Gouldian pair, male not interested?

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Numi
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Location: Gosford, NSW

Hi all
I got my first pair of Gouldians last year, and being my first pair I haven't really had high hopes of them breeding but I thought I'd give it a try this year and as expected I've had some trouble. Thought I might reach out here see if I can maybe learn a bit about what's going wrong so I can improve my chances in the future. They are currently housed in a parrot cage but I have gathered nearly all the materials I need to start constructing some suspended aviaries and will likely begin on my first non-suspended aviary after that if all goes well.

My main concern is that the male might not be interested in the female. She's a bit bigger than him (not sure if that's age related or genetics, I unfortunately don't know their history), and I'm worried she's bullied him a bit. They don't fight or anything but she sometimes stands up tall and leans over him on the perch and he hunches low and leans away, and sometimes when he's eating she flies back and forth constantly, landing near him over and over and it seems like she's harassing him a bit?I believe I've seen him doing this too but she does it a lot. They rest next to each other on the perch at night but usually not directly touching. She has landed near their boxes and looked but not gone in, and he seems to show no interest at all.
I was curious and played a video on my phone of gouldians mating dance to see if he would show interest in the noises and was surprised to find the female got super excited chirping along the same way the female in the video was reacting to the male, but my male bird didn't seem very fussed, looked around a little but didn't seem sing back at all. The female does seem to chirp to him a bit, but he is very quiet and reserved.

Is he maybe to old/young? Has she bullied him to much or they maybe just don't like each other? Any info or insight into their behaviour would be greatly appreciated.
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vettepilot_6
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Give them time
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BrettB
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Hello Numi,

Tell us more about your birds. You say you got them last year, was the cock fully colored at that time ? If so, he is not too young.
Are you sure he is a cock bird, a picture might help .
Have the two been together all of this time, how large is this "parrot cage".
When did you put the nest box into the cage ?

I placed my nest boxes in the aviary on 17th Jan, I have chicks fledge this week

He might need more time, but it is not unreasonable to be asking questions

Good luck
Brett
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are ." Anais Nin
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finchbreeder
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I assume you are feeding them greens? Have you thought of giving them 2 boxs so he can offer his lady a choice? Part of the pairing ritual can include showing her a choice of nests. Sounds likely she is ready, but he may not be. 3 avairys of Gouldians here, all set up and occupied at the same time. All at different stages of progress. 1 = first nest of 6 out, 2 smaller nest close to flying, contains 9 adults 5 cocks 4 hens ==== 2 = first nest has 2 small young 2nd pair hen not responding to cocks advances ==== 3 = 2 pair only minor singing without responses.
LML
LML
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Numi
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Joined: 07 Nov 2018, 18:48
Location: Gosford, NSW

Thanks for the answers guys :) To answer your questions:
Yep, both birds were fully coloured when I got them. I'm pretty confident he's a cock bird, normal black face green back bird, has the deep purple chest, decent amount of blue behind the head and longer thin feather coming from the middle of his tail. I don't have any recent pics since I moved them into the bigger cage but I'll try and upload a pic I took when I first got them after I post this.
The birds have been together since I got them, but they haven't had boxes the whole time, only since end of January (last few days, didn't write the exact date but probably should have). They have one box a bit below halfway height in the cage, and one right up at the top, both at the back of the cage away from the front. The cage is 82cm wide, 80cm high and 53cm width.

As for greens I am giving those a few times a week, switching between different leafy greens I've seen mentioned on the forum as well as lebanese cucumber, which is the only green I give that they've actually eaten so far, I do keep offering the leafy greens though in the hopes they might try it. They also get fresh seeding grass a few times a week which I pick fresh from a section of yard I've allowed to grow.

It's interesting to hear some are going slower than others for you finchbreeder! Guess some birds just like to dive right in and others might be a little slower/pickier xD

Congrats on the successes you both mentioned!
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Numi
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Location: Gosford, NSW

Image
Not sure how this picture will go but if it works, this is a pic I took on the day I got them where you can see the male in the front and female in the back. (They now have natural perches rather than the plastic and smooth ones that were in their original cage)
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BrettB
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If you haven't already, put some grass into the nest boxes with a few strands hanging out the entry

Good luck
Brett
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are ." Anais Nin
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Tiaris
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If anything, he looks lean & she looks not quite 100% the way she is a bit fluffed & sitting low on the perch with feet apart. I don't think he is the issue.
Despite this, not all pairs click early in the season. I still have a few pairs which haven't yet started nesting and I have no doubt that they will eventually attempt something.
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Numi
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Location: Gosford, NSW

BrettB wrote: 09 Mar 2019, 23:48 If you haven't already, put some grass into the nest boxes with a few strands hanging out the entry

Good luck
Brett
They do have nesting grass in the boxes but none hanging out the front, I'll make sure to add some hanging out for them to see if it help! Thankyou :)
Tiaris wrote: 10 Mar 2019, 06:40 If anything, he looks lean & she looks not quite 100% the way she is a bit fluffed & sitting low on the perch with feet apart. I don't think he is the issue.
Despite this, not all pairs click early in the season. I still have a few pairs which haven't yet started nesting and I have no doubt that they will eventually attempt something.
The photo above is actually old from last year, I just didn't have any recent ones of them. Thankfully she hasn't looked like that in quite a while, it was just during the period after I first got her home, her feathers are now a lot neater and nicer and not fluffy since she molted and she doesn't sit low on the perch anymore, actually spends a lot of time standing up tall so she can be over the boy lol. I obviously can't say for sure because of my lack of experience but I do think she looks a lot healthier now than when I got her, thanks to all the great info I found here, the lady in the store only recommended a seed mix for the diet and no other advice but it didn't take me long read here all the other things I should be giving them too :lol:

By the sounds of it though the from all the great info everyone is sharing the best course I can take is to just wait and give them time and see how they go. :thumbup:
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finchbreeder
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It is my personal belief that seeding grasses are more important than leafy greens in the breeding of Gouldians. Good luck in getting them to go down.
LML
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