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Well...then....

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wellthen
703 views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Missy 
#1 ·
Got myself educated today.

Maleka (female cockatiel) laid an egg this morning and it broke. i got it outta there and spent the day comming up with a nesting box for her to deposit her eggs in. Arcamedis (our old male cockatiel...almost nine years) has been cheerfully whistling his same whistle that he's been whistling for the past nearly nine years. So anyhow i get her nesting box put in (cleaned extra good a wipes box minus the top, with a layer of wood shavings in it secured to the side of her cage. He spent hours in it, apparenlty my nesting box interior design needed help and he needed to play "lets pretend I am a woodpecker" on the side of the box. This week i gave her a larger cage to accomidate the playful games they have been playing this week. Follow the leader, etc.

Here's what i learned...

1. Maleka is definitely a female
2. Arc's whistles are a mating call (he's been doing this for YEARS!)
3. Male cockatiels will arrange the nesting box of their females
4. The woodpecker-ing is a "come hither, doll face" action
5. Their games aren't exactly ... well they aren't playing Candyland
6. So much for the child friendly books about pets, I should have read the more in-depth books and I woulda known this stuff a long time ago!!
7. Oh and apparently age isn't a concideration, he may be old but...well you can finish the sentence yerself.

:toothy: I thought DH would kill me when I told him, but we have figured we will just have to keep their out times when just one is out at a time.

Found out this though online, cockatiel fathers and mothers both attend to the babies. The male will sit on the eggs too during incubation, and if there is a particularly large clutch of eggs they have been known to divide up the eggs and she will sit on half and he will sit on the other half. Also if she is nesting and he makes lovey eyes at another female she might have fits.

I will have to get info from the vet if she does lay eggs and call around for help. Monday I plan on getting more info from avian vets in town. if it turns out there are babies, I will keep FV updated. :)

Never a dull moment! :curtain:
 
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#2 ·
Well...I did not know all of that lol

It's neat though. I hope you get babies. And of course we wanna see pictures.

A question.....how long till eggs hatch,after being layed?
 
#3 ·
18-21 days after they were nested. That means they can lay one egg every 48 hours, they gather them in one spot,, but won't begin incubating or "nesting" them until they are all laid so that they will hatch at approximatle the same time. An egg laid and unincubated is still viable up to 7 days after being laid. Interesing, huh?? I am learning all kinds of stuff. I feel a little more comfortable knowing that in any event i live very close to our vet.
 
#5 ·
from all i have red so far between 2 and 8 is normal. :eek: I can't imagine having eight babies at once!
 
#7 ·
Wow!! 8!! Aren't cockatiels small birds?

Steve has always wanted a bird,I forgot what kind but we seen some at petsmart for around $200 :eek:
 
#8 ·
How exciting. You sure know how to keep things lively at your house Missy.
 
#9 ·
Aawww how sweet. I had to laugh about the age remark (well laughed over several of your little remarks there Missy :laugh: ) and what came to mind is that he may be old but he's still got a lot of "pecking" to do. ;)

I like that the female won't tolerate him "catting" around while the eggs need his attention....that's too cool!
 
#10 ·
I swear my house is alot like "Wild America" held in four walls. All i wanted to do was to get him a friend. Boy did I ever!

ROFL Lisa!

He has a snit when she tries to go sit with DH, her favorite person. I am ok as long as he's at work as far as Maleka cares. If he is on the property at all, she refuses to sit with me. Arc on the other hand will follow her around making sure she doesn't get too chummy with anyone. I don't know what to do with them if they do have babies. WE thought feeding time for Aiden was a roudy loud time...imagine feeding time with 2-8 hungry mouths!
 
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