# Advice - First egg.



## lilby_p (Jun 23, 2011)

Just a question...

My female tiel is coming up to 1 years old and her and the male have been at 'it' for months. I didn't think too much of it as there is no nest box in the cage and they haven't shown any nesting behavior. Well, surprise surprise this morning a little egg appeared in the corner of the cage...

Both tiels are disinterested in the egg and I haven't seen them sit on it or anything, but because they are a mating pair I don't want to end up with lots of baby tiels running all over the place. I read that they lay 3 - 8 eggs per clutch and not to take them away unless certain they have been abandoned because it could cause them to lay more to replace them, which isn't healthy for her.

At the moment I'm struggling to find dummy cockatiel eggs online in the uk. I've found budgie sized ones but not sure if these are big enough, plus with delivery they won't be here for days. So...

1) Will the cockatiels accept budgie sized eggs? Is there any easier alternative? Do dummy eggs work?

2) Also, I don't want the egg/eggs to develop if she continues to lay and starts sitting on them before the dummy eggs get here in the post - is there a way to stop the eggs developing?

Everywhere online tells you about what to do if you want babies, not what to do if you don't! I don't want to split the birds up in the future either because they are bonded and got them together as babies for companionship, so if I could just get some tips on how to handle the eggs in the way thats best for everyone that would be really appreciated.

Cheers guys!


----------



## angelmommy24 (Nov 20, 2011)

They normally don't start incubating until 2 or 3rd egg but since the mother is under a year ideal age being 18 months can you get ahold of fake eggs or try to boil the eggs if you remove the egg she will continue to lay bye switching the eggs she will incubate until she gets bored and then you can remove the eggs. Can I ask how old is the male? What diet are the on? I also believe once she abandons the eggs you can try long night treatments with atleast 12 hours of being covered. I hope someone else can chime in best of luck! Please keep us posted!


----------



## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Im not sure about the first part of your question, sorry.

You can boil the egg to stop the embryo from developing if its fertile and then give her back the egg.

Check out this thread, there are some hormone reduction techniques that might help, http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=2678


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> but since the mother is under a year ideal age being 18 months


This is based on personal opinion...18 months is a general age, but tiels can breed and raise healthy chicks as young as a year old. Its a breeder's preference really.

Boiling the eggs after she lays them and then placing them back under her will cause the eggs not to hatch and then you wont need fake ones. You would leave the eggs with her til she abandons them and then you can remove them. How many hours of darkness a night are they getting. And just remember, some tiels do like to mate for fun, so even if they continue mating they may never lay eggs after this.


----------



## lilby_p (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks for all of the replies - they are very helpful!

To answer your questions - they are both around the same age and coming up to / around the 1 year mark. They eat a cockatiel seed mix and a mix of fresh foods like broccoli, apple, spinach, carrot and sweetcorn each day. 

They probably get around 10 hours dark at the moment as we are temporarily staying with family and they are in the lounge. Although we have a cover for them it's not completely black around them till everyone goes to bed. I expect next month to move to a new house so I can have more control over the sleeping habits once there. 

Oh and they definitely like to mate for fun as well lol the boy is sex mad!

Thats great to hear that boiling the egg would work as I'm not convinced about the dummy eggs working! Thank you!


----------



## angelmommy24 (Nov 20, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> This is based on personal opinion...18 months is a general age, but tiels can breed and raise healthy chicks as young as a year old. Its a breeder's preference really.
> 
> Boiling the eggs after she lays them and then placing them back under her will cause the eggs not to hatch and then you wont need fake ones. You would leave the eggs with her til she abandons them and then you can remove them. How many hours of darkness a night are they getting. And just remember, some tiels do like to mate for fun, so even if they continue mating they may never lay eggs after this.


Ok see that's why I love you guys and your very helpful advice and knowledge


----------

