Group dynamics have changed = trouble!

[starling]

All of my budgies got on really well, until recently when I lost one of my females. Here's the situation:

Previously I had two couples:
Pebbles (male) and Maya (female)
Cookie (male) and Ruby (female)

The boys got on really well together as I had them first and so they bonded.

Ruby died a few months ago, leaving Cookie alone. He was doing ok, chattering to Pebbles again like the old days. However, the last couple of days he's decided he wants Maya! Him and Pebbles have started to "beak" fight, flinging each other off the playgym and fighting in mid-air.

Two days ago Pebbles had a bloody beak and I automatically blamed my cockatiel, who attacks the boys a lot (he also loves Maya - poor Maya is being harrassed!). But now I can't rule out that it may have been Cookie (I still think it's my cockatiel though!).

So, I'm not sure what to do. I have two big cages. Tonight I will keep Pebbles and Maya together and put Cookie in with my cockatiel. But they're fighting through the day when they're out together. Not constantly (they were kissing a moment ago) but it's horrible to see them fight when they are such good friends

[Deleted]

get a new hen ...problem solved...

[lupin]

Must admit I would go with Mick's suggestion and get another little girl to join the group.

[Ryan.W]

cockatiels shouldn't be kept near budgies and i certainly wouldn't put them in the same cage not even over night. I also agree with the others, get another hen.

[starling]

Another hen is not an option. I don't own my house so I don't have a say in how many pets I keep. I'm also not looking to keep a group of budgies forever, so I can't constantly renew.

I've been keeping them in two seperate cages at night. Pebbles and Maya in one (the couple), and Cookie and my cockatiel in the other. In the morning when I let them all out together I've been monitoring them, and every morning the boys fight. So I've been getting Pebs and Maya back into one cage and keeping them locked in for the day.

I've noticed Maya is in breeding condition (completely brown cere). Could this cause them to fight? I have no idea how often she comes into condition. Could I find a way of monitoring this and seperating them when it happens? How long does it last?