Hatching Problem

[allawee]

Hello everyone.
I have 2 rosy faced lovebirds (zeri and zero). They are 9 months old. they behave like a couple, one of them (zero) always go on the other's (zeri's) back. last month I found 6 eggs in their box, after 23 days the eggs didn't hatch and when I opened the eggs they were not fertilised. on 5th January 2019 egg laying began again, today I found 9 eggs in their box!!! As far as I know this species lay 6-8 eggs only. I wonder if both are females. I candled the eggs today and the appear transparent (no signs of growth inside).


I am asking is it possible that two females behave like a real couple. for example zero always climbs on zeri's back and they mate. I have videos of them mating. but still, 9 eggs!!! and no sign of growth inside the egg???!!


Please someone advise me

[Pajarita]

The only way to know for sure is to have them DNA'd. People talk about pelvis separation but, in truth, it's not accurate at all and DNA tests are not expensive at all and very accurate so, that's what I do whenever I cannot tell the gender of a bird through observation. And, with lovebirds, you have to be particularly careful because females, especially overly-hormonal ones, get very aggressive and will end up hurting or killing one another.

As to two females behaving like a couple... yes, indeedy, it happens more often than people realize. I have had several same-gender pairs, both two males and two females. I currently have a very bonded pair of female amazons which love one another and have sex every single morning during breeding season and they both lay eggs so, yes, it is entirely possible that you have two females.

By the way, I strongly suggest you re-evaluate their light schedule and diet because they shouldn't have started laying so young or completely off-season. UNLESS you live in the Southern Hemisphere - in which case, the only problem is how early they started (birds that size should not breed until they are on their second breeding season) so the reason might be free-feeding protein which will make them overly hormonal and, in time, destroy their livers and kidneys. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you also need to re-evaluate their light schedule.