Gigibirds
Rollerblading along the road
- Joined
- 2/15/21
- Messages
- 1,035
Hello!
So.....Mango (my lovebird) has started to build another nest. She just had babies roughly 3 months ago, and she lives with them in their own aviary outside. Last time she built a nest, she did it with her mate, Oliver. But we lost him just after the 2nd egg was laid. So, Ginger, another female lovebird, helped Mango. She sat on the eggs and took care of the babies until they they were ready to fledge, and that's when Mango took over. But when the babies were roughly 8 weeks old, Ginger died due to a seizure and previous conditions. So Mango was left to take care of them by herself (and I'll let you what - she does NOT like being a mom )
I left the nesting box in, because we were having some crazy weather. As in, nights that nearly went to freezing when the day before had been 100º, or there was a bunch of rain out of the blue, etc. So the babies sleep/slept in the nesting box every night, and Mango sits on the perch in from (but I'm pretty sure that she goes in there after I stop watching her). But now I think that the babies have stopped using the nesting box? I'm not sure - it's really hard to tell!
But now Mango has decided that she doesn't need to take care of her babies anymore (they are old enough for her to stop feeding), and she has started building another nest! (on top of the old nest that is still in the nesting box - I left it in because again, the babies sleep there at night....I think) And I am not providing ANY nesting material. She's literally pulling strips of wood off of their 'cafe' (the feeding station I built for them) and carrying them to the nest. I just peeked in there and there is a ton of wood strips.
So what should I do? I can't take out the nesting box because of the crazy weather. I also can't move them inside because of the cat. I can't reduce sunlight hours because they are in an aviary. I can't even stop supplying nesting material, because I'm already not! She's getting this stuff out of thin air! Thankfully, I don't have to worry about new babies because there isn't an old enough male in there. But I don't know how to discourage this behaviour! Mango just loves to build, and I can't stop her!
Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate any tips/advice!
So.....Mango (my lovebird) has started to build another nest. She just had babies roughly 3 months ago, and she lives with them in their own aviary outside. Last time she built a nest, she did it with her mate, Oliver. But we lost him just after the 2nd egg was laid. So, Ginger, another female lovebird, helped Mango. She sat on the eggs and took care of the babies until they they were ready to fledge, and that's when Mango took over. But when the babies were roughly 8 weeks old, Ginger died due to a seizure and previous conditions. So Mango was left to take care of them by herself (and I'll let you what - she does NOT like being a mom )
I left the nesting box in, because we were having some crazy weather. As in, nights that nearly went to freezing when the day before had been 100º, or there was a bunch of rain out of the blue, etc. So the babies sleep/slept in the nesting box every night, and Mango sits on the perch in from (but I'm pretty sure that she goes in there after I stop watching her). But now I think that the babies have stopped using the nesting box? I'm not sure - it's really hard to tell!
But now Mango has decided that she doesn't need to take care of her babies anymore (they are old enough for her to stop feeding), and she has started building another nest! (on top of the old nest that is still in the nesting box - I left it in because again, the babies sleep there at night....I think) And I am not providing ANY nesting material. She's literally pulling strips of wood off of their 'cafe' (the feeding station I built for them) and carrying them to the nest. I just peeked in there and there is a ton of wood strips.
So what should I do? I can't take out the nesting box because of the crazy weather. I also can't move them inside because of the cat. I can't reduce sunlight hours because they are in an aviary. I can't even stop supplying nesting material, because I'm already not! She's getting this stuff out of thin air! Thankfully, I don't have to worry about new babies because there isn't an old enough male in there. But I don't know how to discourage this behaviour! Mango just loves to build, and I can't stop her!
Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate any tips/advice!