the male is pecking at the female

[Liz]

Hi ~

Hubby and I received two parakeets about two weeks ago and have tamed them out of the cage to a perch or to our fingers or shoulders. I believe they are bout two or three years old. They came from a cage with about 40 other parakeets and have always been together - though probably not as mates. We often see they kissing and sometimes preening each other or cooing to each other. They are very sweet birds.

Question: Sonmetimes, when we are playing with them we've noticed that the male pecks at the female very quickly - he looks sort of angry. We are thinking thqt it's just the excitement of being out and playing with us and maybe a bit of jelously. We're not sure. They (Venus and Milo) share the same cage and other than this pecking now and then seem quite happy.

Any ideas?

Liz

[charmedagain]

Hi the male packing at the female usually indicates he is wanting to mate if this is the case you will also notice him bobbing his head also feeding the hen and displaying acrobatic moves all to get her attention.

To stop them mating you can either seperate them or rearange there toys in the cage regularly remove anything that can be used as a nest also reduce the amount of light they get a day moving the cage to a different part of the room or even into a different room a couple of times a week usually stops the female from allowing him to mate and he usually calms down.

Keep a very watchfull eye that he does not go as far as to plcuk her feathers out or hurt her in anyway.

You may also notice if he is wanting to mate is him kicking her side he will do this until she stands and lowers her body this is a sign she is ready to mate.

Mike

[Liz]

Hi Mike ~

Thanks for responding. We'll keep an eye out for mating signs. I think you may be right - I've seen him to some pretty silly tricks in the cage and turning his head in all different directions when near her.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

Liz

[Nameless]

IF you get any chicks be sure to post them!