Breeding Pineapple Green Cheeks

[Mikey]

Hi Everyone, I have just purchased two pineapple green cheeks and I would like to breed them. According to the breeder they are about 7-8 months old and I should start preparing them for breeding in January-February. They have already bonded and seem really fond of each other. The male is always looking out for the female and kissing and cleaning her.
I was hoping some of you could shed some light on a few questions.

1. Because the birds are bonded they are not as friendly as my other single kept GCC. Should I avoid interacting with them to much? I want them healthy for breeding and they wont even let me take them out without freaking out. I guess this is normal for a paired male and female?

2. How do I know that they are ready to breed? Any signs to look for?

3. What temperature should the breeding room be?

4. Should I manipulate the suns cycle with fluorescent lights or just let nature do its thing?

5. What should I feed them now to get them strong and healthy for breeding?

6. Anyway I can increase the likelihood of them breeding successfully if at all?

7. Why did the breeder tell me that it is not good to have a proven pair, sometimes a bad thing? Was he just try to sell me the birds?

Thank you

 

[Spiritbird]

Sorry I cannot help you with any breeding issues as rescue is more important to me. There are lots and lots of homeless parrots including conures that need homes.

 

[greycloud]

Your babies are beautiful! My concern is that they are the same color mutation and exact same age. It makes me wonder if they are siblings. Are they DNA sexed with proof? Are they banded? Having bred birds for over 15-20 yrs I always looked for proven pairs when buying. However, you also are taking a breeders word for it that they are proven. I would not suggest setting them up to breed until about 2 yrs of age.

 

[Mikey]

We have eggs and they are fertile WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[mtdoramike]

Fantastic. Shame we aint closer, I would be one of the first in line for one.

 

[greycloud]

Congrats. I still have to ask whether you found out if these two birds, same mutation and age were siblings? I hope all goes well.

 

[jew1187]

Congrats. I still have to ask whether you found out if these two birds, same mutation and age were siblings? I hope all goes well.

If they were siblings their offspring would/could have health issues right? This would be a major issue in trying to sell the babies.

 

[greycloud]

Correct. This is why I asked when she first purchased in Oct.

 

[samanthabe1]

Congrads, I look forward to seeing more pictures!
But I was also wondering if there was any chance of them being siblings?

 

[Mikey]

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback. Rest assure the pair are not siblings. The breeder told me that one of them was a hand tamed baby she never sold and the other she got from a bird show. I know this has some truth to it because the female was my buddy before she started laying eggs; she would hop on my finger and enjoyed hanging out with humans. The other (male) bird did not even know how to step up and would freak out every time i tried to take him out.

The funny thing is the whole time i thought the female is the male because she just seemed more aggressive especially when i had another GC outside the cage. She would puff up and show dominance, the male bird did nothing. It makes me wonder if aggressive birds are the ones that are usually female.

Anyway, I will post pictures as things progress.

Thanks

 

[MikeyTN]

Congrats on fertile eggs, being new parents you must observe to see if the parents are feeding them! You also need to decide if you want to handfeed. They'll be hatching soon so you need to decide what's best and have everything prepared.

 

[Mikey]

We are up to 6 eggs now and mama is sitting on them full time. The first baby should hatch in the next week or so. She is always kind enough to move over so I can take a peak.. nice mama

 

[samanthabe1]

Any news or updates on the babies and parents?

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm also curious if the babies ever hatched..... Update is needed!!!!

 

[Mikey]

Well folks... My dream of breeding a pair of Green Cheek has been shattered not once but twice now. The first clutch that you see in the pictures above had 2 fertile eggs, both died before hatching. I took the eggs out and the pair started again. Once again the eggs died right before hatching.

I can’t explain it, a virus? Temperatures? Humidity? I monitored all these things and no matter what I cannot get them to hatch. My birds have had the best of everything but the eggs keep dying on me. You can see that the egg was just about to hatch both times.

I am sad :11: All hope is lost

 

[samanthabe1]

Oh no! I'm sorry, maybe they are having a hard time getting out of the egg? Sorry I'm not much of a help since I know little about breeding them.

 

[MikeyTN]

It can be many things!!!! Sorry to hear that.... have you checked the eggs for any visible fractures? If that does happen, keep clear nail polish on hand. A dab on the crack if you do it on time will save the egg. Improper brooding by the parents can cause it too. While they sit on eggs, you could spray a little water on the eggs. So many different different things it could be...perhaps get a brooder? Give the momma fake eggs to sit on until her eggs begin to hatch. Then you can give them back to her.

 

[Mikey]

It can be many things!!!! Sorry to hear that.... have you checked the eggs for any visible fractures? If that does happen, keep clear nail polish on hand. A dab on the crack if you do it on time will save the egg. Improper brooding by the parents can cause it too. While they sit on eggs, you could spray a little water on the eggs. So many different different things it could be...perhaps get a brooder? Give the momma fake eggs to sit on until her eggs begin to hatch. Then you can give them back to her.

MikeyTN that was what i was thinking. Let her sit on the none fertile eggs while I put the fertile ones inside of a incubator. I just don’t know if she will feed the babies that way, imagine babies just showing up out of nowhere lol. I may give this a try.

As far as the eggs, I did not see any cracks of any kind on the eggs. I even put cups of water around the cage to increase humidity but I did not spray the eggs with water. She is always sitting on them and I did not want to spook her.

At this point I don’t know if it is a good idea to let her lay a third time. I may pull the box and let the pair rest until next January. What do you think?

Thanks

 

[MikeyTN]

I would let her incubate until she gives up. Or if they are infertile you could take the nest box down until next year.

 

[Ratzy]

What type of nest box?