Sometimes Peach looks lonely in her big flight cage. I've thought a lot about getting a second bird. I almost always have at least two of any pets i have. I would love to see her interacting with another bird.I would actually rather not breed. I imagine there are already enough baby 'tiels in the world. But then, how do I confidently get another hen and would two hens be happy together?? My worry is that I don't know anything about breeding birds. How often they would have babies and how well do caged birds take care of the chicks. What if I couldn't find a good home for the chicks. I have aquariums and in their case it is not a good idea sometimes to have just a pair because the males will bully the female if there is only one. Is that the case with 'tiels? I would love to hear input from anyone who is successfully keeping two birds together.

I would totally get another bird. Males are more vocal and most have a beautiful whistle (At least all of my males do.)
I honestly think that if that's your only reason you don't want a male I would get a male, they aren't as cuddly as a female but they can sing a storm. If Peach mated with a male and lays eggs they will most probably be fertile and you can simply freeze or boil the eggs so they won't hatch and then return them back to the birds so they can continue sitting on them until they give up. Then you may disgard the eggs.

I had 10 birds in an aviary and they got along fine, to be honest, they were a little too friendly lol.

If you end up getting another bird, you will have to quarantine them for 30 days meaning they may not breath the same air. You will have to wash your hands between handling each bird. Quarantine is done so that if the new bird is sick, you can spot it out before (s)he passes it to Peach.

There's no guarantee that any two birds will get along with each other, but the odds of two same-sex birds liking each other are the same as the odds of two opposite-sex birds liking each other. Even if they don't like each other they will still form a flock bond and won't want to be too far apart.

I never intended to breed cockatiels, but I put males and females together and they made their own plans. I've learned a lot about hormone control since then and can usually prevent egg laying when I want to. There's more info on that at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... mones.html

Some hens won't lay eggs unless they have a mate and a nestbox and other hens will lay eggs no matter what. Having another bird in the house of any kind could help stimulate the breeding hormones, so you might have to do some hormone control even if you don't get a male. Don't let that stop you from getting another bird if you want one though, they're wonderful companions for you and for each other.

My flock is currently 4 boys and 3 hens.
I notice a big difference between boys and girls in the way they spend their days.

The boys are big whistlers so they are funny in that way, especially when they start their little singing competitions, plus they are very cuddly (but I suspect this is not the general rule, many people say that hens are cuddlier).

But the girls are much more fun to watch. They are always up to something, exploring, playing, doing their things constantly.
Sometimes they all three together go to expeditions looking for interesting objects or food.

My two youngest, Angelina and Sesamo, disliked each other when they were first introduced. Sesamo especially; she would chase Angelina if she got too close.
This lasted about a month. Now they are best friends and need to be in the same room otherwise they will start calling until they are reunited.

Based on my experience, if you want to go for a girl as companion for Peaches I can't see any reason why not, especially if you don't want to breed.

You will have to address hormone reduction sometimes, as Tielfan said, but at least you won't be in the position of having to boil eggs or have babies.

I've two males in the same cage...
they very rarely argue... they seem to
like each other...
I have to say one of my birds is very cuddly...
he whistles. the other is a big talker.. but doesn't
like to be cuddled at all...
I had mine in separate cages for about a week, and then just put them in the same big cage... no problem at all. You can only try it and see how it goes.

I love this site! You guys are very helpful and the site has excellent resource information. I really feel like I can make an informed decision now!
(I need to learn how to send a chirp so I could send out some now.)

Look in the bottom right corner of the post you want to chirp at. There's a picture of a little blue budgie with the word chirp underneath her. Click on the budgie, and you've just chirped at something that made you happy!

So...I moved the toys away from the perch that allowed Peach to "have a date" with them. She has a hanging coconut that has a top and bottom and it's open all around the sides. She loves to forage in it but she also sits in it sometimes. I hate to take it away because we both really like it. If you think I should I will.

It's a nestlike container so it will stimulate her hormones. It would be helpful if you can keep it full of foraging stuff and/or toys so there's no room to sit.

OK...thanks. I'm taking it out.