Help!!!

[marsoup]

Hi all. This is my first female cockatiel and her behavior is kinda strange? She lays an egg in her food bowl (we have offered her a nesting box and have placed her other three eggs in there) she has a total of 4 now and she sits on the egg in her bowl, she'll go check on the eggs in the box (at the bottom of her cage) but she runs right back to the food bowl. She is very bitey during this period and she screams and cries if I take the egg and put it in the box. This makes me feel bad and I give her the one egg back, what do i do?

Tldr: tiel is uninterested in 3 eggs in nesting box on the bottom of the cage, but is very interested in the one she laid in her food bowl.

 

[WillowQ]

Presence of a nest hole, long days, more than adequate food, and a mate (real or human object of affection) will stimulate a birds body to produce sex hormones and go into breeding condition. I think I would take out the nesting box since she is not interested in those eggs, and the box could be a stimulus to lay more eggs. It almost seems like she doesn’t see the moved eggs as part of her clutch.

How much sleep/ dark time is your tiel getting, and is she alone in her cage? She should be getting 12-14 hrs of dark sleep time to stay out of breeding condition if she’s inclined to be nesty. I would push it to 14 hrs of dark sleep time to try to stop the egg laying.

I would also make sure she has plenty of calcium because egg laying pulls calcium from bird’s bones. And I would not pet or cuddle her. If she doesn’t have a male with her, she is confused and thinks that someone in your household is her mate. That isn’t such a big deal until egg laying or hormonal aggression happens.

Just let her sit on her egg, and offer her food in another dish. Hopefully she will get over this with a few boring weeks of sitting on sterile eggs.

 

[marsoup]

Presence of a nest hole, long days, more than adequate food, and a mate (real or human object of affection) will stimulate a birds body to produce sex hormones and go into breeding condition. I think I would take out the nesting box since she is not interested in those eggs, and the box could be a stimulus to lay more eggs. It almost seems like she doesn’t see the moved eggs as part of her clutch.

How much sleep/ dark time is your tiel getting, and is she alone in her cage? She should be getting 12-14 hrs of dark sleep time to stay out of breeding condition if she’s inclined to be nesty. I would push it to 14 hrs of dark sleep time to try to stop the egg laying.

I would also make sure she has plenty of calcium because egg laying pulls calcium from bird’s bones. And I would not pet or cuddle her. If she doesn’t have a male with her, she is confused and thinks that someone in your household is her mate. That isn’t such a big deal until egg laying or hormonal aggression happens.

Just let her sit on her egg, and offer her food in another dish. Hopefully she will get over this with a few boring weeks of sitting on sterile eggs.

Hi! She is getting not as much dark time which I will switch her to. What should I do with the eggs? I don't want her to lay more to make up for a loss, and she needs a food bowl to eat out of? And yes she is a single tiel in the cage! I just want her out of the egg laying zone if I can, but if she has to lay eggs, how do I get her to not lay them in her food bowl? A smaller bowl is not an option right now as her cage is designed for a one size only bowl. Would me taking out the bowl except for feeding time help? And yes she has plenty of calcium, I've got that part right atleast

 

[Mizzely]

I would get a another bowl that you can attach to the side of the cage so she has easier access to food.

 

[marsoup]

I would get a another bowl that you can attach to the side of the cage so she has easier access to food.

I don't want to confuse her, so do I just let her continue this process and put the eggs in her food dish now and offer another dish like you guys have mentioned, or is it best to remove them and remove all nesting materials and give her 14-16 hrs of dark time? Or can I let her sit on the eggs and give her the extra dark time also? Thank you both for giving me advice I really appreciate it as I feel as I'm at my wits end..

 

[Zara]

Remove the box and the three eggs inside it.

Leave the one egg in the food bowl.

If she has made a nest with material in the food bowl, then add in another food bowl for food on the other side of the cage as Mizzely suggested.

Don't change the timetable now until the incubation period is over. Then you will remove the egg, the nest, change the sleep cycle, rearrange the cage incl. all perches, toys, bowls etc, if you can move the cage too is a good thing, or rotate it if you are limited by space.

