Our female cockatiel got sneaky and laid an egg in (of all places) a bottled water package. When we removed, she would just lay another. We let her lay 4 and replaced with porcelain eggs. What is the best method to remove those eggs? It’s been about a month and she is not abandoning.
Hi Tom,
She actually would have laid 4-6 eggs anyway, so removing the first egg didn’t cause the rest. I don’t think giving a bird artificial eggs works, at least not with cockatiels. The best thing to do now is take them and the “nest” away. Are you letting her roam around the house? When you do this, it actually encourages egg laying because it mimics looking for a nesting place. Cockatiels are notorious for becoming chronic egg layers, and if not stopped, will lay eggs until she dies from laying too many. So you need to make some changes to try to stop this behavior. If she doesn’t stop, you will need to take her to the vet for a hormone implant.
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
