# Two Questions Re. Unfertilized Egg



## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

Thank you all who came to my rescue 2 days ago when I was freaking out because Sunny laid her first egg.  I'm waiting to see if she will lay another one tonight. Just 2 questions:

1) I made her a nest out of an empty tofu container which I put at the bottom of her cage. I put in shredded newspaper and put her lone egg inside. I noticed a bit of dried poop on the shredded newspaper which seems like an indication that she had been sitting on it. Should I replace the shredded newspaper with clean ones so she won't be stepping on the same dried poop all the time or is it a bad idea to keep handling the egg(s)?

2) I told my manager today that Sunny laid an unfertilized egg. He said "you have to boil it and put it back for her to sit on it because if you leave it, it will become rotten". I've never heard of that before. What do you think?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

it will be fine unboiled. you can boil it if you like, but theres no need. however, boiling it will make it harder to break. 

as for changing the nest paper.... well, sunny may not like it, she may attack you if shes sitting on them. she should come off the nest every once in awhile, if you notice it you can try to do it then, but you may want gloves  watch to make sure shes eating as well. she likely will sit on the eggs constantly once she lays the third, so you may want to put her food and water closer to her if you notice shes not eating enough or drinking.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I agree with Dally about boiling the egg.

Don't worry about the poop in the nest. Adult birds don't usually poop in the nest but the baby birds most certainly do, and the parents don't do any cleaning. So it's perfectly normal for the nest to be full of poop after a while and the cockatiel species is thriving.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Good luck with everything Annie with Sunny!


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

Thanks all for your advice and good wishes... 

In that case I don't think I will boil the eggs. My theory is if it ain't broken, then don't fix it.  There is only a tiny bit of dried poop in the nest so I will leave it for now, and if it really gets very bad later, I'll think of something then, because my theory is...oh wait, I already said it. 

Sunny hasn't laid another one yet but she's doing the loud flock-calling just like what she did before she laid the first one and constantly going behind the bathroom door (where she laid the egg) so it seems like she has picked that spot as the laying spot. It seems like she is trying very hard to lay another one but it's just not coming out or something. But her temper is much better and she hasn't attacked me today. When she was flying to me I thought she was attacking again but she only wanted to stand on my shoulder.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

keep an eye on her, she will most likely lay in the evening like she did the first one. they normally lay around the same time each time.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

No egg yet but it could still come tonight....this is exciting and stressful at the same time...she's happily eating broccoli right now.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

she may lay only the one, you never know. you've sort of removed her from her "nest" and she may not want to lay elsewhere.... dally kind of did the same. but i had thought she wasnt going to lay so i removed the box. not having a place to lay, she aborted the egg by laying it off a perch and didnt lay any others


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I don't want to alarm you, but it's important to know the signs of egg binding in case things go wrong: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/binding.html


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

tielfan said:


> I don't want to alarm you, but it's important to know the signs of egg binding in case things go wrong: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/binding.html


Thanks Tielfan, I will keep an eye on her.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

DallyTsuka said:


> she may lay only the one, you never know. you've sort of removed her from her "nest" and she may not want to lay elsewhere.... dally kind of did the same. but i had thought she wasnt going to lay so i removed the box. not having a place to lay, she aborted the egg by laying it off a perch and didnt lay any others


Still no egg. She's sleeping in the cage now. Everything about her is perfectly fine and normal and she only attacked me once tonight.  Yeah I'm beginning to think maybe it'll only be one. Today all day she kept going behind the bathroom door so I thought she was going to lay another one since she has chosen that as her laying place. Does that mean she is still trying to lay more?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i dont know to be honest. keep an eye on her, i think thats all you can do right now


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

She might be going behind the door to look for the egg she laid before. Cockatiels aren't great at math so she might not realize that she only has one egg and it has been moved to a new location!


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

tielfan said:


> She might be going behind the door to look for the egg she laid before. Cockatiels aren't great at math so she might not realize that she only has one egg and it has been moved to a new location!


Somehow I thought of that too. Does that mean I should ease her anxiety by putting the tofu nest with the egg in it back behind the door so she can sit on it for a month? I noticed she doesn't pay any attention to the egg that is now inside the cage. I think the bit of dried poop there is not from her sitting on the egg after all----it's poop that fell when she was on the perch above it since I realized I put it directly under where she likes to perch! Let me know if I should put the egg back where she laid it......


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## clawnz (May 28, 2009)

My two cents worth.
If she is a single female I would be trying to discourage laying. This means no nest. And start reading what else to do to put her off. Just incase she goes into laying mode.
Single females generally only lay the odd egg. But nothing is set in concrete.
You do need to keep an eye on her poops this can give some clues to what maybe going on. Large pooh means she is holding over night, normal could mean she is over laying, but again this is not always the case.
But when Tink got sick there was no sign of an egg and in her case we think the egg was further up inside her. They go down very quickly.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I wouldn't put the egg back behind the door. If anything, I would discourage her from going there until you're sure she won't lay any more eggs.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

okay, I will keep the bathroom door closed then so she can't go behind it until further notice. She laid a second egg yesterday morning.


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