My single 11 year old Sun is laying eggs for the 2nd year in a row (never laid before). Last year she laid 3, this year we are up to 7! I have tried pulling the eggs, I have tried leaving the eggs, I have tried changing her sleeping area. I’m not sure when it’s going to be too many eggs! The last one seems bigger then the others also…
Hi Arielle,
Once a year isn’t a problem with egg laying, and 7 eggs isn’t necessarily a double clutch. If she lays more than 8, then you should be concerned and you may need to take her to an avian vet for a hormone shot or implant. You mentioned something about a sleeping area? While some owners use a smaller cage in a different room as a sleep cage, this is done when the main cage is in the family room and they stay up later then they want the bird to stay up. Your bird should not have a nest, box, bird hit or tent or any type of “bed”. Unless her cage is in a family room, she should just sleep on a perch in her regular cage. There are things you can do to reduce or prevent egg laying. Most important is what I already mentioned, no nest or anything she can use as a nest. If you let her sit on the eggs, she can do so on the cage floor or the metal floor grate if there is one. She should not have anything she can shred like paper or cardboard. When you handle her, you should limit contact to head and neck scratches. If you pet her on the body, this can be a hormone trigger. You can move her cage to another place in the room about once a week, and also rearrange the toys. Also limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering her cage early in the evening. Again if she only does this once a year, this is fine as this is what she would do in the wild.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
