Question about egg-laying

[Jason Wong]

Hi! So I just got my pair of cockatiels 3 weeks ago from their previous owner. The male is 8 months old and the female is 2 years old and he did not think she had laid eggs ever.



The female laid an egg more than a week ago. I was not sure what to do and I left the (likely unfertilized) egg at the bottom of the cage. After a few days, I set up a nesting box (wasn't really sure what I was doing at all). Both of them were interested and hung out in the box but she never sat on the egg. I spoke to a bird shop worker and she said to chuck the egg and remove the nesting box because I was likely confusing her so I did so. But she still has not laid a second egg and I thought a clutch of 4-6 on alternate days was normal. She seems to be in good health and she's eating well (seed mix + romaine lettuce) and they're drinking calcium enriched water. She's just quite noisy during the afternoons only but doesn't seem to be in distress overall.



Should I be concerned that she's not laying another egg? Perhaps unwisely I tried to swap them over the pellet and used the controlled method so basically they didn't eat for 2 days and maybe that was bad timing to try it when she had laid an egg a few days before. she was tearing up the newspaper again 2 days ago but never laid an egg



Sorry if this is rambling but I don't know if I need to take her to a vet since again, she seems fine. She's too skittish to check for egg binding and I can't tell if her vent is swelling.



I looked at egg binding symptoms and overall I don't think it fits. I don't see fluffed up feathers, she is pooping well, she's lively, she eats enough, and her breathing seems fine (minus some sneezing). both of the birds like going on the floor of the cage but it's usually to forage or just hang out there not because they can't sit on the perch or the roof of the cage.

Thanks!

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[sunnysmom]

 

[Matto]

First off - this is nothing to be concerned about. Female birds will lay the occasional lone unfertilized egg and then abandon it. It happens. If she doesn't show any interest in it after a couple of days then you can chuck it.
I do think that you should change their diet. Some seed is ok for cockatiels, but I would try to get them to eat pellets as well. You can try different types until you find one that they like. In addition, I would swap the romaine lettuce for kale. Similar, but much healthier. It would also be a good idea to offer a variety of veggies such as carrots, beets, peppers and chard (to just name a few good ones). You can chop up a variety of veggies and grains (like steel cut oats, quinoa, and sprouted seeds) into pea-sized pieces, mix them and freeze batches.

 

[Matto]

I'm not going to tell you to immediately ditch the calcium water, because if she is laying any eggs she will need extra calcium, but make sure that you change it frequently because it will grow bacteria faster than plain water. If you can switch her to pellets (or if she is using a cuttle bone) then you can probably ditch the calcium water.

 

[Haleema]

Dont worry about the lone egg. My female cockatiel laid only one egg and she was perfectly fine afterwards. My other one laid 2 and thats it.

 

[Tara81]

Don’t worry about the egg, if she lays more you can replace with dummy eggs until she gets bored of it, then remove. If she shows interest in laying on her egg, then u can provide a comfortable area for it .

Don’t provide a nest box however, as that could encourage more eggs and hormonal behaviour.

If she shows signs of being hormonal, like mating chirps, looking for a nest around the home, you can try giving her longer rest at night for 14 hours for two weeks, and you can try changing her toys around, changing her environment. ( give her more to do and think about besides making babies )

Someone already mentioned swapping out lettuce for kale and I totally agree. Still give them seeds, pellets , and try giving them some variety as well like small chopped bird safe Vegas ( broccoli, kale, carrots, sweet peppers etc) . Sprouting is great also. Cooked vege mash with some grains like quinoa are also good.