Help! First time dealing with mating Tiels!

[gemkitty24]

Hello everyone,
It's been a long time since I've been on here, but I really need some honest advice. Today was the first time I caught Harley and Quinn mating. I'm not trying to breed birds but I really don't want to have to separate them. Are there any sights anyone suggests I should look at should Quinn begin having a clutch? I'm more scared for her than I am for myself because I've heard of egg binding and I don't want her to be in any pain or danger. They are just a little over two years old. I'm just super worried. Please help and thank you in advanced.:15:

Worried Human-Mom,
Rochelle

 

[MikeyTN]

Provide her with extra calcium supplement. She can still lay without a mate. If she starts laying, be watchful of her as they usually lay early in the morning or late in the evening. If she starts to struggle best to take her to a avian vet as it can be complicated to try to save her at home. If you don't want bsbies remove the eggs and replace them with fake eggs so you'll never have to deal with babies.

 

[gemkitty24]

Thank you Mikey. There isn't a nest for them because the vet said not to put one in there or it might stimulate mating. I guess that didn't help. Do you know where I could buy fake eggs? Thank you very much for your help.

 

[MikeyTN]

Have you tried the local pet shop??? Another thing you can do is boil them if you want to go that route. If they want to mate and have babies they'll do it regardless if there's a nest box available or not. I had a female that would lay on a saucer dish and incubate right on the saucer.

 

[gemkitty24]

Oh my word! So...when you say boil them, you mean like make my self some breakfast? Thank you for the interesting image of saucer babies.

 

[riddick07]

I think it was dummyeggs.com where I got my fake ones from.

 

[gemkitty24]

No. I didn't even know pet shops sold fake eggs. I will definitely look into that.

 

[gemkitty24]

Thank you riddick07. I will look at that site right now.

 

[crimson]

to help with calcium absorption, you need to provide vitamin D as well.
liquid vitamins are fine.

 

[MikeyTN]

When she does lay replace it with fake one and toss the egg before she incubates it for the embryo to develop.

 

[gemkitty24]

Thank you Crimson and Mikey. I'm going to look up some vitamin D, grind calcium into her food as well as leave cuttle bone out, and go shopping for some fake eggs and a nesting box. Boy...I'm going to have a lot to do soon. Does anyone know how long it takes before I know if she's pregnant? Thanks again everyone.

 

[henpecked]

Just because they are mating doesn't mean she'll start laying eggs. Especially if there's no nest box. I have a flight with about 15 cockatiels in it. They are mating often but i have never found eggs in the flight. If i were to pull a pair and put them in a breeder cage with a box i would have eggs in a few weeks.

 

[crimson]

as Richard said, some pairs never produce. they just don't connect,(if you know what I mean) or the pair are infertile.

liquid calcium is the best and easiest way to give ensuring they receive the adequate daily amount. you can buy it at any health food store, it comes in powder form, just make sure it's water soluble.(health food stores tend to be cheaper than pet stores)

 

[Nakiska]

3 years ago I rescued two cockatiels that I later found out are brother and sister...they have always been together...after they got settled into their new home with me, I thought it would be good to separate them as we'd seen them mating.

They were separated for about 4 months and Sweet Pea was in a cage with Chiquita. One evening, we come home and Sweet Pea was on the bottom of her cage, rocking back and forth and side to side, trembling, panting, and when I went to open the cage door, she hissed at me...I thought...OH NO! She's going to die! She appeared to be very sick.

She let me reach in an pick her up, I'm holding her...which she NEVER allows...trying to comfort her, which she NEVER allows, my husband walks upstairs and I said...Sweet Pea is sick!

I looked underneath her and seen this white "Bubble" and immediately thought the worst...I wasn't even thinking...egg!

My husband says...she's just trying to have an egg....all nonchalant like...I'm all...NOooo wayyy! NO! She's dying!

Well, I put her back and a few min's later...there was a little white egg. I can be soo dumb sometimes! LOLOL

So I get online, I read, I worry, I feed her calcium rich foods/treats...I always have provided a cuttlebone which she used a lot...every other day, like clock work she'd lay another egg on the bottom of her cage...no nesting material available. She'd go down there and move them around and occasionally "set" on them...kick some out, keep others...I read she'd probably lay a clutch of about 5 or so, and after 30 days I think I read, she'd loose interest and then I could remove the eggs.

Well, she kept laying! I kept removing eggs and leaving a few for her, and she kept laying MORE! In the end, she layed over 50 eggs! I should have taken a picture of them, I was marking dates on the calendar...occasionally she'd lay an egg for a couple days in a row, then go back to every other day or every 3rd day.

I really started to worry of her becoming egg bound especially when the last few eggs had soft spots....I knew this was a recipe for disaster if she didn't stop laying!

To my relief, she finally quit laying! But that was quite an experience!!

This December, she laid 4 eggs, 2 broke and I have 2 I kept for "décor" in an old bird nest we found years ago.

She's never went through a laying stint like the first time...but occasionally she does lay a few eggs...then she's done.

Lucky for me, she's a very very good eater, not much she turns her nose up at...so keeping her healthy seemed pretty easy.

She's 6 years old this year and is housed with her brother again.

As others have said, mating does not mean eggs...she can/will lay without a mating, they just aren't fertile.

Good Luck!

Toni

 

[Nakiska]

I forgot to point out...that I also did EVERYTHING I could to discourage her from laying!

After egg number 50 something...and when I started finding small soft spots on her eggs...which was MOST concerning to me...I think that MikeyTN posted something about completely separating her from other birds....leave her alone and don't give her any attention...other than her basic care of course.

I was just getting a special room all set up for Sweet Pea...when she FINALLY quit laying!

I can't tell you what a relief that was...apparently she knew she was going to be "cast away" if she didn't stop...and she didn't want to be alone.

 

[gemkitty24]

Thank you MikeyTN, riddick07, henpecked, Nakiska, and Crimson. I really appreciate all of the stories and information provided. I ordered a dummy egg set just in case she does lay eggs. I rather be safe than sorry. I'll be going out today to get some calcium supplements as well. Does it hurt Harley if he eats the calcium-rich food too? He should be fine, right? Thank you everyone. You've all been amazing and Harley and Quinn thank you too.