Single female budgie - maturity and how to prevent egglaying
May 11, 2021 22:11:19 GMT
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Post by opalbirdie on May 11, 2021 22:11:19 GMT
Hello everyone! This post may be the opposite of what's normally found in this section? Let me know if I am better off posting to Budgie Health rather than Breeding.
I am the "parront" of a single female budgie. We brought her home in January, but she is likely around a year old or so. Up until perhaps the last week or two, she's had a light blue cere with white around the nostrils. It is now changing to tan/light brown/brown shades, which I understand correlates to hormones, sexual maturity, and the possibility of laying eggs. "In breeding condition" I guess?
Given that she is a solo bird and I have no present or future plans to breed her, I am curious what I can do, if anything, to both support adequate nutrition and good health, but also avoid creating "perfect" conditions for her to start the process of egg laying. Or, if that's an impossibility - I am curious what I need to do to avoid risk of an egg-bound bird and support her to safely lay and then get back to baseline.
Here's how I've adjusted so far:
Wakeup 8am, Bedtime 7-730pm. (Previously was up until 830 some nights but we are scaling back in an effort to curtail the hormonal surge.) She sleeps in a covered flight cage in my office, so bedtime until morning is quiet and dark.
Diet is primarily Harrison's pellets, Dr. Harvey's Parakeet Blend seed mix, and veggies (carrot, cucumber, greens, bell peppers). She refuses fruits entirely. I am varying amounts available to her through the day, never just leaving a mountain of food around, and including materials for foraging as well to give her a little "work" to get to the food. I had previously provided some hard-cooked egg as well as "Bird Street Bistro" blends periodically but stopped those as well, having read that both mushy grains and high-protein/high-fat foods can potentially encourage the hormonal process I'd like to prevent.
I did a full redesign of the inside of her cage, to shake things up a little. Moved perches, switched food bowls to other side, etc.
She's not showing any signs of "nesting" behaviors, but then there's not much available for her to make a nest with. The first few days when I noted her cere was shifting colors, she was very scream-y and just... clingy? Wanted to sit on my shoulder and yell at me the whole time. Not biting, not meanspirited or aggressive, just feisty. That appears to have passed though.
I find myself wondering - how long will the "in breeding condition" period last? Is there a means of observing when she is "coming out" of it? Will her cere return to blue/white or a light tan, or will it remain brown now from now on? Is there anything else I should be doing (or anything I should STOP doing?) to optimize my care of her at this time, knowing the goal is good health and no eggs if possible?
Thanks in advance for your help in learning about this new stage in our lives! Here's a current picture.
I am the "parront" of a single female budgie. We brought her home in January, but she is likely around a year old or so. Up until perhaps the last week or two, she's had a light blue cere with white around the nostrils. It is now changing to tan/light brown/brown shades, which I understand correlates to hormones, sexual maturity, and the possibility of laying eggs. "In breeding condition" I guess?
Given that she is a solo bird and I have no present or future plans to breed her, I am curious what I can do, if anything, to both support adequate nutrition and good health, but also avoid creating "perfect" conditions for her to start the process of egg laying. Or, if that's an impossibility - I am curious what I need to do to avoid risk of an egg-bound bird and support her to safely lay and then get back to baseline.
Here's how I've adjusted so far:
Wakeup 8am, Bedtime 7-730pm. (Previously was up until 830 some nights but we are scaling back in an effort to curtail the hormonal surge.) She sleeps in a covered flight cage in my office, so bedtime until morning is quiet and dark.
Diet is primarily Harrison's pellets, Dr. Harvey's Parakeet Blend seed mix, and veggies (carrot, cucumber, greens, bell peppers). She refuses fruits entirely. I am varying amounts available to her through the day, never just leaving a mountain of food around, and including materials for foraging as well to give her a little "work" to get to the food. I had previously provided some hard-cooked egg as well as "Bird Street Bistro" blends periodically but stopped those as well, having read that both mushy grains and high-protein/high-fat foods can potentially encourage the hormonal process I'd like to prevent.
I did a full redesign of the inside of her cage, to shake things up a little. Moved perches, switched food bowls to other side, etc.
She's not showing any signs of "nesting" behaviors, but then there's not much available for her to make a nest with. The first few days when I noted her cere was shifting colors, she was very scream-y and just... clingy? Wanted to sit on my shoulder and yell at me the whole time. Not biting, not meanspirited or aggressive, just feisty. That appears to have passed though.
I find myself wondering - how long will the "in breeding condition" period last? Is there a means of observing when she is "coming out" of it? Will her cere return to blue/white or a light tan, or will it remain brown now from now on? Is there anything else I should be doing (or anything I should STOP doing?) to optimize my care of her at this time, knowing the goal is good health and no eggs if possible?
Thanks in advance for your help in learning about this new stage in our lives! Here's a current picture.
