Raised vent area (female lovebird)

[teena87]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping for some input here

I have a female lovebird that I adopted a couple of months ago, I have never had a female peach face (I have a single fischers male other than her) so I'm not really familiar with what she is supposed to look like normally.

The female (Mango) started to nest and lay eggs soon after she moved in. She successfully laid 5 eggs (99% unfertilized as they are not caged together and just getting to know each other and my male is super clumsy - he never made it anywhere near her backside through he was invited)

After she laid 5 eggs I thought she still had another one coming because her vent area still looked kind of raised and was not flat. But again, she was new to me so I could not tell 100% if that is simply what she looks like. My only other bird is male and a slightly different species of lovebird so they have many visual differences.

The other egg was not coming in due time and although she was acting completely normal, I took her to the vet to make sure she does not have an issue with the egg. She vet said she could not feel an egg, X-ray showed no egg and she said she was a completely healthy bird.

I swear, a few days later I thought I saw her vent area flatten out - so I assumed that it must have just been raised from recent egg laying. However, I cannot guarantee that because seeing how vet said all was ok - I did not focus on it too much plus I did not see as much of her because she spent a lot of time sitting on the eggs in the nest box.

However now it caught my eye that the area looks raised again same as before (about a month later). I'm not 100% that its not just a matter of me having focused on it again after thinking it was flat just perhaps of a different angle.

She is still sitting on the 5 eggs that I think are unfertilized. I'm not sure when exactly she started incubating them so just in case they are fertilized I have not removed them. I was also hoping that she would lose interest in them herself before removing them.

Anyone with a lovebird, does the vent area look normal? Could she be getting ready to lay another clutch while still sitting on her 5? I'm fairly sure this is not any other type of issue because like I mentioned, the vet saw her in exactly the same state a month ago and did an x-ray and exam. So it's either what she looked like the whole time or she is ready to lay more eggs.

Should I remove the eggs and nest box?

Sorry for the long post!

​

 

[camelotshadow]

No expert but it does look like its rounded. How is she acting?

 

[teena87]

No expert but it does look like its rounded. How is she acting?

She is acting same as normal. Active, eating etc

Still showing nesting behavior

 

[teena87]

BTW I tried to gently feel the area and it all seems soft, as if it was just fluff even though visually it's clearly not just feathers

I'm contemplating taking her back to vet but I feel silly because I took her for exactly the same concern a month ago and they already said she is OK. It was a very good, university-affiliated clinic with avian specialists. I'm mainly worried if she is ready to lay more eggs so soon after, what do I do? If she becomes egg-bound I wont even see her struggle inside the nest box.

 

[Zara]

I have a white faced violet hen in my family. I can see a bulge just before an egg pops out, then after laying she is like that and has bigger poops.

so just in case they are fertilized I have not removed them.

Bad.
Your birds are not the same species. It´s like letting horses mate with donkeys. You should destroy all eggs. Boil, allow to cool then replace. Do this as soon as you spot them.

Get rid of the eggs and the nest box. Try to discourage laying. Let her sleep 13 uninteruped hours. Don´t give her any paper or nesting materials. Be sure she is getting enough calcium to replenish what she has lost. Dark leafy greens will be good for her.

 

[teena87]

I have a white faced violet hen in my family. I can see a bulge just before an egg pops out, then after laying she is like that and has bigger poops.



Bad.
Your birds are not the same species. It´s like letting horses mate with donkeys. You should destroy all eggs. Boil, allow to cool then replace. Do this as soon as you spot them.

Get rid of the eggs and the nest box. Try to discourage laying. Let her sleep 13 uninteruped hours. Don´t give her any paper or nesting materials. Be sure she is getting enough calcium to replenish what she has lost. Dark leafy greens will be good for her.

Hi,

From what I was told and read, mixed babies are infertile but otherwise perfectly fine pets? I would have just kept them if any hatched, though it is not my intention.

When you say bulge before egg is about to come, do you mean hours or day/days? Does it look similar? She's had this bulge (as in photo) for 2 days for sure. She is as active and chirpy and curious as always and with her usual great appetite. Also the post-egg bulge, how long does it generally last? For sure not a month?

And yes, I already hid all potential nesting materials and will be removing the box with eggs.

oh and for diet, unfortunately she did not eat pellets or fresh food for most of her life. The closest thing I can currently get her to eat is nutri berries. She does chew on a cuttlebone and a month ago the vet gave her a calcium injection based on x-ray and diet.

 

[teena87]

and in terms of removing the nest box to discourage egg laying, should I really be doing it now that she may be ready to lay? Would that help in some way or will it just cause her to stress and lay elsewhere?

