# first time eggs, what now? o.0



## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

okay, so I woke up this morning, started my daily routine, feeding the fish, giving the birds food, and fresh water, when in the corner of my eye I noticed something odd. I occasionally put toys in the cage, but I didn't put this in there. 
On closer inspection it turned out to be an egg! 
what the ****? I feel like the Pokémon Day-care centre. "Your pokémon are doing fine, but ohh my! were we surprised, your pokémon was holding an egg!"
I have absolutely 0.00% experience with eggs, and I am totally un-equiped for this. My female cockatiel is still very young and neither of them are sitting on the egg. Further more; it's laid at the bottom of the cage, with neither parent really paying attention. (edit: on closer inspection I also noticed that the female has some yellowy stuff on her face(egg yolk perhaps?) )
I also noticed there was a cracked eggshell next to the still intact one, what does this mean?
Is this normal, or do I need to take action?
Also; what actions can I take to secure the next batch? What equipment should I need, and how many eggs should I expect? Also; what am I permitted to do in regards to not ruin any chances of the eggs? 
I was quite in shock so I just did my routine as usual, pretending not to pay attention to the egg. 
If I had seen any signs of eggs coming, I'd have cleaned the cage for starters, and what should I look for in a nest-box? what size, and nesting-materials? 

My female is also young and this is her first time, are there things I should look out for? 

in short; can someone give me a step-by-step guide on how to get your cockatiel's eggs to hatch? and what I should look out for that might be signs of trouble?


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## KerriMac0216 (Apr 7, 2013)

If the egg is cracked....Take it out it can harbor bacteria and make your bird sick....If you want them to have a clutch you for sure need a nest box...I am not sure about Pet stores in Holland the ones here have spacific Cockatiel nest boxes you can make your own...there are a lot of links on internet you want it about 12 inches high 16 inches long and 12 inches wide. Research research research.....My (and my birds) first clutch hatched two weeks ago and it is a adventure and I ask a lot of questions on here. My pair was bonded and started mating before i put up a nest box. But it cant hurt to try


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

well, 1 egg was opened and "empty" but a second one was still intact. They don't show any signs of caring for the egg though... it's just sort of laying there...? 
I wasn't even expecting any eggs, so I didn't take any measures at all, and I'm still quite clueless. I know about the nestbox now, but how should they behave? I mean, I have never seen any bird breeding, so I have no clue as to what should happen or what to expect. plus my female is only 1 year and four months, as far as I know. there might be a 3 month margin in that estamation. 
and I think I can make a decent enough nesting-box. Thanks for the help already, I really appreciate it~


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*I also noticed there was a cracked eggshell next to the still intact one, what does this mean?
Is this normal, or do I need to take action?*
-----------------------------------

Ok...a couple of thoughts. Since there were 2 eggs, when was the last time you checked the cage floor? Normally cockatiels would lay an egg every other day, so one of those eggs would have been layed 2 days ago. If there was no egg there 2 days ago and now 2 this makes me wonder if you have a male and female or two females that may be laying.

Do the eggs look normal in size and shape? This article does not answer your questions about nestbox sizes etc. but has some illustrations that may be helpful: http://www.internationalcockatielresource.com/candling-eggs.html


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## KerriMac0216 (Apr 7, 2013)

If they mate you will know....He jumps on her back and they peep and cheep and dont care who is watching....and they will do it often.


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

I most definitely have 1 male and 1 female; they were both sexed by a highly-appraised avian-vet, plus one of them as solid antracite/blackish under-tail feathers, and the other has striped under-tail feathers.

Further more, it could be that I missed one of the eggs yesterday. She was in that corner yesterday when I fed them back then. I thought it was slightly odd, but I thought it might just be a spring-quirk. I thought it was just that; spring-hormones.
The (surviving) egg is the right shape and they both are about the right size. 

And thanks for the article ^^

and yes, they have been doing that for a descent amount of time before this happened. I sort of knew what they were doing, I just wasn't expecting eggs because I read somewhere that the female should be at least 3 years before she begins to lay. (some little dutch information-book thingy for 1.50€ at the supermarket)

(edit: the female is now (17:56, on the eight of May, 2013) sitting on top of the egg, and I've just inspected the egg according to the little link about candling, and it appears to be healthy, as far as I can tell)


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

How old are they both exactly? It sounds like they are very young and may not be ready to take care of babies yet. 

As to step by step instructions, read through these stickies here: http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33 There is info on nest boxes, bedding, and everything else you'll need to know. They may not sit until the whole clutch is laid so don't be surprised about that.


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> How old are they both exactly? It sounds like they are very young and may not be ready to take care of babies yet.
> 
> As to step by step instructions, read through these stickies here: http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33 There is info on nest boxes, bedding, and everything else you'll need to know. They may not sit until the whole clutch is laid so don't be surprised about that.


the female is little over a year old, the male is about 6-7 years old(only a month untill he reaches 7)


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I would wait about another six months before letting them breed so that the hen has enough time to fully mature first.


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> I would wait about another six months before letting them breed so that the hen has enough time to fully mature first.


I know, I wasn't really expecting them to start laying already.. I'd have waited at least 3 seasons yet


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You can start them on hormone reduction now and it should put a halt to their plans. More info at: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> You can start them on hormone reduction now and it should put a halt to their plans. More info at: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330


yeah, that might be a very good plan, I will have to stop their evil diabolical plans! 
all joking aside, I was gonna do that from the start, they just sorda beat me to the punch ~w~
I will also be preparing for a later stage, when I decided to let them breed.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Just FYI, cockatiels don't always start incubating immediately. They often wait until about three eggs are laid and start incubating then. That way several babies will hatch at about the same time.


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## Uselessboy (Aug 28, 2011)

it's now been nearly a week, and there hasn't really been any noticable change in the single "surviving" egg. It's a still-born(if that's what it's called, or a dummy egg, not fertile) egg, but the male only on occasion shows nesting-behavior, and their hormone levels seem to have equalled out a bit. 

The female shows no interest in the eggs, and still masturbates on occasion, but no third egg is found, so I think the crisis is pretty much at an end. 
I've started a small money-saving project for a larger cage and a nesting-box for them, untill I have that, I'll keep them on hormone-low status, no masturbatory toys and no hormone-increasing activities or circumstances. 

The egg is still lightish pink, while it should've gotten ceramic white by now, according to the link, and while candling it, nothing could be found.


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