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Mating is normal and natural for cockatiels, in fact, mating is necessary for the progression of the species, what isn’t normal is the bird mating with your hand
This article looks into why a cockatiel may be mating with your hand
Table of Contents
Cockatiel mating with hand:
Cockatiels may be very friendly birds, who enjoy human company, but there is a difference between enjoying human company and trying to mate with your hand, but some birds will try to do this.
This is what you need to know if your bird is trying to mate with your hand:
Why the birds do this:
Cockatiels can be very friendly with humans, these birds will see you as being a part of their family and one of their flock mates, and as a part of their flock, the bird may see your hand as his mate
This is more common in cockatiels that don’t have a mate of the same species around them to mate with.
This bird will have nothing else to mate with and because it is inappropriately bonded with you it will try to mate with your hand.
The bird will try to mate with your hand but will become sexually frustrated because human hands and cockatiels can’t mate.
Cockatiels are known to fall in love and try to mate with a variety of things but this behavior can become a problem as this does not satisfy them.
Alsom if the birds become too sexually frustrated they will self-mutilate by chewing their skin and soft tissue and they will feather pick at themselves.
These birds will also self-masturbate and become aggressive toward family members, or even toward objects that they see as a rival.
They will behave this way because they are not fulfilling their purpose of mating and reproducing.
If your bird is a female and it is doing this then it will start to chronically egg lay which can lead to uterine prolapse, malnutrition, and egg yolk peritonitis.
The birds will feel attached to you if you sexually stimulate them, acts that sexually stimulate the bird include kissing the bird, feeding the bird from the mouth, and stroking the bird on its shoulders.
There are a couple of ways to get the bird to stop or at least do this less.
How to keep this from happening:
Reduce lighting:
A variety of things can trigger breeding behavior in your birds, this includes lighting.
These birds are trigged by lighting because more sunlight in the wild usually meant that it was summer so food was plentiful and that they could raise offspring with minimal hassle.
You can reduce the amount of light your bird receives by covering the bird’s cage for a few extra hours a day.
Put him back in the cage:
When you see the bird starting to show signs of mating with your hand you’d need to communicate to the bird that this is not ok.
Do this by putting the bird in its cage and even leaving the room when it tries to mate with your hand. This will signal to the bird that mating with your hand will result in being put back in the cage.
Avoid inappropriate touching:
What may seem normal to us may actually be sexually stimulating to the bird, to avoid sexually stimulating the bird you’d need to avoid touching the bird inappropriately.
Things that are inappropriate include feeding the bird from your mouth, stroking the bird’s shoulder, and kissing the bird. Always act as a parent to the bird rather than a mate.
Introduce a mate:
A male cockatiel that tries to mate with you will feel sexually frustrated. You can help the bird by introducing a female who he can mate with.
Make sure that the female you choose is of the appropriate age and (at least 18 months old) is in good health, is not related to your bird, and make sure that the birds are compatible and enjoy each others company.
Also, make sure that you are ready to breed cockatiels as this can take a lot of work, energy, time, and dedication.
These birds only have one mate at a time, if the bird thinks that your hand is its mate you’d need to cut the bird off from spending time with you and your hand.
Only be around the bird when feeding it and cleaning the cage and let the bird spend more time with the female bird so that the two can bond.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: What Do Cockatiels Like To Do For Fun?, What Are Cockatiels Allergic To?, Are Cockatiel Bites Dangerous?, How To Clean A Baby Cockatiel, How To Clean Baby Cockatiel Feathers, Cockatiel Crying, Baby Cockatiel Crying