Ask Lafeber

Budgies problem

My budgies laid eggs two time November-december and February-march and it’s 5 April I saw a new egg in the cage when I didn’t even put the nesting box there.Is my female budgie going to die?

Hi,

She definitely needs a nice long break from egg laying. You did good by removing the nestbox, but sometimes that isn’t enough to discourage egg laying. I’ll give you a list of changes to make – be sure to make all of them! Sometimes you have to separate a pair, but first try these changes. She’s probably not at any immediate risk, but it’s not good for her to keep doing this every couple of months. If she is on a seed only diet, this makes it more risky for her because seeds do not provide much in the way of nutrition. She needs to be eating pellets or a fortified food like our foraging diets.

Keep in mind that to lay eggs, she needs longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The 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.

If 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 the head and neck – do not pet a bird 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