do budgies go in their nest box only at night?

[KikiEcho]

Hi all,
I'm a new breeder and I'm new to the site! I have two budgies a female dark brown cere and a male light blue cere. I have been seeing them chew on the nesting box a lot! and there are chew marks around the hole of the nest box. Have they been going in at night? thx for the help!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome! Since I am in my 60's I am not a new breeder! (5 + 3 gbabies). Other than that off topic post, no idea!

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi, I don't have an answer to your question, but maybe you have 2 females? The dark brown cere means she's in condition to breed, but you say the other one has a "light" blue cere? In most color mutations if it's light blue it would indicate female, either too young to breed or not in breeding mode. The blue cere of mature males of most color mutations is definitely blue, not "light" blue.

Can we see pics? Not just for that, but we love to see pics here anyway .

 

[KikiEcho]

thanks! Well the cere is a bit darker blue then i thought. Lol its more of a dark blue I'll post pics tomorrow. Thanks so much for the help!!

 

[KikiEcho]

Oh yeah, he is always chewing on the nest box same with the female

 

[KikiEcho]

The male and female are in the first photo, then just the male close up.

 

[KikiEcho]

Male: blue cere Female dark brown cere

 

[RavensGryf]

They're both beautiful birds!

Have you considered just enjoying your birds as pets, and stopping them from breeding? That IS an option you know. This link below is recommended reading for anyone who is interested in breeding their birds. I hope you'll read it and consider what it has to say, first .

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/54987-before-i-start-breed.html

 

[KikiEcho]

Thanks!! Well no I have not thought about that. Does he look like a male to you?

 

[RavensGryf]

Thanks!! Well no I have not thought about that. Does he look like a male to you?

The bottom pic is not the best, but in the top pic yes I'd say it's blue enough to be male.

 

[KikiEcho]

And I just want my bird to experience what its like being a mom.
I don't want to abuse her!! I have everything she needs to stay healthy! Plus I'm giving her extra calcium and time to rest. Also the female is older than the male. Thanks for the advice!

Thanks so much I'm gonna give breeding a try I put a nest box in the cage and they chewed the outside of the nesting box entry hole.

Do you think they'll breed p.s sorry with all the questions

my birds names are Kiki female Echo male

 

[SilverSage]

Yes those birds are opposite gendered whence is obviously good.

Not to be overly blunt, but wanting them to experience parenthood is a terrible reason to breed.

What do you mean by "you have everything you need to keep her healthy"?

And do you have everything to keep the babies healthy?

Such as... Thousands of dollars in the bank in case something goes wrong? A professional brooder in case you have to pull them for hand feeding? The time and energy and willingness to feed a baby bird EVERY HOUR if something goes wrong early on? A digital thermometer? A high quality hand feeding formula? A crop tube of the correct size? A gram scale with decimals? Egg food or an egg food recipe? Have you already taught your budgies to eat both fresh food and pellets? Do you have the knowledge of how to spot dehydration? Sour crop? Bacterial infection? Yeast infection? Mites? This doesn't even scratch the surface of what you need before you can consider yourself responsible.

You said the female is older; how old? How big is the cage?

Just the fact that you put the box INSIDE the cage shows you are vastly underprepared for this. How are you going to check the babies to intervene if there is a problem? How are you going to clean the nest box with minimal disturbance to the parents? Or are you just going to let the babies chill in their own filth the whole time? Or are you going to majorly disturb the parents and risk them killing their babies because of it?

What is your plan to make sure you are not adding to the unwanted budgies, these "beginner birds" who usually turn into "throw away birds"? How will you come to terms with the fact you are producing more budgies when you know (if you have even bothered to find out) that they are usually unwanted by the time they are 2 years old?

This is only a small sampling. SMALL. Of the reasons why this is a bad idea. And I'm not against breeding. I am a breeder myself. I'm just saying you are clearly not taking the steps needed to be responsible about it. If you go ahead as you are, you are joining the ranks of unethical, irresponsible, selfish breeders that we commonly label "back yard breeders" who are basically only small scale versions of "bird mills" because they do not prioritize the bird but instead focus on their own desires.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but you received polite advice and seemed to ignore it, so I am forced to be a little bit less polite. I wish someone had said these things to me when k started out. Did you even read the link Ravensgryf posted for you?

 

[Doublete]

I'm a 32 year old female. I DO NOT WANT KIDS.


Not every female needs or wants to be a mom.


Not a good reason to make the decision to breed your birds.