I was terrified! I woke up in the morning, she was setting there making some noises that scared the hell out of me! And she laid the egg! Just yesterday! I don’t know what to do now
She does not have a partner but I know it’s normal for them to do it even if they don’t have partners. But it was just one, should I be expecting more eggs to come? Pls help
Hi Giullia,
Yes, she may lay 4-6 eggs, one every other day. Of course without a mate they will not hatch, and for her health, you need to make some changes to discourage egg laying.
You need to do all of these things to discourage egg laying. 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.
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 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.
The webinars in this playlist offer additional ideas for distracting a bird from hormonal behavior and laying eggs:
Pet Bird & Hormonal Issues Webinar Series:
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
