Egg binding in conures? Anyone have this problem?

[Ashley]

My fiance and I are about to bring home a GCC, but are unsure of whether to get a male or a female. There's a fantastic breeder we want to go through, however she's 7 hours away and only has females. We would prefer to do the drive, then to have one shipped. I've heard horrible things about females and egg binding, so now we're worried! Has anyone with a GCC had any problems with egg binding??

Thanks everyone,
Ashley

[parrotsareyay]

Well, egg binding is not common, but you can never be too careful! When females start laying infertile eggs (which is not THAT common i believe) just make sure you give it lots of calcium and special food for strength.

If you really don't want to deal with that, get a male. Both genders will still have the same conure awesome.

[Jenny]

mmm, not to be argumentative, even though I've never seen any statistics on the frequency of egg-binding, personally, I'd steer away from a female because of it. Even if your female doesn't become egg-bound, I wouldn't want to deal w/egg laying, period.

Serious physical problems as a result of raging hormones can be a problem for either sex though, so you have to educate yourself on minimizing their triggers no matter what kind of bird, or gender, that you get.

[Mum2rory]

Thanks for that Jenny. I thought that it would be normal (or nature) for females to lay eggs. Good to know that it is not a common thing for egg binding. You live and learn, thats what forums is all about. I dont know the sex of my tiel or cinn gcc, and that has been a worry for me but mine are still quite young (tiel 5mths, gcc approx 7mths). I do have an avian vet, so hopefully if it comes down to it, I have somewhere to take them, but for bidies sake, I hope there is no need.