OH MYLANTA I THINK MY BIRD'S PREGGERS!

[sammisams]

I have two parakeets. One male Kai and one female Kumo. Well, recently Kumo has been very panicked. She wasn't entirely settled in to begin with being as how I recently got her about a month ago. Now she won't get on my finger, and Kai who is hand tamed won't get on my finger either. I noticed today that they have been going through a ton of seed recently, and Kumo has been pooing a lot more frequently. I decided to pick her up, and sure enough she feels a lot heavier than Kai. I have no idea what to do. Been reading a ton on budgie breeding, it all seems very risky. Her tummy already seems a little chubby and I took a peek at her vent today and it looks a tad inflamed. I don't have a breeding box or anything! I have noticed that they have bonded though. So my only guess is that she's with birdy. Will she lay an egg with out a nesting box? Is there a chance that she may already have egg binding? What do I do!? I feel extremely overwhelmed right now. The idea of little birdies is really freaking me out! HELP! I don't know what I should be doing, how I should start, and how to care for little ones. Oie vey! I am flipping my lid right now! All the advice you can give would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! Save me! HA thanks a bunch from Kai Kumo and I

[marie83]

Birds don't get pregnant as such but that aside put her in a warm fairly humid area as it will help her pass the egg. If she looks like she is straining for a while she may well be egg bound in which case you need to get her to a vet immediately, egg binding will kill if not dealt with.

When the egg is passed you need to prick it with a pin or boil it before returning it for mum to sit on. Try to do it discretely while she is feeding or otherwise away from it if you can to avoid stressing her. Alternitively get down to the pet shop or a local breeder and see if you can get hold of some dummy eggs to replace a laid ones with. This will stop any babies that you are clearly not ready for.

If you have any doubts as to whether the bird is trying to lay, get her to a vet to be on the safe side as she may have an infection or something.

[sammisams]

Birds don't get pregnant as such but that aside put her in a warm fairly humid area as it will help her pass the egg. If she looks like she is straining for a while she may well be egg bound in which case you need to get her to a vet immediately, egg binding will kill if not dealt with.

When the egg is passed you need to prick it with a pin or boil it before returning it for mum to sit on. Try to do it discretely while she is feeding or otherwise away from it if you can to avoid stressing her. Alternitively get down to the pet shop or a local breeder and see if you can get hold of some dummy eggs to replace a laid ones with. This will stop any babies that you are clearly not ready for.

If you have any doubts as to whether the bird is trying to lay, get her to a vet to be on the safe side as she may have an infection or something.

Alright, so you must think I'm an idiot... I know birds do not get pregnant as it is called being gravid. Also, I don't like the idea of pricking the eggs and or boiling them. This is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I don't think I could do that. I do like this idea of "dummy eggs" though. So possibly I can exchange my budgies eggs for some dummy eggs. That way they'll live. Thanks for the advice any how.

[sammisams]

SOOOOO Will she lay eggs with out a nesting box? Should I buy a nesting box, considering I think she is currently gravid? How can I be sure of this? The last question is pretty darn silly considering I'm not an Avian vet so I'm positive I myself can not be sure of such things. I digress, So nesting box no nesting box will there be eggs or not? She is plenty healthy considering she is eating well, and is not on an all seed diet anymore. Which I have come to believe should also aid with her passing the egg if in fact there is one in there. Keeping her in a humid area should be no problem, so thank you for that.

[marie83]

May be the text or difference in culture but at no point did I say you was an idiot.

No definitely dont provide a nestbox as that will encourage future laying. A good diet helps as calcium etc helps prevent soft shells which is dangerous.

They can and will lay without a nesting box. Only way to prevent is is by manipulating daylight hours- sorry but I can't give specific advice on that as I'm not sure on budgie breeding season months. Don't provide anything they could see as nesting material. Ration their food so your not overfeeding them, don't feed too many mushy food like vege mashes/eggfoods. Alternatively keep them in seperate cages side by side and only let them be together when it's time to let them out.

