[Tightanium]

I was recently handed over 2 young cockatiels, which are a very tamed female who was hand-reared, and a very shy, skittish male. I estimate the male to be 1-2 years, and I know that the female is 7-8 months old. They are pretty bonded, they perch together mostly, very minimal pecking. I've noticed the female has been raising her bottom and lightly chirping. The male usually looks around for a while and then jumps on top of her and mates. So far I have witnessed them mating 3 times, however I'm sure they have done it more. I'm worried about her age, I know that females should be around 1.5 years old to matured enough and reduce risk of egg binding etc, however I don't have a way to stop this. I feed them the regular seeds with sunflower seeds and they don't get any additional calcium, so I am going to buy her a cuttlefish bone in a couple of hours. Should I get them a nesting box just in case? Are there any precautions I should be taking, etc? Thanks very much

 

[roxy culver]

https://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330 hormone control will put a stop to this.

 

[Ptolia]

The best way to stop them mating - is to separate them. Put them in 2 cages side by side so they can still have the company of each other but no chance of doing the deed.

Yes, there is a risk of a young hen egg binding etc, but when I questioned an experienced breeder on this topic when I first started breeding, he said this:

" In the wild, do you think they wait until they are 2 years old before they start breeding?"