why arent my budgies breeding?

Question
hello Chris my name is Frank and i'm 14 years old i've been trying to breed budgies for two years now and i have 3 pair of budgies, 6 altogether. I've had no luck so far and i want to know what i'm doing wrong. I have a single pair in a cage together and i've kept them in there for about 2 months so far and there's no sign of them breeding. There is nothing in their nest box like sawdust or anything. I feed them seed, millet, greens, treats, shellgrit in another bowl separately and they have a cuttlebone and i give them water everyday. For the first month when she was in her cage with her mate she regularly went into the nestbox (the nest box is inside their cage). She used be in there for like half the day and she would spend hours in the nest box but for the last couple of weeks she just doesn't seem to care she doesn't even go near the nest box she just totally ignores it but sometimes she hops in there but very rarely for only like bout 7 seconds and then hops back out. I've looked in the nest box and it's full of her feathers. They are a bonded pair but he doesn't feed her. Her cere is gone that real crusty and dark brown color for a broody and ready to breed type female. I've been on nearly every breeding site about budgies and have used all their tips and information but they still don't seem to breed. They are kept downstairs in a special built platform which their cage is situated on and they get sun in the morning and in the afternoon but they also have shade. I think that she is ready but the male isn't because even when i put the pair in together in the cage he didn't even are about the nestbox he wouldn't even stand on the little perch on the nest box. I spend alot of money buying their things and stuff specially for them to breed and stuff but none of it is working. I hope u can supply me with the correct information. Thank you very much and i hope to hear from u very soon. Kindest Regards, Frank

Answer
Hi, Frank.  Thanks for posting!

1.  Your budgies DO NOT need grit.  Grit is only necessary for birds that do not hull their seed, such as pigeons/doves.  Grit for budgies (and other parrots) can become impacted in their crops, which requires surgery to correct.  Please remove the shellgrit from your birds.  They do need cuttlebone however.

2.  Are your breeding pairs of budgies pair-bonded with one another?  Pair-bonding is when the male feeds the female beak-to-beak.  If they are not pair-bonded, they will likely not mate/produce offspring.  Tell me how you know your birds are pair-bonded if the male does not feed his female.

3.  Are you sure of the sexes of your birds?

4.  A crusty, dark brown cere means the female is in breeding condition.  This doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to breed.  

5.  Budgies often go in their nesting boxes just because many parrots like to hide and/or they feel more secure in a covered area.  Just because the female is going in/out of the nesting box, doesn't necessarily mean she's getting ready to breed or lay eggs.

6.  Tell me what you mean when you state "...but the male isn't because even when I put the pair in together in the cage..."  Aren't these pair-bonded birds together in the same cage all the time (1 pair-bonded set of birds per cage)?

7.  Normally, the male in a bonded pair prepares the nesting box before he will let his female into the box to lay eggs.  If the male is not going in the nesting box, I have to question whether these pairs are truly bonded pairs.  If you are not keeping your pairs together in a cage (1 pair per cage), with a nesting box set up, I'm not surprised you haven't had any offspring yet.  

Keeping parrots isn't cheap (your budgies are parrots)!  It will get more expensive when you have babies to feed.

Come back with answers to some of my questions and any other details you can think of so I can help further.

Chrys