If the one egg is in the food bowl and there's no nesting material in there, only food, and your bowls are large, you can just add the food in there. I have a pair of lovebirds with two (dummy) eggs in their food bowl, but my bowls are very large so the eggs aren't obstructing acccess to food. I have done this a few times with this same hen, and she abandons the eggs before the incubation period is up every time. Once she abandons the eggs, I wait for 2-3 days and then remove the eggs. I also offer veggies in a bowl or plate on the cage floor, so they have that food that is away from the eggs.

 

[marsoup]

Remove the box and the three eggs inside it.

Leave the one egg in the food bowl.

If she has made a nest with material in the food bowl, then add in another food bowl for food on the other side of the cage as Mizzely suggested.

Don't change the timetable now until the incubation period is over. Then you will remove the egg, the nest, change the sleep cycle, rearrange the cage incl. all perches, toys, bowls etc, if you can move the cage too is a good thing, or rotate it if you are limited by space.

If the one egg is in the food bowl and there's no nesting material in there, only food, and your bowls are large, you can just add the food in there. I have a pair of lovebirds with two (dummy) eggs in their food bowl, but my bowls are very large so the eggs aren't obstructing acccess to food. I have done this a few times with this same hen, and she abandons the eggs before the incubation period is up every time. Once she abandons the eggs, I wait for 2-3 days and then remove the eggs. I also offer veggies in a bowl or plate on the cage floor, so they have that food that is away from the eggs.

I'm sorry I have a few more questions, how do we go about changing her food every so often? If we keep the food inside the bowl that she is laying in?

also, Will she lay more eggs to make up for the "loss" of the others. Example, since she doesn't have the other eggs anymore and this egg is the only one in her food bowl will she start the cycle again? Thanks alot for replying this egg laying is starting to make more sense!

 

[marsoup]

Remove the box and the three eggs inside it.

Leave the one egg in the food bowl.

If she has made a nest with material in the food bowl, then add in another food bowl for food on the other side of the cage as Mizzely suggested.

Don't change the timetable now until the incubation period is over. Then you will remove the egg, the nest, change the sleep cycle, rearrange the cage incl. all perches, toys, bowls etc, if you can move the cage too is a good thing, or rotate it if you are limited by space.

If the one egg is in the food bowl and there's no nesting material in there, only food, and your bowls are large, you can just add the food in there. I have a pair of lovebirds with two (dummy) eggs in their food bowl, but my bowls are very large so the eggs aren't obstructing acccess to food. I have done this a few times with this same hen, and she abandons the eggs before the incubation period is up every time. Once she abandons the eggs, I wait for 2-3 days and then remove the eggs. I also offer veggies in a bowl or plate on the cage floor, so they have that food that is away from the eggs.

Also I worry, will she eat, will she go and drink water? She just seems to be laying on the egg and nothing else, thank you so much

 

[Zara]

how do we go about changing her food every so often? If we keep the food inside the bowl that she is laying in?

I just pull the bowl out and hold my dummy eggs on my hand while I tip any husks from seed or dust if they had pellets that day, then put the eggs back in, then tip fresh food in.
If she is sitting in the bowl and guarding it, and you have no way of getting the bowl out, add a second bowl for dried food and stop feeding her where the egg is where she is sat.

Will she lay more eggs to make up for the "loss" of the others

Maybe. But she has already rejected the others. Hopefully she will just brood the one she has and get it out of her system.

will she eat, will she go and drink water? She just seems to be laying on the egg and nothing else

She should.
You can monitor this by inspecting the drop tray.
Clean it frequently and line it with plain paper so you can read the poops and see if she is eating and drinking enough.
Water marks, may be hint of a colour or not, with no solid in means she is not eating enough.
Solids with little water mark around means not drinking enough.
I say water mark because the liquid will likely have dried before you check the paper, but it leaves a mark on plain white paper.
No poops means she is not eating or drinking at all, or is pooping inside the food bowl with the egg (unlikely but a small possibility).

You can also encourage movement by adding some foraging activities for her, or shredding material for her nest but place it on the far side of the cage, or out in the room and make her fly for it. You can also feed her fave treat through the cage bars on the opposite side of the cage or out in the room.

 

[WillowQ]

Have you got any extra food cups with wire hooks to hang off the side of the cage? You can also get round food cups that nave a plastic nut to fasten them to the side of the cage. This is the extra food cup we’re talking about.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I had an unfortunate egg food bowl situation with a different species. I had to offer a different food dish, because any food I put in the original one with egg,she pooped on it shredded to make more nest material