or 2 clutches of eggs.  The only way you can do this would be to destroy eggs/developing embryos if more than 3 eggs are laid.  Then, you can't be sure the 3 eggs you select would be viable and hatch.  Doing this would be highly unacceptable in aviculture...you would essentially be deciding which eggs/babies would live and which would not.  

There are also no guarantees when you buy/select birds that they will/will not get along.  This is a chance we take when we acquire birds.  

When you have 3 birds like you have...2 females and 1 male...living together with a nesting box set up, you're just asking for trouble.  The females may fight over the nesting box, eggs, and/or babies.  The extra female might even actually get in the nesting box and destroy the other females eggs and/or babies.  I recommend when/if you want to breed your pair, you set them up by themselves in a cage with a nesting box and let nature take it's course.  The other female would need to be kept separated from the pair.  

Chrys
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Hi again, Rose.

You can't unless you put them in separate rooms.  If you want to breed your pair, lock them up in a very spacious cage with the nesting box.  If you want to breed them, they need to stay inside their cage and tend to their parenting business.  What happens often times when you don't lock up a breeding pair of birds is they enjoy being outside their cage so much that they neglect their duties as parent birds.  However, this depends on the individual pair of birds.  But I'd recommend you confine them to a breeding cage.  You might even want to put them in a different location in your home.  Then you can let Twisted roam free.  However, the other birds may get upset if they see Twisted out on his own.  Another reason to put the breeding pair in a separate room or put Twisted in a separate room.  You can't have your cake and eat it, too!

In my opinion it isn't mean, but I don't agree that allowing pet birds to have free roam is safe, good for them.  There's too many dangers in our homes for our parrots.  I rather keep my parrots in huge cages/flights/aviaries where they can get the exercise they need, stay safe, etc.  Of course, I let some of my birds come out of their cages occasionally to play, etc.  It's also not sanitary/healthy for humans to allow their birds free roam.  In fact, in a lot of cities, it's illegal.  

DO NOT force Mini in the nesting box.  This will result in her being afraid of it and she may never go in.  Let her go in the box in her own time.  Usually, the male goes in and readies the nesting box several days/a week before the female goes in to lay eggs.  Therefore, don't force the issue until they are ready (obviously, she isn't ready).

Chrys  

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I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news!  You can't stop a bird from biting you when you clip their wings.  Most birds don't like their humans messing with their wings.  Some tame birds don't mind because they trust their humans.  A bird's wings are probably the most important part of their bodies to them...it would be similar to our legs (our way of getting around).

Chrys