I have 2 parakeets. 1 male, 1 female. the female layed an egg today. Except the problem is that she layed it in a tent that hangs from the top of the cage. I am afraid that the egg will roll out, or if she has more, they will not fit, and will roll out. Is anyone knowledgable about breeding parakeets? Should I put a breeding box in the cage and hope that she uses it? Should I move the egg to a nesting box? Help!
2007-03-13 16:28:29 · 6 answers · asked by zoe 3 in Pets ➔ Birds
I would carefully move the egg to a nest box (if you want them to hatch the eggs) and take down the tent. She will keep laying them there and they probably will fall out. If possible, hang the box in the same area.
2007-03-13 16:31:55 · answer #1 · answered by D 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No matter what, remove the tent, that will make her want to lay eggs.
Don't worry about touching the eggs. Birds do not have a very good sense of smell. They will get protective and you probably will get bitten, but that won't make them abandon the egg unless they weren't really into sitting on it anyway. I have handled all the eggs my birds have laid, and even handled the chicks from day one with no problems.
If you want to breed the birds and know what to do, then first, remove the tent, add the nestbox with about 2" of pine shavings in the bottom of the box. Put the egg in the box and attach it to the cage. Then go purchase a book on how to breed budgies and learn quickly! Be prepared to foster the chicks if they are tossed or are not taken care of. This means you will need to learn how to handfeed in the next 18 days.
If you don't want to breed, boil all the eggs that are laid and DO NOT REMOVE THEM UNTIL SHE IS DONE SITTING ON THEM! This will take about 18-21 days. Then you can remove the eggs from the bottom of the cage and throw them away. Then lower the ammount of daylight they are receiving to 12 hours of daylight. From there, lower it by 2 hours every week until she stops laying. After that you can raise the ammount of daylight again.
Feel free to email me if you have other questions.
2007-03-13 16:55:32 · answer #2 · answered by Christie D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you want to save the egg, then get a breeding box. Otherwise, people suggest throwing it out so that it will not develop into a baby bird.
That is your choice. But in the future, you may want to try and keep the male away from the female. Because he wont leave her alone and she can not breed all the time. Breeding is hard on her.
2007-03-13 17:36:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
If you want to save the egg, then get a breeding box. Otherwise, people suggest throwing it out so that it will not develop into a baby bird.
That is your choice. But in the future, you may want to try and keep the male away from the female. Because he wont leave her alone and she can not breed all the time. Breeding is hard on her.
2007-03-13 16:33:39 · answer #4 · answered by Kamah 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I would get a breeding box and put it in there. I woud think that it is ok to move the egg. Just try it. If nothing happens, she lay an egg another time. Good luck
2007-03-14 02:25:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
If you touch the egg the birds won't have anything to do with it. You should try not to touch it. She is going to be protective of it so be careful.You are right the tent needs to come down.Maybe try having it on the very bottom of the cage.The best choice is to get a breeder box if you really are wanting the babies.
2007-03-13 17:08:21 · answer #6 · answered by JAMIE 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