Tiels mating!

[my budgie billy]

Ok my male tiel Charlie was doing the mating call to my female Sally!:eek:
I do want them to breed but i just cant afford a brooder and all the things you need:(
My mum wont let me seperate them either!:(:mad:
What do i do!

[A-n-M]

Have you ever thought of making them a brooder yourself?

[my budgie billy]

How!
I need to know!
Please tell me:(

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Well if you can't afford a brooder you probably wont be able to afford the vet care that may result from breeding.
You're in a really tough situation, maybe you could try and tell her what your options are and she might let you separate?

[my budgie billy]

I understand why she wont let me....because we dont have another cage big enough!:(
I want to breed them but only when i have enough money saved up for a brooder(if i dont make my own) and all the vets bills and things:(

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Here's something Buuzbee posted on how to make your own brooder:

as for a brooder, you can take a good sized rubbermade type tub, drill holes in the top and put shaving/carefresh on the bottom, put papertowels on that. then put a heatingpad on the SIDE of the box. go to anypet store and get a temp/humidity gauge (any breeding book will give you the exact brooding temps etc)

[my budgie billy]

Wow its still going to be expensive:(
I have no money at all!
It was soo unexpected:(

[A-n-M]

I hope this helps!
It has everything you need to know.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww64e.htm

[pal0m1n0]

What does your mother expect you to do with any chicks? You could just leave them be and hard boil any eggs as they are layed. If you have no other options. But make absolutely sure that your hen has a source of calcium and is well fed. In that case the only thing you need to worry about is egg binding. If she is in the right age range and she has sufficient calcium chances of egg binding are low. Also, try to change conditions so they don't think it is time to breed. Maybe a cockatiel owner can help with this.

[my budgie billy]

Yes maybe,my mum wont let get rid of the eggs:S

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Explain to her what the options are:
1. Separate them, and buy them a bigger cage
2. Breed, and have to pay the money
3. Just leave them be together and remove the eggs
(There may be more, just these are the ones being discussed.:p)
I'm sure she'll let you get rid of the eggs, unless she wants any of the other options?

[pal0m1n0]

Well, if your mom won't let you separate the pair, and you are not allowed to boil the eggs so they don't hatch, it sounds like you are stuck.

Is she hoping that the eggs are infertile?

What does she plan that you should do with the eggs?

Is she planning to provide a nest box?

If that is her plan, it sounds like you have no choice but to hope for the best. :(

Does she have experience with birds?

Did she explain why she doesn't want you to remove the eggs?

[my budgie billy]

These were her answers:

Is she hoping that the eggs are infertile? No.

What does she plan that you should do with the eggs? Not sure yet.

Is she planning to provide a nest box? Yes.

If that is her plan, it sounds like you have no choice but to hope for the best. :(

Does she have experience with birds? Not cockatiels but budgies when she was little.

Did she explain why she doesn't want you to remove the eggs? She thinks its cruel.

Should i put a nest box in now guys?

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Explain to her you need supplies before you decide to put a nest box in and breed.
If anything happens it could cost a lot in vet bills.
If you can't afford a brooder, or to make one, than i wouldn't breed.

It's not cruel to remove the eggs. The chick wouldn't be developed yet, you would just be preventing the chick to develop.

If you don't have another cage big enough, how are you going to house the chicks?

[my budgie billy]

Well i do but its not big enough for an adult tiel.

[JuliesGonnaDance]

You would need a cage big enough for up to 7. Also, do you have homes for them to go to once they grow up?

[Amy]

If I lived nearer, I'd have one. :)

[my budgie billy]

No i dont have homes:eek:
Up to 7babies!:(
The cage could probably hold 1-2:(

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Normal clutches for tiels are 5-7 eggs.
I hope you'll be able to come to a solution.

[pal0m1n0]

Does she realize that if you boil the eggs you do give them back when they have cooled down?

Someone else will have to advise you about the nest box. I would be inclined not to, though.

