Hello,
I just created an account on this forum after some worry. I hope you guys are able to answer some of my questions that I have. This is the first cockatiel I have, so I'm always open for new information.
I have my cockatiel for 2 years now. In the beginning, we didn't know if Mook was a male or female. We determined she's a female due to her behavior and other things. Back to present day, we noticed some hormonal behavior (she was making soft noises with her tail up) and she was definitely more active at night, running around her cage back and forth. I looked it up and found out some of it was breeding behavior and she could possibly lay an egg. I didn't know a single female cockatiel could lay an egg, so I was suprised to read it. One day later, there was an unfertilized egg in the corner of the cage. She didn't do much with that one, but she tried to find a place for it by digging in the sand and occasionally move her egg to a place of her liking.
When we cleaned her cage a week after the first egg was laid, we decided to remove it from her cage with the goal that she'd stop. At that time, I didn't know that she was going to replace it with another one if she lost it. And that was true, a few days after she laid one egg and another the day after. But now, she's sitting on her eggs for most of the day + she's very protective of them. She does go up to eat and drink water regularly or when someone is close to the cage I'm providing her more calcium rich food too. But other than that, I just let her be with her eggs. She's also more aggressive.
Now here are my questions: What do I do from here? Is it okay to let her sit on her eggs and if so, how long does it take for her to realize they are unfertilized? I've read some things about dummy eggs and I'll consider buying some when she's laying more eggs. We usually let her out of the cage every day, but I don't know if it's okay for her to go out when she's with her eggs? Is it possible to break the cycle and how do you know if she's through that? Are there more things I should look out for? I'm pretty worried about not doing the right things and I really want her to be okay. Maybe I haven't done the right thing at all.
My apologies for asking so many questions and I hope you guys were able to understand everything. English is not my native language, but I'm trying. I wrote this in a rush, so I hope that I can ask more questions when I have them
Thanks!
Nick
I just created an account on this forum after some worry. I hope you guys are able to answer some of my questions that I have. This is the first cockatiel I have, so I'm always open for new information.
I have my cockatiel for 2 years now. In the beginning, we didn't know if Mook was a male or female. We determined she's a female due to her behavior and other things. Back to present day, we noticed some hormonal behavior (she was making soft noises with her tail up) and she was definitely more active at night, running around her cage back and forth. I looked it up and found out some of it was breeding behavior and she could possibly lay an egg. I didn't know a single female cockatiel could lay an egg, so I was suprised to read it. One day later, there was an unfertilized egg in the corner of the cage. She didn't do much with that one, but she tried to find a place for it by digging in the sand and occasionally move her egg to a place of her liking.
When we cleaned her cage a week after the first egg was laid, we decided to remove it from her cage with the goal that she'd stop. At that time, I didn't know that she was going to replace it with another one if she lost it. And that was true, a few days after she laid one egg and another the day after. But now, she's sitting on her eggs for most of the day + she's very protective of them. She does go up to eat and drink water regularly or when someone is close to the cage I'm providing her more calcium rich food too. But other than that, I just let her be with her eggs. She's also more aggressive.
Now here are my questions: What do I do from here? Is it okay to let her sit on her eggs and if so, how long does it take for her to realize they are unfertilized? I've read some things about dummy eggs and I'll consider buying some when she's laying more eggs. We usually let her out of the cage every day, but I don't know if it's okay for her to go out when she's with her eggs? Is it possible to break the cycle and how do you know if she's through that? Are there more things I should look out for? I'm pretty worried about not doing the right things and I really want her to be okay. Maybe I haven't done the right thing at all.
My apologies for asking so many questions and I hope you guys were able to understand everything. English is not my native language, but I'm trying. I wrote this in a rush, so I hope that I can ask more questions when I have them
Thanks!
Nick