>I was just wondering if anyone could help me with a little problem that
>I have with my teils? I have to greys and one luthino. Anyways I would
>like to mate the luthino and the male grey.The problem is that the
>luthino doesn't want anything to do with the male grey. Is there
>anything I can do to help her like him. That way it was I had to put the
>younger grey female in with the male grey and they get just fine.Let's
>just say that he much quiter (sp) now. But neither of the grey's can
>stand the luthino. So what do I do now?? And what is a good age to let
>my grey start breeding? We had her for almost for a year so she is about
>8 to 10 months old. On mother's day we would have her for a year.Any
>help would be greatly appreciated.ttyl
First, 8 to 10 months is WAY too young to let a cockatiel hen breed. She
should be about 2 years old before you let her reproduce. Any younger
and her instincts won't be fully developed--you run the risk of her
abandoning her eggs or babies. Also, if she's too young, she may have
problems actually laying the eggs. Males also should be at least 2 years
old, otherwise they are also too immature to care for their young (the
male helps the hen raise the babies and incubate the eggs).
As for MAKING birds like each other, well, birds are a lot like people.
Just because two people are locked up togther doesn't necessarily make
them want to have kids. 
What you might try is putting the two birds you want to breed in cages
next to each other, and permanently get the 3rd bird out of the room
entirely. Let the two birds get to know each other as neighbors,
occasionally let them sit together on a t-stand or on your lap. Do this
for several months before trying to cage them together.
After they've spent a while getting to be friends, and once the hen is
old enough, THEN put up a nestbox and let them live together in one
cage. Once they are acquainted, and old enough, with the presence of a
proper nestbox, their hormones should kick in and take over from there.
--Kathy
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