Only one egg?

[molinash19350]

i have had this albino budgie for the first time amd i never expected this, but she actually found a mate. i have never seen them mate just him dancing for her and feeding her but, a few weeks ago i noticed one egg in a random nesting box she would always go into since she was smaller, i am not sure if this was her or another budgie. either way she does not seem like she is pregnant with eggs, and its been about 8/9 days but theres only one egg?

[Pajarita]

Budgies are the only species of parrots that is a determinate layer so it's possible that she is a one-egg bird or that she is hard-wired for more and did lay more but that they were destroyed. Extreme color mutations like albinos and lutinos (which, in budgies, it's called yellow spangled double factor or double spangled yellow) are usually a product of inbreeding and a lot of them end up with physical problems... Now, as to her 'looking pregnant' well, budgies lay an egg a day so, although they do get what we call 'egg butt' you would have to inspect her very early in the am (before she lays it because they lay very early in the am and it only takes 20 minutes for them to lay it) to actually see it.

Now, I don't know your situation, set-up or anything but, if I were you, I would seriously consider not breeding budgies. People think of them as disposable birds or good for experimenting (as in 'to teach the kids responsibility' or 'to see the miracle of life' in breeding) but they are beings with feelings and needs and there is a HUGE overpopulation of them (I have taken in birds that were left in incinerator rooms and put on top of the garbage cans for disposal) so finding good homes for them (and although everybody thinks they KNOW how to care for them, in reality, very few people do) is not easy. People don't allow them to come out to fly, they free-feed them seed and little else, keep them at a human light schedule or, worse still, cover their cages in the middle of the day, etc. There is no species of parrot more abused and neglected than budgies!

[molinash19350]

i totally agree with you, i have given away atleast 7/8, i have less then 15 and i havent seen any of them breeding which is a good sign for me. Thank you.