Busted my birds getting up to 'grown up fun'

[CheekyandMalolo]

The other day I heard my 14mth old Tiel(Mali) making her little 'hen squatting' noises. Nothing new, she's just started doing it a 2 or so months back, but my old Tiel used to do it at least weekly so it's nothing new to me, except when she didn't stop. So I stuck my head around the corner to have a look, and find the Princess Parrot(Prince) trying to climb on her back.
Now that IS new, Prince never paid any attention to Birdie when she hen squatted, but apparently Mali's more attractive.
I was a little shocked, but one of the other birds jumped in and started biting their ankles, apparently she disrupted their moment and Prince got VERY annoyed at her Poor little man.
My question is, should I be worried? Mali was hen squatting tonight again, and Prince was hurrying down to the bottom perch to find her, till Mum growled at them and they stopped. But does it really matter? There is nothing in their cage to nest in, nothing to encourage it. Can we just tell people that they're fighting? And would there be any chance of a Princess Parrot and a Cockatiel successfully breeding? That could make some dog-ugly babies!
*imagines little blue, long tails Tiels hehehe*

[Azure Hanyo]

A princess parrot and a cockatiel cannot breed to my knowledge, they are too far different genetically. Now if you had a randy cockatoo and a cockatiel, you might end up with something there...

Anyway, do the parrots have a good bond with you, or just each other? If they are bonded with you and you want to keep it that way, I highly suggest getting them different cages. Otherwise their um...recreational activites are entirely benign.

[Kim S]

You might get a problem with Mali. If she would just be 'having fun' on her own I wouldnt be worried. But now she is actually getting male attention, even though it is a different species.
Her body will think the eggs are furtilized and will have to be layed and hatched. The good news is that you dont have any nestingopportunity. That might slow things down a bit and even put a halt to the whole process.
But there is a big chance she will have go 'get rid of' a couple of eggs. If she doenst have a nest to put them in she will lay them on the floor. If her nestinginstict is very great she will actually start brooding on the botttom of the cage, but that is a very rare thing.

Things you can do to prevent her laying the eggs and start brooding:
- split the couple apart! They will start calling eachother. Loudly.
- feed very little fresh greens, this will trigger the 'springfeeling' and thus the body's matingseason.
- dont feed eggfood, eggs, high protein, high energy food unless she actually starts laying eggs. If she does she will need the extra input.
- dont feed sprouted seeds, same reason as the fresh greens.
- dont feed other wet foods, like drenched bread, for the same reason.
- dont take away the eggs she lays, this will only trigger her to lay more. Normally she will abandon the eggs since they are not in a nestbox.

Things you can do to help her.
- give her a good source of calcium. If she will start making eggs she will need it or she will deplete her own bones.

If she actually starts brooding, let her be. Just let her sit on the eggs for 3 weeks. If they dont hatch she will abandon the eggs in her own time. You can switch the eggs with fake ones so you wont have rotting eggs.

[Azure Hanyo]

Huh. That makes sense, Kim, I honestly didn't think of that. Glad a cockatiel breeder could clue us in!

[CheekyandMalolo]

Thanks Kim, that's really helpful! How long will it take till she lays any eggs if she does?

[Kim S]

Usually its two weeks after the first mating. But that can vary from a week to a month, so dont get worried if its a couple of days off.
And who knows when the first mating was