Birth Control for Parakeets!

[Ishida F]

We have a male and female parakeet in a small wire cage. However, my wife does not want them to mate at all... make eggs... whatever! Would that require separating them into different cages? Or, will the fact that there`s no nest material for them be enough to discourage them? What are your thoughts?

[bendpanic]

cage as you can manage. Secodnly you or your wife should`nt logically stop them from mating or even produycin eggs, if thats what happens it`ll happen. If you didnt want them to thinly breed, might I ask why you bought a pair isntead of two the same sex?

[RobT]

If there is no nest box in the cage, they are very unlikely to raise any chicks. If she lays on the floor, let her try to brood them, or she may lay egg after egg and exhaust herself.

[ttyp0]

In other words I have to ask, what that has to do with you? Also people seem to slowly bring responsiubility for an awful lot of stuff that is no business of theirs.

[Yamcha Hibiki]

Oldmolly isn`t from California or New York is she? It seems that an aweful lot of whackos come from those two countries.

[Koutetsu*]

And it`s a relevant question to ask. Why would someone acquire a mixed-sex pair of birds and then wonder about how to stop them from breeding? I have both male and female cockatiels, and I don`t want them breeding, so they are in separate cages. That doesn`t stop the girls from mating with each other, though, and I still get an occasional spate of eggs. The drive to reproduce is a strong one, and they will mate if they have access to each other, and the hen will lay eggs eventually if they mate. She may do so without mating. And, since many people use the word "breed" when they mean "mate", which is it that you`re trying to avoid? Breeding is easy to short-circuit. Boil the eggs, or replace them with fakes. Voila. Mating? If you have a male-female couple with access to each other, they will most likely mate. It`s natural. If your concern is to stop them from doing the nasty, then you really do have to separate them. (That`s why I separated my `tiels. I wasn`t bothered by the mating, so much, as by the *noise* of their matings, and the frequency. Three males and four hens, all healthy young birds... Good Heavens, it was the Mustang Ranch, all day, every day!)
Anyway, if you don`t want mating or breeding, the best thing to do is to get two males. That way, you don`t even get eggs. They do masturbate on toys, though; you`re never going to get them to become chaste!

[Koutetsu*]

Mommy, what are those birds doing?

[ttyp0]

I have a pair of finches that does the same. They are in an avairy in my classroom. THey seem to only do it when the children are gathered around.

[Avadrea]

They could be in a situation like I am.

I rescued a keet. Or more to the point.. one landed on me one day outside. "He" was hungry, scared, and near dead. I had never owned a keet before but I wasn't going to let the poor thing die so I took it home and read up on it. I learned they need a lot of social interaction and I am just not home enough so I bought a second keet to keep it company. I took them both to the vet to be sure they where healthy and the vet confirmed they where both male.

My mother talked me into getting a third keet in case one died because they where so social she didnt want them being stressed if one should pass on and the other was alone. So we went to the pet store and got a third with a bright blue cere (We had learned this was how to tell a male.)

Well now the third keet won't stop mounting the first. Seems my vet was wrong. No eggs yet but I did NOT get them to breed. I tried specifically to get all the same sex to avoid breeding with all best intentions for the birds. But mistakes happen.

I am very worried for my keets health but would hate to have to condemn one to being alone in a cage by itself. So I also am trying to find ways to discourage breeding and egg laying.

[Jenaka]

You really can't stop them from laying eggs. If you don't want babies, remove the eggs and give them fake eggs to sit on. They will be happier and healthier if allowed to go through the nesting cycle. The fake eggs will make sure there are no babies. You can buy fake parakeet eggs from bird supply stores or craft stores. Anything small and white should do.