Our female cockatiel (has never laid an egg in 7 years) is sitting on the counter in between a mixer and a banana tree. She acts like she is sitting on an egg. There is no nesting material. She has no symptoms of being bound. She is eating just fine. She sleeps all night, on her perch, in her cage. Is this anything to be concerned about?
Thanks!
Hi,
She may be wanting to nest or is getting ready to lay an egg. If you let her roam around during the day, this can actually be a hormone trigger because it mimics searching for a nesting site. I’ll give you some changes you might need to make to discourage egg laying.
You need to do all of these things to discourage egg laying. This information applies to the pair. Keep in mind that to lay eggs, she needs longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. Your goal is to reverse these conditions.
Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening
Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.
Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.
Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.
Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she shows signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.
If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.
When she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only her head and neck – do not pet her on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.
If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
