My birdies are doing well.

Silver has become a bit more independent. More often now, he really doesn't want to step up or have scritches. Instead, he attacks my finger with an open beak (he doesn't really bite). What's that about? He still likes to fly to my shoulder and sit there for a bit. It's a real treat on the days he wants scritches. Then, he can tolerate it for a long time.

Emma masturbates against the cage bars. She likes to chew up the paper in the bottom of the cage. I know that may be bad in promoting nesting behavior. I have the paper on top of the grate. The thing is, it's just too much for me to clean poop off the grate. With the paper on top of the grate, I can replace it every day and keep things nice and clean. It's my age and the amount of physical energy I have. She's not laid any eggs in about six weeks. (Is that the correct spelling of "laid?" Should it be "layed"?)

I am amazed at the fact that the two budgies do not mate and the two cockatiels do not mate. Many of you will remember that Piper, the male budgie, was mating with Emma, the female cockatiel multiple times a day. I think Emma is a very horny girl. She's just mating with the cage bars and a soda can I put in the corner of the cage to try to prevent her chewing on the paper.

I am happy that no one is mating, but puzzled about it.

Winter's cere (that's the female budgie) has been brown for about two months now, but not crusty. She's an albino and a very pretty bird.

Unfortunately, the budgies are not getting any out of cage time. This is because of the cats and the difficulty of getting everyone back into their cages when needed. Although I was originally happy with the cockatiel clip, after about a week or so they became just as difficult to capture as before they were clipped. When I have them clipped again, I will go for one more feather. I wish I could clip them myself, but haven't figured out the logistics yet. However, they are in a large Vision Cage, and seem happy enough. They are quite affectionate with each other, and that is fun to watch.

I find cleaning up their poop (outside of the cage) a bit of a chore. I try to put paper down in the usual places. This is more effective than not, but it's still hard.

Emma is as standoffish as ever.

If I don't supervise the tiels enough, they find things to chew on and I discover moldings with paint removed. I wish I could have framed pictures in my living room, but if I do, the tiels chew on the wood frames. This is hard. I would have to reframe the pictures in plastic frames. Has anyone found a solution to this?

I do love my birds. I think I am glad I have them.

I am sorry this is so long. Thank you for reading this far, if you have.

When Silver does the fake biting he's telling your obnoxious finger to get away from him lol. A lot of cockatiels do the fake biting and I think it's hilarious. Much more fun than real biting.

Emma is mating, she's just doing it with inanimate objects instead of an actual male. Having newspaper in the cage that she can chew up will definitely encourage breeding behavior, but as long as she doesn't lay eggs it might be preferable to having poop all over the grate. We're past the summer solstice now so the days are getting shorter and the birds might be less interested in breeding.

Next time you get the cockatiels clipped maybe you could do a partial budgie clip too so they'll be easier to catch. It'll also be easier for the cats to catch the bird so you need to watch out for that!

Breaking news: There's an egg, and she's sitting on it. Also, I had to feed Silver on top of the cage, because she kept chasing him away from the food.

I have had them on 14 hour nights pretty consistently.

Should I just let this clutch take its course, or try 24 hour light?

Why has Silver just decided my finger is nasty?

Maybe Silver is hormonal and cranky or maybe there's some other reason. No one knows what cockatiels think lol.

You could try the continuous light to see if it works. Three days of it seems to be a commonly recommended time period. She'll probably lay at least one more egg but hopefully it will stop after that. If Silver is acting nasty because of hormones it might snap him out of it too.

Wait a second... I though chewing is a natural instinct. Not just for breeding but in general. I'm trying hard to find things and toys for them to chew, otherwise they will chew my furniture ( they chew it anyway). Or does it apply only to paper that it triggers breeding behavior?
A few days ago I overslept and uncovered my birds about an hour later ( they are on 12 hour sleeping schedule). They were very unenergatic and basically their day was ruined. Do you birds respond well to a 14 hour night?

Paper in the bottom of the cage is a breeding trigger. Many birds see their cage as a nest area, and chewing stuff up in the nest area is breeding behavior. Chewing stuff up in a place that isn't a good nest area is just entertainment not a breeding issue.