Chronic egg laying and light therapy

[Birdmom99]

I have a chronic egg laying budgie that has had three prolapses. The last one was only a month ago and the surgery had its complications. I’ve noticed that today she has been regurgitating and sitting on the bottom of her cage. Taking her to get Lupron this weekend but I don’t think that’s a sustainable option longterm. Does anyone know of any other options to stop her egg laying. A friend recommended light therapy but I’m not sure how to go about doing that.

 

[JaneLane]

The only thing that got my budgie to stop laying eggs for a bit was, keeping the room dark, scattering her food so she thought it was in short supply(make her think shes in a famine without actually depriving her) and rearranging her cage. No mirrors, no furry toys that she can "mate" with. But even that didnt stop her permanently. Another thing that might help is a larger cage if she needs one. Light therapy is pretty simple if it is what I did, you keep her in darkness for hours sometimes 24 hours. It makes them think they are in winter.
Sorry you are going through this.

 

[Birdmom99]

Thank you! It has been a crazy year with her. I will try some of your suggestions. I did notice that keeping her in the dark for longer did make her more hormonal for some reason. Maybe because she thought her cage was one giant nest?

 

[JaneLane]

Thank you! It has been a crazy year with her. I will try some of your suggestions. I did notice that keeping her in the dark for longer did make her more hormonal for some reason. Maybe because she thought her cage was one giant nest?

That could be it, where does she live? In her own room or a common room? Does she live alone or with another bird? We never know what is in these little birds minds, but I hope she cuts it out soon.

 

[Birdmom99]

That could be it, where does she live? In her own room or a common room? Does she live alone or with another bird? We never know what is in these little birds minds, but I hope she cuts it out soon.

We separate her in another cage and another room. We have 5 male budgies in another room (1 mate, 4 sons) and unfortunately my walls are thin and she can hear them.

 

[JaneLane]

We separate her in another cage and another room. We have 5 male budgies in another room (1 mate, 4 sons) and unfortunately my walls are thin and she can hear them.

Was she recently seperated from her mate? In my experience budgies often become egg laying obsessed when they breed. For four years, Amelia didnt lay a single egg when she was with her mate, but then they mated and she had her first clutch, she lost a baby and it was all down hill from there. Do you take her eggs or leave them? Leaving them will usually stop her from continuing to replace them. Maybe you can put soundproofing styofoam in the doors to muffle the other budgies' sounds?

 

[Birdmom99]

Was she recently seperated from her mate? In my experience budgies often become egg laying obsessed when they breed. For four years, Amelia didnt lay a single egg when she was with her mate, but then they mated and she had her first clutch, she lost a baby and it was all down hill from there. Do you take her eggs or leave them? Leaving them will usually stop her from continuing to replace them. Maybe you can put soundproofing styofoam in the doors to muffle the other budgies' sounds?

She has been separated from her mate for about a year and ignores him. It’s the baby budgies that she tries to mate with. Unfortunately I can’t put her with the mate because he is suspected of having PDD and is quarantined. Yes, I do leave her eggs after she lays them along with a few dummy eggs. They have been sitting in her cage after the last proloapse but today she threw them all out the bowl and started sitting in the bowl.

 

[sunnysmom]

I have read of 2 methods. One is increasing her hours of darkness by 2 hours for about 2 weeks to try to trick her into thinking it's winter and not time to lay. The other is giving her no darkness for awhile or reversing days/nights. This article talks about it. It's about cockatiels but I think it would apply to budgies too? Little Feathered Buddies hormone control

 

[Birdmom99]

Thank you! Will try some of these methods!

 

[JaneLane]

She has been separated from her mate for about a year and ignores him. It’s the baby budgies that she tries to mate with. Unfortunately I can’t put her with the mate because he is suspected of having PDD and is quarantined. Yes, I do leave her eggs after she lays them along with a few dummy eggs. They have been sitting in her cage after the last proloapse but today she threw them all out the bowl and started sitting in the bowl.

This may sound harsh to her, but take her food bowl away. Hide the food among toys or under cardboard scraps on the floor. You can even buy foraging toys to put her food. I had to take Amelia's food bowl away. If she is sitting in it, she will make a nest in it. If foraging doesnt work you can spread the foos out on a small paper plate but spread it around to make it look sparse and not plentiful