COULD she even be ready to lay one month after last clutch?

 

[Jas]

Could it be fatty liver disease or a tumour?

Most birds tend to pick out the seeds in nutriberries.

If she's gonna lay eggs she will, regardless of nest box and such. Remove anything that resembles a nest, no dark places, limit seeds and no mushy foods. No nesting material, you can do 14 or 16 hour night cycle if she is quite hormal. These are trying to kurb her hormones but won't stop them.

Try offering leafy green veg.
Steamed and raw brocoli, one on a skewer or through the cage bars, the other chopped. Peas, sugar snap, green beans, peppers, Kale (only a little) ect present them in different ways, steam them, dice them, give them whole, in a bowl, sprinkle nutriberries on it, eat it in front of her. Offer in the morning.

 

[teena87]

Could it be fatty liver disease or a tumour?

Most birds tend to pick out the seeds in nutriberries.

If she's gonna lay eggs she will, regardless of nest box and such. Remove anything that resembles a nest, no dark places, limit seeds and no mushy foods. No nesting material, you can do 14 or 16 hour night cycle if she is quite hormal. These are trying to kurb her hormones but won't stop them.

Try offering leafy green veg.
Steamed and raw brocoli, one on a skewer or through the cage bars, the other chopped. Peas, sugar snap, green beans, peppers, Kale (only a little) ect present them in different ways, steam them, dice them, give them whole, in a bowl, sprinkle nutriberries on it, eat it in front of her. Offer in the morning.

Thank you for the advice.

I doubt it could be in illness because she looked exactly like this a month ago when I took her to the vet for same reason (thinking she still has an egg to lay and may be egg bound). She had an exam and an x-ray to make sure there's no egg. I'm only assuming that the vet would have raised a concern after having examined that area and did an x-ray if there was reason for concern outside of egg. They are very good vets.

I would not even worry about it if I did not think that I saw the area flatten out within a week after last clutch and a few days after vet. Which is why I'm thinking that last time it may have been post-egg bulge and now pre-egg..

I'm just really wondering if it could be that it's just her body is structured this way.

 

[Zara]

Yea, Aldora could easy bang a new clutch out one month later..

I see I took a photograph on 21 jan 2018, 4 eggs on a plate to toss. Then on 28 feb 2018 I have a picture of 6 eggs. Then 2 apr 2018 4 eggs.

Lucky she´s a good eater, and we´ve made lots of changed with her since and it has helped a lot.
Have you tried giving sprouted lentils or sprouted seeds? It may take a couple of days to get her to go for them, but they are like magic

Some general info on sprouting .. thought it might be helpful | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Yes, get rid of the nest box now and all nest like things. Make sure she sleeps a lot at night. And during the day make sure the light is on in the room so it doesn´t go dim in the afternoon.

If she lives alone in her house and lays an egg on the floor then you can just toss it out.
If she is with the male, take the egg, boil it, allow to cool and put back on the floor where you found it.

 

[teena87]

Yea, Aldora could easy bang a new clutch out one month later..

I see I took a photograph on 21 jan 2018, 4 eggs on a plate to toss. Then on 28 feb 2018 I have a picture of 6 eggs. Then 2 apr 2018 4 eggs.

Lucky she´s a good eater, and we´ve made lots of changed with her since and it has helped a lot.
Have you tried giving sprouted lentils or sprouted seeds? It may take a couple of days to get her to go for them, but they are like magic

Some general info on sprouting .. thought it might be helpful | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Yes, get rid of the nest box now and all nest like things. Make sure she sleeps a lot at night. And during the day make sure the light is on in the room so it doesn´t go dim in the afternoon.

If she lives alone in her house and lays an egg on the floor then you can just toss it out.
If she is with the male, take the egg, boil it, allow to cool and put back on the floor where you found it.

Thank you the response. Yes, she lives alone, his cage is next to hers. I will try your suggestions, though for sprouts specifically I have little hope. It took me a month to get her to accept even nutri berries as food. Regardless, I continue to place the pellets into her food bowl and might as well sprouts into the mix.

I just really freaked out at the idea of another clutch so soon, I thought inevitably it will mean health issues. Your story with Aldora relaxed me a little, hopefully Mango will be fine. I will probably take her to the vet either way and see if they will find a need for another calcium boost or something.

Just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, even though she has an egg coming already, it is still possible to prevent the 2nd or 3rd egg by introducing above-mentioned changes?

 

[teena87]

In case someone else ends up here wondering the same...Mango does indeed have eggs coming according to vet exam. Due to bird not having been on a great diet and due to having had a clutch of 5 a month ago, vet gave her a calcium shot and some daily calcium & Vit A to give her at home for a month.