[liz]

My sister gave me a 3rd hand cockatiel. She laid 12 eggs one January. She was alone and had no nest. Each egg looked like she was going through child birth. She did not want to be alone and we had to talk to her while she was straining.

I felt so sorry for her that I got Bubba when her laying was over. I figured if she was going to go through so much pain I would leave 2 untouched in the next season.

Bubba would sing and Amy would dance to his music. One day she was dancing and fell off the perch dead. I have no idea how old she was.

That prooves that they will lay even without a mate or nest.

[sammisams]

May be the text or difference in culture but at no point did I say you was an idiot.

No definitely dont provide a nestbox as that will encourage future laying. A good diet helps as calcium etc helps prevent soft shells which is dangerous.

They can and will lay without a nesting box. Only way to prevent is is by manipulating daylight hours- sorry but I can't give specific advice on that as I'm not sure on budgie breeding season months. Don't provide anything they could see as nesting material. Ration their food so your not overfeeding them, don't feed too many mushy food like vege mashes/eggfoods. Alternatively keep them in seperate cages side by side and only let them be together when it's time to let them out.

XD I know you didn't say such a thing. It was just a title to get ones attention. Alright, so I won't provide a nesting box. Thanks. I was just unsure about the whole passing an egg with out a nesting box or nesting material. I didn't know if she'd just keep it in until she was nesting. But if she'll lay the egg without the box than awesome. I just don't want to encourage the breeding. I do want them to breed at least a few times... but right now I'm just very unprepared and have no knowledge of how to do so. Alright anywho, Thanks!

[sammisams]

My sister gave me a 3rd hand cockatiel. She laid 12 eggs one January. She was alone and had no nest. Each egg looked like she was going through child birth. She did not want to be alone and we had to talk to her while she was straining.

I felt so sorry for her that I got Bubba when her laying was over. I figured if she was going to go through so much pain I would leave 2 untouched in the next season.

Bubba would sing and Amy would dance to his music. One day she was dancing and fell off the perch dead. I have no idea how old she was.

That prooves that they will lay even without a mate or nest.

I'm sorry about your bird. I'll keep my eye on Kumo. Thanks.

[cmaygar]

SOOOOO Will she lay eggs with out a nesting box? Should I buy a nesting box, considering I think she is currently gravid? How can I be sure of this? The last question is pretty darn silly considering I'm not an Avian vet so I'm positive I myself can not be sure of such things. I digress, So nesting box no nesting box will there be eggs or not? She is plenty healthy considering she is eating well, and is not on an all seed diet anymore. Which I have come to believe should also aid with her passing the egg if in fact there is one in there. Keeping her in a humid area should be no problem, so thank you for that.

From my experience with a Quaker parakeet, the bird will lay eggs without a nesting box. My Quaker hen laid a number of eggs on a fairly irregular cycle from the time she was about 4 until she was about 18 or so. She simply laid then in the corner of the cage. These eggs were all infertile because she was never near another bird so I removed them and disposed of them. Please be mindful of egg-binding because that can kill your bird. There was a good article about egg-binding in Bird Talk Magazine (July 2012 issue) that provides a lot of good information about this topic.

Good luck to you and your bird.

[cml]

So possibly I can exchange my budgies eggs for some dummy eggs. That way they'll live.

Are you planning on raising the babies? Rearing bird babies is very complicated and shouldnt be done by anyone without A LOT of research, training and advice from breeders.

If you would, I think it would be a lot more humane of you to just boil the eggs, however harsh it may seem! This is said without any disrespect intended AT ALL, I only want the best for your birds and you. Breeding budgies isnt going to help anyone, there are already tons of birds being abandoned by their owners, budgies being one of the most common bird there is in the pet area. Please dont do this without thinking it through very hard, and doing what I said in my first paragraph, RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND ADVICE FROM EXPERIENCED PEOPLE. Otherwise you may end up hurting your current and possible future birds .