Is my cockatiel injuring my budgies?

[starling]

I'm still trying to figure out what is going on with my birds and have another possible scenario:

I have had 4 budgies and 1 cockatiel all in a cage together for the last 3 years. Cookie (male) and Ruby (female) paired up, and Pebbles (male) and Maya (female) paired up. My cockatiel is called Misty and is male (I assume!).

I had Ruby put to sleep because she had a sore foot and wing and couldn't get around very well. Pebbles now has a sore foot and can't use it properly. Tonight, I saw my cockatiel, Misty, throw Cookie from the bars of the cage. I didn't see exactly how he did it or what happened, but Cookie hurt his foot and was chewing it for about 5 minutes afterwards

Over the last few months, at least, Misty has developed an obsession with Maya. He follows her everywhere... sleeps right next to her, attempts to preen her and get preened by her etc. She doesn't let him touch her as she's paired with Pebbles. More recently I've noticed Misty jumping between Maya and Pebbles and being aggressive with Pebbles.

All of the info online is about budgies attacking cockatiels, but it's the opposite in my cage.

If this is the cause of my budgies injuries and if all of the rejection and lack of companionship is making Misty miserable, I'll have to seperate Misty and get him a companion (I've already tried seperating him, alone).

What do you think?

[Hezz]

Sounds like a plan, Starling. You have seen him causing ruckus in the birdie house. It may be the answer to your problems, although terribly sad that Misty has caused you so much pain. Has anything else in the house changed that may have upset Misty and started him acting up? I know cockatiels can be very needy if they are an only bird. As in must have lots of attention from the person they have bonded with, and the bonding for them seems to be terribly strong.

[starling]

My mother has been looking after them for 3 months (july-sept) and living here whilst I was away working down south. When I got back she told me she'd been leaving the light on in their room until about midnight, whereas I let them live by natural light/darkness. I'm wondering if this could have made Misty think it was time to breed and, therefore, made him (more) aggressive? This is all I can think of really.

He's a very irritable bird. When I got him (from a pet shop) I think he had been hand-trained, and I taught him to step-up and climb a ladder etc. But he became aware of the budgies and refused to be seperated from them. He was terrified of hands after that.

Last night I seperated Misty and put him in a different cage (thankfully I have a few!) touching the budgies cage. I'm not sure I'll be able to get him a mate as this isn't my house and there are issues with that. He'll not like this at all though. I'm keeping them all locked in today.

[Hezz]

I really hope this all works out for you as you really have been through the mill with your birds. Poor Misty, I do feel for the 'lil fella, but better separation than losing your budgies.

[Rachael Kellett]

I have heard that cockatiels can live in aviaries with budgies with no problems but in a cage with budgies, all in such close quarters, I really don't think that is a good idea. how much out of cage time do they get? How much time do you spend with them? Cockatiels are very social birds and it sounds to me that Misty is lonely so trying to make friends with Maya and resenting if the other budgies come near. I would definitely separate Misty, spend time with him and if you have the time and money to buy and care for another cockatiel then it would be worthwhile getting him a friend. Not neccessarily a female, I don't have a lot of knowledge about cockatiels so you might want to research if two males get on better than a male and female. Let us know how you get on

[starling]

Thanks for your support hezz, it's much appreciated! It is tearing me apart all of this, I'm a mess! It's so confusing to know what to do for the best.

Rachael, I never intended for Misty to live with the budgies, but once he met them he wouldn't be seperated. We noticed that he could defend himself with them, so didn't think it'd be a problem... and it hasn't been for the last 3 years. There has been the odd occassion when one of the girls has pulled out a clump of his feathers, but it's always been because he was harrassing them. More recently though, he developed the obsession and I think this could possibly be the cause of my budgies' injuries.

I open their cage door the moment I get up and they go back in themselves at night when it gets dark. I don't spend any time with them really. The budgies prefer each other's company and Misty prefers them too. For now, I'm just keeping Misty in a cage next to them, but letting them all out together during the day.

[budgiefriend]

Starling, I think your plan to have the cages next to each other and letting the birds out together is a good one. Misty isn't totally separated from the budgies. Let us know how it works out.

[Hezz]

Starling, can you remember if the injuries occured only while the birds were in their cage? While they have plenty of outside time together, am I right in thinking that this isn't the time when the injuries are happening? In that case, with Misty being separated in-cage, lets hope all works out for the best.

[Rachael Kellett]

Oct 21, 2011 17:56:48 GMT starling said:

Thanks for your support hezz, it's much appreciated! It is tearing me apart all of this, I'm a mess! It's so confusing to know what to do for the best.

Rachael, I never intended for Misty to live with the budgies, but once he met them he wouldn't be seperated. We noticed that he could defend himself with them, so didn't think it'd be a problem... and it hasn't been for the last 3 years. There has been the odd occassion when one of the girls has pulled out a clump of his feathers, but it's always been because he was harrassing them. More recently though, he developed the obsession and I think this could possibly be the cause of my budgies' injuries.

I open their cage door the moment I get up and they go back in themselves at night when it gets dark. I don't spend any time with them really. The budgies prefer each other's company and Misty prefers them too. For now, I'm just keeping Misty in a cage next to them, but letting them all out together during the day.

You are definitely doing the best thing Starling. When I said to separate them I did mean just for Misty to have his own cage but as long as he is supervised when out of the cage with the budgies then all should be good

[Joey]

I would give them their own cage

[barrieshutt]

Many years ago i housed a cockateil with my budgerigars, never again would i ever consider putting my budgies in a position where they can be maimed and are living in a constant stressful enviroment.

[BudgiesBuddy]

Very right Barrie.

[starling]

The same thing happened to you Barrie? Why does all of the available information on this say that it's the cockatiel that's at risk and not the budgies? I think it can go either way.

[barrieshutt]

Oct 23, 2011 12:45:38 GMT starling said:

The same thing happened to you Barrie? Why does all of the available information on this say that it's the cockatiel that's at risk and not the budgies? I think it can go either way.

iTS DEF THE BUDGIES AT RISK

[starling]

The seperation at night seems to be working well. Misty goes into his own cage at night without too much fuss (which is down to luck, as I gave him the original cage they were all in together). They all settle down at night near to each other.

However, I let them all out this morning and they went to the play tree as usual. About 10 minutes ago I heard Maya bickering in annoyance. I went in to find Misty on top of her, trying to mate. Obviously, she wasn't receptive at all (tail down and annoyed).

I can try to keep them seperated completely, but I know Misty would go crazy if the budgies were out and he wasnt. I'm not sure what to do as I have limited options where I live at the moment.