How do you hide the whole interest box?

Cut on cockatiel's beak from fighting? Also, nesting box question....?

• I have 5 cockatiels - one female, four males. My female was in a cage of her own until she started laying eggs and destroying them when she realized she couldn't incubate them. The owner of the pet store (who also breeds cockatiels) said it would be find to get her a nesting box if I wanted to breed her, and that there would be some fighting if I put her in the other cage (it's HUGE, her cage was not big enough for her and another bird) but it shouldn't be serious and they'd settle in. I put up the nesting box, and the males took to the female no problem. They took turns checking out the box, and then one of them decided it was -his- box, and would either hide in it and try to bite any of them who came near it, or would sit on the food dish next to it and attack the others (even the female) for coming close. It got to the point (in a single 24-hour period) where he would actually CHASE the one bird the female has shown an interest in around the cage, biting both him and her. I came back from dropping my fiance off from work, and the aggressor has a bite on the top of his beak, near his nostril. It's not bleeding, but is noticeable. I've removed the nesting box for at least tonight, and they seem to be getting along fine now, but I'm not sure what I need to do from here. There is no local avian vet (nearest is 150+ miles away), so I can't take him in to be seen. He's eating, and there isn't anymore fighting. So, do I need to do anything for his beak, or just keep an eye on him? And, when I put the nesting box back up, do I need to move him to a different cage (I have 2 single-cockatiel size cages and one that is 4'x2'x3', which they're all in) or do something else to deter this behaviour?

• Answer:

  Regarding the beak,just keep your eye on it,if it is not bleeding it should heal. Regarding the nest box,If you put a nest box in with 1 female and 4 male you are asking for trouble,you are very lucky to have got away with one damaged beak.Cockatiels select a partner and pair for life,this is why they are fighting.If you want to breed put the hen and 1 male in a seperate cage and make sure your cage is big enough to hold a family. I do not like the advice given to you by your petshop,they should never have told you to put a box in. They knew they would fight.