[Lori_S]

Hey all, my issue may not be in the right spot but I’m grateful for all advice/help.

My cockatiel pair only want to mate and look for spots to nest. I am not allowing them to breed anymore as they have just had a nest and raised a chick. Before this nest they had similar behaviour. They only want to nest/breed. My female constantly laid eggs. I was told by an avian vet to take the eggs away as soon as possible and that should discourage her from laying more eggs. But it didn’t discourage her.

They have lots of toys, my attention and healthy diet options. They sleep about 14 hours each night (so as to reduce sunlight hours). I am at my wits end because in their search for any nesting spots they cry/nag almost the whole day. What else can I do????

Thank you in advance for all your help

 

[tielfan]

The "long nights" treatment works for most cockatiels but not all. When you use this technique, it's important to consider how dark it is inside the cage. It has to be dark enough to seem like night, so putting a light cover over a cage in a brightly lit room won't work. It might actually make things worse, because dim light is similar to the lighting inside a nest.

Either the cage needs to be in a room that's naturally dark (like a windowless room with the door closed), or you need a cover that's thick enough to block out the light. You can test the effectiveness of the cover by draping it over your head and looking toward a bright light to see how much light gets through. There might be a lot more light coming through than you'd expect. It doesn't have to be completely pitch black inside the cage, but it does have to be dark enough to seem like night.

If it's already very dark inside your birds' cage then this technique just doesn't work for them. You might have to go for medical control with Lupron shots or a Suprelorin implant (also called Deslorelin).