My parrots keep breeding!

[9reasons]

Hi I am new here so hello everybody! I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with my situation. I really just want to have two pet Green Cheek Conures... the trouble is they have turned themselves into a breeding pair! They are on their third clutch. The first time was cute...I had four chicks, ended up selling them. Then they started straight away again and laid eggs, so I had four more chicks. I sold them all bar one... they all slept together, very cute but very noisy and the occasional fight so I ended up selling the last one.

Well my two were so sad and quiet and grumpy it seemed... within two weeks they had eggs again! Now I have two chicks that are about 16 weeks old. I don't know what to do, I don't want to make my two birds unhappy by selling them again, but neither do I want all these birds. I really just want my pets back! They are more aggressive when they go through the breeding cycle.

Firstly does anybody know how long chicks take to fledge in the wild? Secondly can anybody help me with regards to stopping the breeding? They love sleeping in their nest box so I feel mean taking that away from them...and wooden eggs? Arrghh! I just want my pets back! I don't think I want to be an on-going parrot breeder! It takes so much time as I am like a clucky grandmother and want to make sure they are all okay... then training...etc. Help! Thank you!

[Polarn]

I'm sorry to say but there shouldn't have been a nestbox there in the first place, and I think they will get over it and start sleeping on perches if you remove the box, but that is the first thing you should do to stop the breeding. generally no box=no breeding... I have however seen eggs on the bottom of cages, but only in small birds such as budgies and lovies. But I would remove the box and hope their not laying eggs on the floor...

[marie83]

I agree with Polarn. Remove the box.
Then if you do still get eggs, prick them, boil them and replace them into the nest or replace with dummy eggs. Don't worry about killing anything you are not. All you are doing is stopping them from developing if you do it immediately, they only start developing when the birds start sitting on them reguarly. Its a bit like our contraceptives, some of them dont stop eggs from getting fertalised but they stop them developing because they cannot implant in the uterus.

[9reasons]

My female used to lay eggs on the bottom of the cage, so I got the nest box for her as I wasn't sure what else to do. I have looked on the internet and taking the nest box from conures is not very nice as they like to use it as a 'bedroom' when they are not breeding, so I have decided to replace the eggs I think if she lays this time to give her a break... I will either treat hers or replace them with dummies. It does seem sad to do that, but I guess I have no other choice if I am being nice enough to leave them together, etc! Thanks for the help

[spiral]

i once had a bugie that layed an egg even without a nest box because she was very bonded to her mate ans she seemed desprate to breed but unfortunately with her second egg she became eggibound i was only about 8 at the time so i didnt know what to do but my father built her and the male a next box emeidiately but unfortunatly the female died before we realised what was happening.

Hapily i am better informed now

[independentminded]

Hi I am new here so hello everybody! I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with my situation. I really just want to have two pet Green Cheek Conures... the trouble is they have turned themselves into a breeding pair! They are on their third clutch. The first time was cute...I had four chicks, ended up selling them. Then they started straight away again and laid eggs, so I had four more chicks. I sold them all bar one... they all slept together, very cute but very noisy and the occasional fight so I ended up selling the last one.

Well my two were so sad and quiet and grumpy it seemed... within two weeks they had eggs again! Now I have two chicks that are about 16 weeks old. I don't know what to do, I don't want to make my two birds unhappy by selling them again, but neither do I want all these birds. I really just want my pets back! They are more aggressive when they go through the breeding cycle.

Firstly does anybody know how long chicks take to fledge in the wild? Secondly can anybody help me with regards to stopping the breeding? They love sleeping in their nest box so I feel mean taking that away from them...and wooden eggs? Arrghh! I just want my pets back! I don't think I want to be an on-going parrot breeder! It takes so much time as I am like a clucky grandmother and want to make sure they are all okay... then training...etc. Help! Thank you!

Hello there!

I'm so sorry to hear about the constant breeding problems that you're having with your parrots. Without knowing all the facts, as a parrot owner myself, I do know that if a pair of parrots (one male, one female, each) are provided with a nest box, then they're even more likely to breed. That being said, removing the nesting box might be the best and most sensible thing to do, especially at this point. Good luck. Keep us all posted on what else develops.

[Pricey_boy]

Dummy eggs at a parrot store Id say are the best idea and if they're paired don't seperate them because either way because they're paired you won't get these sweet cuddly pets

[liz]

I agree with no nest box. I also agree with fake eggs.

My daughters cockatiels are determined to nest. This would be the third year. Instead of new paper I am using cereal boxes with the insides up for the floor of the cage. He was trying to nest under the news paper. So far so good.