[JuliesGonnaDance]

Another alternative to boiling is shaking. Just a god hard shake will disable a chick from developing, then you would keep them in the cage.

[A-n-M]

You could also poke a hole into the egg.

[my budgie billy]

I couldnt do it,i know its not living at that point but i just couldnt!:(
And my mum says im not allowed:(

[JuliesGonnaDance]

If you decided to breed you would need a new cage anyway, so why don't you just buy a new cage and separate them. I'm sure if you looked around you could find some good deals. :)

[pal0m1n0]

I learned the hard way that shaking is not reliable. I shook the eggs everyday as well.

It sounds like at this point it is your mother's responsibility to look after them since she is making all the decisions.

[my budgie billy]

Yeh i will have to buy a new cage for the babies because my mum would NEVER let me seperate sally and charlie:(
If anything goes wrong i will blame my mum!

[zarrion101]

Well if you are having your mums support then, I think it's only fair she pays a cost for the cage, sorry Joe's mum but it seems like a decision she's made but also you feel you want to take but have a high risk to take. :o

[my budgie billy]

I would pay for as much money as i have but she should pay the rest i think.
:mad::mad::mad:she made me put a nest box in!Even if they wouldnt have mated they probably will now:(

[zarrion101]

Yeah the chances are higher now of them breeding, it's indoors as well so weather and temperature should be no problems.

[Kalahari]

maybe you could shake the eggs. It's not 100% reliable like pal0m1n0 said, but it's better than nothing. Then your mom wouldn't know either...

I know that for crocs, if you turn the egg upside down it won't hatch. Maybe the same is true for birds. so you'd shake it then turn it upside down.

[pal0m1n0]

Upside down wouldn't work for birds, one of the things that the mother needs to do is turn the eggs around so the chicks develop properly. I can see that working for crocs since the eggs are buried. I could be wrong though.

[my budgie billy]

Thanks Guys,when tiels breed does the nest box have to be high up in the cage or on the floor?

[my budgie billy]

Well its on the floor and Sally and Charlie are both checking it out,Sally nearly went in!

[Glitter]

well what is a brooder?

[my budgie billy]

It is a piece of equipment that you use to keep the eggs/babies warm if the mother abandons them or if you want to handfeed them.

[pal0m1n0]

I don't think it matters if the nest box is on the floor of the cage or not. Personally, I found it better to have it on the bottom.

[my budgie billy]

For them too breed or not too?

[pal0m1n0]

If you give them a nest box, they will breed, from the sounds of it. My budgies bred with the nest box on the floor of the cage. Having it hanging from the cage just wasn't convenient for me. My birds didn't care one way or the other.

[my budgie billy]

Charlie has spent the day chewing the nest box and only occasionaly stopping for food/water and a 5min rest:p
Does this mean anything?

[pal0m1n0]

She is making the nest box her own. So yeah, I think you are on the road to eggs.

[my budgie billy]

No charlie is the male:S

[my budgie billy]

OHHH!
I remember now,Sally started doing it but then Charlie pushed her away and would let her back at it:p
Does that mean she is gravid or wants to be or is going to be?

[Marsheliah]

I don't know about teils too much. But, hey, you wanted to breed them and now you have your Mum's support in the cost area. That's a good thing, right?

[my budgie billy]

Sorta but my mum is just puting the nest box in and hoping for the best!
If we are going to breed we need to be pre-pared for the best(we get babies with no problems) or the worst(we get babies and sally gets ill or sally gets egg bound or something like that)

[zarrion101]

My Nero has been doing the mating call recently as well. :o

[my budgie billy]

Hes sexualy frustrated:p

[zarrion101]

Yeah he probably is. :D

[my budgie billy]

Hehe,Charlie has been chewing the entrance and Sally has just been getting a nibble in where ever she can:p

[Marsheliah]

Good luck!

[my budgie billy]

Thanks:(
Im worried now:(
Sally hasnt sat in the water bowl in a few months and now shes doing it again:(
She might be egg-bound:(