My lone lovebird laid an egg...now what?

jbail1026 · Nov 16, 2014

Hi! My lovebird Olly is a little over a year old and laid an egg. This is my first female bird and I don't really know what to do. So she will lay one every other day for 3 total? I already took the egg out of her sleeping hut. Is that OK? Should I wait and take them all out together?

Now, should I remove the sleeping hut and all shredding materials to discourage nesting behavior?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I don't want to do the wrong thing for her.

jbail1026 · Nov 16, 2014

Googled for some advice and I think it is sound. I replaced the egg and will leave her clutch until she loses interest. Then I'll remove the eggs and her hut and any shredding toys to discourage this in the future. For now, I'm going to cover her cage for a full 10 hours to shorten her day and rearrange her cage a bit to make it seem like an unstable time to nest. We have a road trip planned for thanksgiving and she'll be in her travel cage for that. I'll put her nest in that if I have to, but I'm hoping she'll be over this by then. Fingers crossed!

Mekaisto · Nov 17, 2014

Sounds like you have everything sorted

You shouldn't need to take her happy hut out unless she refuses to stop laying, and even then some birds just keep going! Since her eggs are infertile, she'll lose interest in them soon enough.

EAI · Nov 17, 2014

I've also heard that a fake eggs could replace the infertile eggs so the need of laying more won't be there and the smell of rotting eggs wouldn't be there too. (I'm not entirely sure on this, so if I need to be corrected, please do so! )

jbail1026 · Nov 17, 2014

I read that I should boil the eggs and replace them so they don't rot as quickly, but I thought I'd see how it goes for the next couple of days. She's already coming out of her cage and flying around some. I'm hoping she gets over this quickly! I think I'll put her coconut back in, instead of the hidey hut so she has a more complex environment, but hopefully won't see that as so much of a nice soft warm nest.

dokidoki · Nov 18, 2014

Don't forget to provide a little extra calcium since she loses some in the egg making process. Some birds like to nibble on eggshells or cuttlefish bones, or else you can buy liquid calcium which you add a few drops of to her water.
Hypocalcemia is more common/likely in birds that lay multiple clutches, and since Olly only laid one you shouldn't have to worry too much. However making sure she has enough calcium, if by chance she decides to lay again, it reduces the risks of getting egg bound.

jbail1026 · Dec 1, 2014

Update: I took Olly in her travel cage (eggs/nest and all) to Baltimore with me for Thanksgiving weekend. We got back last night and when I let her out to fly and get settled back in her home cage, I did not put the eggs back with her. I'm hoping she had enough time with them (almost 2 weeks) and while she hadn't given up on them, I didn't want to wait too long and chance them rotting or breaking. Also she hasn't been bathing and just looks so...not herself...over this. I'm hoping she won't be too agitated without them. I had to go back to work today so I can't be there to play with her and distract her. Has anyone had to do this? Still looking for advice on what I should expect or what I should do to make her happier sans eggs. Thanks!

jbail1026 · Dec 2, 2014

Olly update: She's back to pre-egg normal! I let her out last night to fly and she took a soaking bath in the sink, dried off, and got to work on tearing up toys. My little lovebird girl is back. Hoping she keeps her mind off eggs for a great while. I'm still looking for a good calcium supplement to replinish her stores since she is ignorning the cuttlebone. Any suggestions? What do you use?

My lone lovebird laid an egg...now what?

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