Nanday Breeding?

[christine]

Hello, I recently purchased a male 9 years old Nanday "Buddy" on a trial basis for my 12 year old female Nanday (Toni). I have there cages side by side with perches at the same height but they don't seem interested in each other? When I first brought Buddy home and let him out of the carrier he was all over Toni's cage and strutting back and forth fanning his feathers. Buddy doesn't like hands or fingers he will bite. Even though I leave his cage door open he will not come out.

The whole month of February the female was shredding newspaper every day. Not now though. Buddy is shredding up paper towels. Buddy is very aggressive. He will lunge at me if I try to get his food bowl. My female is very gentle.

They are not sitting near each other. I don't think they are bonding? Personally, I don't think I would bond with Buddy either but he is a beautiful bird.

How long a period do you think I should continue?

Regards Montana

[avinet]

Do you know anything about Buddy's prior history? Was he kept as a pet bird, with other birds, with another Nanday? Could he be held by the previous owner?

And how long have you had Toni?

cheers,

Mike

[christine]

Hello, Yes, Buddy was kept as a pet bird by a single owner. I don't know how much interaction they had if any. I was told he was possessive of his cage but once outside the cage he was fine. However, when I first brought him home he was outside the cage for more than an hour and when I tried to get him in his cage he bit me. I had to get him in with a perch which wasn't easy! Now he won't come out even when the door is left open.

Yesterday he was doing this bowing motion almost continually and he was quiet? I would like to make a breakthrough with him - I feel sorry for him - also would like to have Toni's babies if that happens.

I have had Toni for 12 years. She is very gentle and I have her screeching down to a minimum but she has to talk sometimes. Buddy gets the screech factor going quite well. I don't think Toni cares for him but I don't know anything about breeding Nandays.

I would hate to return Buddy without giving him a decent chance to adjust. There are two Nandays at the Bird Store that sit side by side always. A match made in heaven! Nothing certain in the bird world.

Regards Montana

[avinet]

So Toni has been on her own for 12 years - well without Nanday company at least for 12 years. And it is likely that Buddy has similarly been an only Nanday for 9 years. Both of them have probably forgotten they are Nandays

When two such birds are placed together it can take months for them to realize that they could be mates and bond with each other. In fact there is a real possibility that they may never bond - although sometimes a male will cotton on to what is happening, but often the females never become interested after such a long time as a single bird.

This sort of situation came up quite often in our shop - someone might have had a pet bird for many years and suddenly decided it would be nice to get a mate for it. Mostly with cockatiels since they were so commonly kept. Our general advice was to not worry - after a few years on their own, trying to pair it up with a mate was a good way to stress an established pet and a stressed bird could easily be a sick bird. And then they would come back into the shop claiming we had sold a sick bird that had made their bird sick We ended up when such a sale did go ahead to writing on the health guarantee a note about the risk of stress - but most people don't, or can't read!

With cockatiels we did find that males would be more accepting if a young female came into their life, but a female that was 6 or 8 years old would very rarely tolerate the attentions of a male that suddenly appeared.

I would suspect that the behavioural problems you have currently with Buddy will ease with time - the usual methods for gaining the trust of a new bird: talking, treats etc - but if you really want to try breeding Nandays then I would suggest going for the pair in the shop - provided they are a sexed pair with sexing certificate, and are relatively young.

cheers,

Mike

[christine]

Thanks Mike I certainly don't want to stress Toni out, she is a treasured pet. I guess both Toni and Buddy are happy remaining single birds. Although I have only had Buddy for a short time I am already attached to him even though he really doesn't like me. My little green cheek likes Buddy. It looks like they are kissing - beaks touching - between his bars. At first I was afraid he would take off Precious' beak but he is not agressive toward him. Toni seems to tolerate the green cheek as well.

I'm sure Buddy will come along in his own time or not. Looks like he is a keeper.

I will move Buddy's cage away from Toni. Maybe they will both be happier.

I really don't want to breed Nandays just Toni would have been nice. Two are quite enough.

Thanks for the good advice. Regards Montana