Hi welcome .

You've come to a great place to learn all about budgies and how to best care for them. We ask that all new members please read the Stickies and Articles provided by the forum. There is a lot of useful basic information there, as well as answers to many common questions.

Why do you feel it's so important for your budgies to mate? It is not necessary for a male and female to mate or breed in order to be happy. In fact, there is a real risk of complications if you do allow them to breed. We recommend removing the nestbox at this time.

Please read the following links. This explains Talk Budgies' stance on pet owners breeding, and our reasons behind it.
https://www.talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/400692-guidance-breeding-advice-threads.html
https://www.talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/327881-heartfelt-plea-all-members.html
https://www.talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/86448-you-ready-breed-your-budgies.html
https://www.talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/90584-when-we-dont-want-eggs.html

Let us know if you have further questions after you've read this material .

 

Hi thank you for your reply. I know that it is not necessary for them to breed in order to be happy. The main question I have is in regards to my male budgie's behaviour - I just don't understand why he does this when he has had plenty of socialisation (with both male and female birds). I decided to eat them breed because I was worried about the female always trying to make nests outside of the cage and I was worried about her health since she has gotten stuck before trying to nest in places she can't get out of. So I put the nest box in for her. They are both old enough and healthy, they go to the vet regularly

 

The last link I posted above tells you what to do to throw your budgies out of breeding mode. Please read it and follow what it tells you to do. This method works!

Your budgies should be supervised at all times when socializing out of the cage. After trying the above steps, your budgies should adjust to it. Keep us updated as to how it goes .

 

Hi there,

Ezra is feeling hormonal and that is why he's rubbing himself on the perch. However, he's not looking to breed right now, and it doesn't look like your female is, either. The best thing to do is direct his attention elsewhere by providing lots of new and different toys and out of cage time to put his energy somewhere else. As for the female, having the nestbox in the cage will not help her.

You can't force budgies to breed, they do it when they're ready, and they obviously aren't right now.

As mentioned above, you need to take out the nestbox and read the links above to learn how to best throw her from the breeding mood :thumbup:

Best of luck!

 

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. I just want to start out by saying that I have removed the nest box.
I am confused because it does seem like they want to breed. Mew (my female) is in condition and whenever Ezra (my male) *********es, she comes up to him and tries to get under him. She even puts her foot on his back, which then makes him exhibit female behaviour (he squats and puts his bum in the air). Ezra constantly feeds Mew, grooms her, and sits close to her and dances around her. He hasn't ever mounted her though, even when she tries to get him to do it. I just want to know if this is normal and will I eventually be able to let them breed when they are ready?

*as a side note*
I read through all of the links, stickies, and guidelines. I took the box out and rearranged the cage, and shuffled new toys in. The birds get time out of the cage to fly twice a day for a few hours. The cage is 78 x 47 x 90cm cage. They have natural perches (eucalyptus branches, and other native woods and leaves to eat). Their diet is native leaves, fruits and veggies, and a pellet + seed mix. They have a shower every second day or so (and get misted). I just wanted to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong and please let me know if I can make changes 🙂

 

Thanks for the update . It may take just a little while for them to adjust and be thrown out of their behavior pattern. If you haven’t already, try drastically rearranging the cage. That could help. Maybe while they’re having out of cage time, it’s a good opportunity to take most everything out, give the cage a good cleaning, and put things back in a completely different way. Different perch positions, put the food and water in a new location (just not under a perch ), put toys in different places. Even positioning the cage a little differently in the room if possible, might just throw them out of the mood. Additionally, you can also try giving them no more than 8-10 hours of daylight, and cover the cage for sleep (if it’s feasible with your schedule). Good luck! Keep us posted .

** To answer your other question - If you follow along closely with the forum and the breeding section, and threads regarding more advanced members clutches, questions and answers, and diligently take the time to really learn in depth (and apply to your own and observe) about best practices for all aspects of the budgerigar species, you might be ready in 6 months to a year to try and set up for a clutch. Then also, when that time comes, you want to be responsible with being able to have suitable new homes for the chicks.

 

You've been given excellent advice and I'm glad to hear you've removed the nest box and are following the advice to help discourage breeding. Just because an animal seems to "want" to breed doesn't mean that is in the animal's best interest health-wise or emotionally.