Breeding Budgies

Question
Dear Leah,

Please can you offer me some advice regarding breeding budgerigars.  I have two cockateils that I was hoping would breed,  but as I have not had any luck with them yet I have purchased 2 budgies about 3 weeks ago.  They are all in the same,  large cage. The budgies are def. male and female,  and appear to be a pair as they are always together,  grooming each other, playing together etc.  I have a nest box and the budgies do put their heads in it,  stand on top of it and peck at it quite a lot.  However they don't go actually into it of their own accord.  I have not seen them regurgitating.  The male is approx. 18 mts old,  the female approx 7 months old.  Do you think they will breed? Or is the female too young?I also give them the right diet,  including egg related items.  Also,  are they seasonal breeders,  or do they breed at any time? I would be very grateful for any advice.  Thank you.

Answer
First of all, you have a few problems.  You shouldn't have cockatiels and budgies in the same cage if you're trying to get them to breed.  Budgies prefer to stick with their own species, and having larger birds around might make them nervous, and the female may attack them while trying to protect the nest, and might get hurt herself in the process.  Also, your female is too young to breed.  You shouldn't breed females that are under a year old.  While they are physically capable of having eggs, younger budgies are more likely to suffer from eggbinding or eat or abandon her eggs because she doesn't understand what to do with them.  It's kind of like having a teen mom; just because she can physically have a baby doesn't mean that she's mature enough to handle it, and she's more likely to have complications.

Your pair has bonded, and that's a great first step.  I would take out the nest box until the female is at least a year old.  During this time, you may also want to try to find another cage so that you can separate the cockatiels and the budgies.  A well balanced diet is important, but you don't have to do anything too elaborate.  Vitamin enriched seed and a cuttlebone are good things to have, and you should also offer them fresh fruits and vegetables. Budgies in the wild are seasonal breeders, but in captivity they can breed almost any time.  They're more likely to breed in the spring or fall, which is when they breed in the wild, but if their needs are met they will breed whenever they want.