Now what do I do for my cockatiel?

Question

We just got a cockatiel 2 months ago. I bought a book on their care but it didn't say anything about her laying eggs.
She's been laying them off and on for about a month and we've been removing them as she lays them. I just read that I should leave them in there, so now what do I do? She's laid 7-8 so far. She has a 'pineapple' treat, like a cuttle bone type thing and we feed her fruit and vegetables.
Is there anything else I should be doing? She won't have anything to do with regular cuttlebones.
Also, we have 2 male parakeets that are in the same room, different cage. Could the males being close to her be affecting her reproductive cycle?

The male birds are parakeets, not cockatiels.

Answer 1

Do not remove the eggs or she will keep laying them. I suggest going on to www.birdsnways2.com and going to the Tiel talk to find good info and informative people. I just posted about cockatiel's laying eggs about an hour ago, please check it out.

You are doing good so far, but please do not remove the eggs. You can buy fake ones to put in there, but she will keep laying. As they lay eggs, their calcium gets depeleted and they will eventually get egg bound, die from a internally cracked egg, or break their own bones as they become too brittle.
As for the cuttlebone- try scraping some onto her veggies. She will have to ingest it then. Broccolli is also a good calcium veggie.

Answer 2

I had a cockatiel with a very persistent egg-laying habit after her mate died. It was not very pleasant having a broody cockatiel; she would fiercely defend her sterile eggs, and her poop was messy and smelly.
There are various things you can do to stop her laying eggs. One is what you're trying, leaving the eggs in until the clutch is complete, then take them out.
You can put her in a different cage or move her to a different room. This usually (they say) makes the bird feel less at home, so she doesn't lay.
None of those methods worked for my cockatiel.
I started putting her in one cage in the daytime and a different cage at night. This worked, but it was a hassle.
She was a very easy-going bird, so sometimes if I had another bird that needed a temporary cage, I put it in with her. Every time I did this, she stopped laying.
So finally I bought her a nice tame hand-fed parakeet. (I could have gotten her a female cockatiel, I suppose, but she was elderly and I didn't want to start with a young cockatiel.) They got along very well and she never laid another egg. Some parakeets are too aggressive to get along with a cockatiel.

Answer 3

Hi,
i answered this kind of question earlir today to a different person with the same problem. Cockatiels usually mate and breed in early spring when the weather is warm and abundance of light. So try making your cockatiel think that its not the mating season. Do this by providing less light and a bit decrease in the temp. Just leave the eggs she has layed, she will abandon them when she gets bored. give her a lot of veges and fruits. I reccomend you to give her a cuttle bone.
Get her a mate if you want because you can use her as a great female for breeding. She is already showing you that she likes to breed. But if you dont want her to breed then just try wat i said it might be helpful.

Answer 4

It sounds like you're doing fine. Get a soft mineral bar instead of the cuddle bone. She may like that better. When they won't eat the mineral bar, I usually scrape some of it off on fresh fruit they like to eat whenever I give them fruit.
The suggestion about the rocks is a good one. Try it to see if she'll stop. I'm not sure if the male parakeets will affect her cycle. Google in cockatiel and see what you come up with. It's a good question.

Answer 5

I had a cockatiel named Baby and she continuisly layed eggs and guarded them She would lay on them and if I got near her she would rock back and forth letting me know that she didn't want me near them. Her eggs probably aren't fertile but just let her go until eventually she will leave them as she knows they aren't any good. Females lay eggs all the time so do my parakeets and finches. My birds are all in one room .I have males in with my female finces and I just leave them be and they know when to push the eggs away. Sometimes they push them out of the nest and sometimes the burry them under the nesting. Just leave them be until they ignor them then you will know. As for the cuddlebone just give her the ones she likes and she will be happy. Good luck

Answer 6

What you are doing is just fine, Your Cockateil is going through a breeding cycle, removing the eggs or leaving them in cannot stop her doing this.
However if you do leave them in she should try to incubate them and being that they are not fertile she should come out the cycle quicker.
Lots of people are under the assumption that they should give cuttlefish for calcium, this fact is untrue, the only real use cuttlefish does is help trim the beak, to get any usable amount of calcium birds would need to consume one whole decent size cuttlefish.
While she is laying eggs I would put a couple of drops of liquid calcium, available from any pharmacy, into her drinking water

Answer 7

having male cockatiels close to the female can possibly affect them but if you get a rock or something round and replace it with a egg and remove all the ones layed after it she might think that it will hatch and take care of it like a real egg but their is nothing you can do other than that. also after they have one baby hatched then they usualy slow down on reproducting. hope that it helps.

Answer 8

You are doing right by leaving them in there...The more you move them the more she will lay.I would give her lots of healthy foods..The Fruits and Veggies are Good..But give her Parts of Boiled Egg Crushed,Shell and All, Whole Wheat Pasta, Brown rice,Oatmeal...
The Parakeets arent the reason she's doing this..Some Hens just do!

Answer 9

give her seeds to eat. laying eggs should be ok. if you want them to hatch, get a male cockatiel. maybe the parakeets affect her. try taking them out and putting them somewhere else. my budgy only laid one egg so far.

Answer 10

i think your doing fine with her i have a female too , and she stop's having them for a while i don't know why i know if ya get a boy you'll have baby's kinda funny how the male takes care of them