Nesting box help.....Please!

[-Liana-]

I own 3 cockatiels, and the female just mated with one of the males and I would guess that maybe eggs will be on the way soon. I've never bred them before and I'm totally lost as to what to do. I truly wasn't expecting them to have babies, but I can't say I wasn't aware that the chance of that happening was high.
Anyway, I would like to know what I need to do now? I'm going to buy them a box but have no idea what would be the best thing for bedding? What else do I need to get? Any help will be so greatly appreciated.
Have a great day!

[Marrie]

Why do you want them to have babies? Are you prepared to hand feed if needed (do you have experience? as in shown how to by a breeder or vet, not youtube videos ... it's very easy to kill a chick if you don't know what you are doing) ? Do you have an avian vet for any problems? Are they on a breeding diet (high quality fresh, some mash, lots of calcium)? Are you up on egg binding and sour crop etc (all the common breeding issues)? Are the three togehter, or just the pair? (if all three and you want the eggs, you need to move the third one and leave the pair).

If you are not ready for breeding then when the female lays, you can just replace her eggs with fake ones or boil them and put them back in until she gets bored. It's easy to lose your birds if you enter into this too lightly.

If you do want to keep them, http://www.cockatielcottage.net/breeding.html a good intro into what to do. It is just a quick summary though, a good book would provide a lot more info - as would contacting breeders/vets in your area.