No, I'm not talking about the one I made for her. I'm talking about a different toy. And I'm not saying she's enjoying it. She's literally IN LOVE with it! ... Allow me to explain...

I have this toy that's next to her favorite tree branch-like perch. It's a rectangular toy with mirrors on all four sides, with a bell at the bottom. For a while it seemed I was moving forward with the whole trusting process with Lucy, until just the other day when she stopped feeding out of my hand. Today, I notice she spends a lot of time next to it. She gets all cozy, and lowers her head for it to... preen her, and she looks to it for "protection" when my hand gets near, be it with food or not. I've also notices that when she plays with it she's very gentle with the chewing, as if she's also trying to preen IT.

This explains why she hasn't really been interested to look to me for attention or flocking. This is why she prefers to be in her cage, even when Carolyn let her spend so much time outside of her cage, before. This is why she was so desperate to try and get back in, when I let her hang out on the top of the cage. It all makes sense now! That toy is the reason why I've started going backwards with the whole trusting process.

She thinks it's another bird, and possibly thinks of it as her mate!

I guess it's not something I haven't seen before. I had a pair of bonded cockatiels, and when we put a nest box in with them, they were attacking those same mirror toys (territory and all that). I had a male cockatiel that also sang to them. I guess it's common. Still, I wonder why I haven't seen it sooner.

What should I do about this? I feel like I will be going nowhere with the trusting process, because of the mirrors. Should I take all the mirror toys out (there's 3 in total)? I feel that on one hand, it could help my situation, but on the other hand, birds have a sense of grief, and she might become depressed without her "mate" in there with her.

How long do I have before she starts masturbating, wanting the mirror to mate with her?

She's a little young to be looking for a mate, but it's not impossible. She's used to being in a room full of cockatiels, so maybe she's just looking for another cockatiel to flock with.

You can use mirrors to your advantage. I did it with Dweezil. If the mirror can be removed easily, take it out first before you ask her to come out, and then you hold the mirror so she can socialize with it while she's sitting on your hand or your lap or wherever you want her. If the mirror isn't easy to remove, you'll have to decide whether you want to leave it in all the time or take it out permanently. If you leave it in, get a bigger mirror for her to look at while she's out of the cage, and that can be her treat for spending time with you. It's all about making "out of the cage" time more attractive than being in the cage. If you offer her a treat in front of the mirror, she and the mirror bird will be eating together lol. Hens tend to be a lot less mirror driven than cocks are, so there's a good chance that she'll be less interested in it after she's settled in more.

True that she's a bit young, but considering that she is fledged, I guess I just have to say...

*sigh* teenagers...

Looking for cockatiels to flock with makes more sense than looking for cockatiels to mate with considering how young she is. Perhaps I overreacted.

Still, it was the last thing I expected from a female cockatiel. If she were male, it would be a much different story, considering how they seem so obsessed with either courting other cockatiels, or just how they look.

Well I've removed the mirrors. I guess I'll be starting all over with the trusting process, basically. Maybe it can actually move forward this time.

I've heard of tiel chicks as young as three months old mating with each other so it can happen. But the youngest that it's happened in my flock was at 5 months. Last year an 8 week old chick accidentally got her vent pressed against the edge of a food bowl and started doing the hen mating cry. She wasn't even completely weaned yet. No doubt about it, cockatiels can be sexual at a young age. But it's really more likely that she just misses her brothers and sisters.