tiel behavior

Question
Hi Chrys,
I have a few questions for you. First, right now, I have 3 cockatiels. the first one I got was about a year and 3 months ago. it think she was 7 or 8 weeks when i got her. Her behavior was fine at first, now she's stubborn and bites hard. i think the problem is that since I got her. I never clipped her wings. fortunately she hasn't had accidents. we make sure that the room where she is is safe when she's out. but I've read that unclipped birds can have behavior poblems. so, I was thinking of clipping her wings to calm her down but I don't know what to expect. she's never been clipped after we got her. Is it a good idea to do it now? what do you think about this?
another thing about this bird, she was a playful baby! she loved her toys and learned to play on top of her cage. she would be entertained for a long time. somehow along the way she decided she only like shoulders or to play next to us. what happened? do they loose interest or what? she's still young right?

My second question, I just got the other 2 cokatiels about half a year ago. they've been moved around a bit. my aunt got them from the breeder, then she gave them to me after having them a few months. i think they are only half a year apart, maybe less. I have them in separate cages. the older one is in it's own cage and the other 2(they're from the same clutch) are together. when I got them, I waited over a month to let them play together. so now they been outside together everyday for a few months. they have all visited both cages. they are comfortable eating from the food and water trays in both cages. I've put them together inside the cages for a bit a few times. they seem to be getting along. I'd like to know if you've done anything like this before and is this about the right way to do it. do you think maybe they can stay a whole day in the other one's cage? what is your oppinion about leaving them there overnight?

Any info you can offer on any of this would really be appreciated. thank you!

Karla

Answer
Hi, Karla.  Thanks for posting your questions.

I think that part of the first tiel's problem is that she was a single pet bird at first, then you added the other tiels.  Birds prefer other birds to humans, so this is part of the problem.  She might prefer the company of the other tiels to your company, so she's acting up.  Yes, clipping the wings helps to keep birds tame, so I think you should do this to all your tiels.  Be sure to clip BOTH wings...not just one side.  Since she/they've not been clipped before and won't be used to not being able to fly, they will try to fly, but will hit the ground or other pretty hard at first until they learn how to deal with clipped wings.  Be sure there is some padding on the floor in the room and/or other things aren't around where they can get hurt on when they fall.  After clipping, I would recommend you place them on the ground or other surface close to the ground for practice runs until they are more familiar with their new wings.  This way, they won't have so far to fall and are less apt to injure themselves.  Clipping wings results in a bird being more dependent on you for their needs/desires.  With nonclipped wings, a bird can fly away from whatever it is you want them or don't want them to do.  With clipped wings, they are at your mercy!  

Oh, yes, your tiel is still young, but perhaps when you added the other birds, she felt threatened and decided that in order to get/keep your attention/love, she would have to be closer to you (jealousy).  Yes, birds do lose interest in the same old toys, so it's good to take the old out, add new for a while, then replace those with the old, etc.  She's getting older and her interests are changing.  She also must feel safe and secure on your shoulder.  She loves you and wants your attention!

Depends on what you intend to do with these 3 birds.  Do you intend to breed them?  When you're dealing with an odd number of birds, sex comes into play.  You either have 2 females or 2 males.  Someone will be left out when pairing comes into play.  You do not want the 2 clutchmates to pair up (no in-breeding).  If you want to have 3 tiels as pets only (no breeding), I'd put them all together in a spacy cage and see what happens (they will eventually pair up).  I have 30 tiels all together in a big flight cage...no problems.  Some are with their mates, some are single.  Birds housed together will have arguments, fights, etc., it's part of the hiarchy that will develop among these birds.  If you want to breed them, you'll need to separate the clutchmates (unless they are the same sex) and let your first tiel pair up with one of those or you might need to get another tiel for the 3d one (if you will breed them).  You can also have 1 pair of tiels together in a cage (that you might intend to breed) and the other in a separate cage by itself, and let them all out to play together, but they sleep in separate cages.  Depends on what your intentions for these 3 birds are.  Just remember that in order for them to remain tame (other bird's are around), you need to play/interact with all of them daily.

If you have other questions, please let me know.

Chrys