Any bird experts here?

[Lyn]

I have a 7-8 year old female lutino Cockatiel. She's NEVER had a mate in all her life but she decides she's going to start laying eggs now. She's layed 2 thus far, 3 days apart. The first egg I accidentally broke since I didn't even realize it was there. The second I have left with her since I know your suppose to leave them until they loose interest in them or she will replace them. She's not sitting on it (it's cold), but is 'protective' of it. I'm the only one that get anywhere near it or her but she loves me. LOL Honestly I think she thinks I'm her mate. 

I had this happen previously with my first cockatiel and she eventually layed herself to death. She ended up with a prolapse (the egg was deformed and still attached) and died on the way to the vet. All my attempts to stop her laying were obviously not successful.

So now of course I'm worried that since she's started laying I'm not going to be able to stop her. I hope this is the first and last time she lays but in my experience this is just the beginning.

I know she'll more than likely finish laying this clutch regardless... but any suggestions to get her to stop laying anymore would be awesome.

Don't mind the cage.. I broke the bottom on the other one. This cage is temporary. And don't mind the messy cage I was about to clean her cage this morning when I found the egg and thought I'd post here first.

[yellow_dog_mom]

I'm not a bird expert..but I just wanted to say she is so pretty! I love her soft sweet yellow face and her orange blush!

[Lyn]

Thanks, I'll send her a pm to this thread.

I can quite honestly say this will be my last female bird. I just hope I can her to stop. 

I usually take her out of her cage while I'm on the puter and she's plays and helps me type. I can't even do that anymore since she's so determined that I'm going to mate with her. This is what I get now... I'm too busy ducking and dodging her advances. LOL Nothing like a bird butt in your face or a wing in the eye to break my concentration. LMAO

[Lyn]

Thanks. I have started to change her day/night cycle. Funny thing is that her cage is located in the rec-room which is a fairly dark area. When the light is off during the day it simulates sundown. I can't cover her cage because when I do she has pretty severe night frights so I've opted for keeping the room as dark as I can and using the room light to simulate daytime.

I've had no luck getting her off a seed diet. I've tried since I got her. Right now she's getting a mix of pellets and seed. Of course the pellets are thrown to the floor. I will keep trying though.

Since I accidentally found and broke the first egg I haven't let her have any one on one time with me. She won't spend time with anyone else, we tried. I wouldn't normally take the eggs but I totally smashed that one since I wasn't exactly expecting to find it. The second one is still in the cage with her though.

I will remove the paper that in the bottom, she is chewing it up but hasen't made a 'nest', she's just shredding it.

I haven't tried rotating her toys and perches. I will do that right now.

Thanks!

[ZooCrew]

What a pretty lutino you've got there.  I've been lucky, as I've only had 1 female so far (although my 2 conures are unsexed so who knows?).  I had always suspected her a female but I had her for 9-10 yrs before she laid a single egg (after being boarded before we moved she bonded with the cockatoo there......... ..lol).  Never laid another egg again despite getting horny around me on a regular basis......... .lol.

I agree with everything here and second adding calcium rich foods to the diet.  When they are laying eggs, it depletes the calcium fast (as it does with all egg laying species).  If they don't have enough calcium, it can cause problems and either the eggs won't form properly, or it could cause them to get egg bound.

I don't want to freak you out though.  My sister apparently always picks out female birds (she's had 5, and they've all been females....... ....lol).  She's never changed their diet and luckily so far there hasn't been any problems and they've all laid eggs.

Good luck with your bird.

[Lyn]

Thanks.

She's been bonded to me since we got her so I guess I was lucky that she hasen't layed anything up until now.

I'll try offering her some other foods. She generally only eats seed, which I know is bad but she so picky. She even hates sunflower seeds, they get flinged all over my floor. She was raised on budgie seed (not my doing) so she only eat small seeds. I purposely buy her the seed that has pellets and fruit mixed in hoping she may be at least trying them.

A little backstory on her.... I came across her at the not to good small pet store in my area. She had what looked like cigarette burns under her wings.. and a really bad chop job for a wing clip instead of clipping the flight feathers they cut straight across ALL the the wing feathers leaving her nubs for wings.. I was horrified, plus she had a crooked beak (top goes to the right, bottom to the left) They also told me she was a young male. Turns out she was more like a year old female.

Hmmm.. I was just looking at some old and new pics of her and her beak seems to have straightened itself. The July 16th 2003 pic you can see how crooked her beak is.(don't tell hubby I posted that pic.. he hates those tats, lol) now the second pic was from 2007..

[Lyn]

I think I may have figured out why she's started to lay now. I usually feed her nightly just before I go to bed. For the past 3 weeks or so I've been feeding her in the morning and at night. Apparently the 'over-abundance' of food can trigger laying also. DOH!

Since that's the only thing I've done differently I'm thinking it might have been 'the' trigger.

I've also pretty much had to resort to not touching her at all. She calls for me all day long. It's awkward and frustrating.

[Butts Mom]

The only thing I would add is to watch her for signs of egg binding. There could well be at least one more egg,Tiels commonly lay 3. If you can't get to her to eat any pellets,mineral block or any real calcium rich foods PM me your addy and I will send you some calcium powder that can be sprinkled on her seed mix. You can tell by the egg shell if she is low on calcium, it will be a very soft shell. And they can also develop a head twitch if they are low on calcium.

[lorim2]

Hey Lyn. I can totally sympathize with the seed based diet.  My cockatoo would only eat seeds when I got him.  I tried everything and he would just throw it at me. I didnt give up and finally think I have found something he likes. I went to a really good bird place and talked to a gentleman there. They had a cockatoo there that wouldnt eat either so he gave me a small bag of eclectus blend they have that has all kinds of good stuff and although he will still throw some of it, the majority he eats.  Love papaya and pineapple, but throws the dried bananas.  A little pricey but I just buy once a month and put it in the freezer and used when I need.  Hope things start going better for your little guy!

[Lyn]

Thanks guys!

She did lay 3 counting the one I broke. They were solid and normal shape not soft. I'm pretty sure she's done now, her behaviour is back to normal.

Now I'm just hoping that I can curb any future urges. lol I'm only give her enough seeds for a meal morning and night, before I was filling her dish, and she's on a strict night schedule. So I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't lay anymore. I'll be keeping a close eye on her now. I must have missed the initial signs since the first egg was a complete surprise.

Butt's Mom, I bought a cuttlebone and she is eating it. Thanks goodness. Thanks for the offer though.