# abnormal cockatiel eggs.



## krystina (Mar 12, 2010)

After 2 years, I finally find out that my lutino tiel is a female.
She was egg bound 4 weeks ago with two eggs and was very low on calcium. We took her to the vet and got the FIRST egg out of her which was very strong, but infertile. The eggs was abnormally fat and uneven, sort of, really small at one end and then really FAT at the other end. She took a week to recover fully from the anesthetic. The day we brought her home, another weaker egg dropped straight out of her! Also infertile and in the same shape as the first one.

Her surgery left her with a protruded cloaca which was very swollen and infected. She got daily injections for a week and it worked wonderfully! The vet said that "most cases do not succeed and the bird ends up dying half way through", but she was showing big improvements by the second injection.

She has a male friend but he is only 2 months old, we are not letting them do any funny business till he's older.

So she basically had two eggs in her at once. We got her calcium shots and now she's stuck into her cuttlebone and calcium stick. Her diet is adverage. She gets fresh fruit and vegies every week. I'm trying to convert her to a pellet based diet but she won't budge so that's a big issue right now. All my other birds converted to pellets fine.

Just yesterday, she laid her 3rd egg. This egg was strange.. It was longer than normal and very skinny. She passed it with a breeze though.

I want to know, WHY!
WHY does she keep having abnormal eggs?
The egg shell looks as if it was stretched at one section.
Does it have anything to do with their parents?
- She was the only tiel to be born
Is it something in her diet?
Does she need some special suppliments?

She has NEVER had any contact with older males before and she hasn't had any mating contact with the younger male, although he sings to her.

She is a wonderful wonderful loving and caring mother.
We replaced her infertile eggs with fake eggs and she still huddles them under her belly and cleans them. She's got another egg coming in the next few days!

And just something else;
We have a hollowed out log as a nesting box. The male thinks he's a part of it, that he's the father, and he will sit at the entrance of the nesting box and attack the female is she comes anywhere near it. The male will go in there and sit on the fake eggs, and even climb in when the female is sitting on the eggs to shoo her out! I've ended up seperating the male for the time being, just until the female loses interest in the eggs, then I can remove the nesting box.

thank you


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## krystina (Mar 12, 2010)

Here is a picture of her eggs.
The two in the jar were her first two eggs. They're both very round and fat, causing her to be seriously egg bound.
The bottom egg is her most recent, from 2 days ago. The length increased dramaticly.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

a seed based diet isnt bad, but she should be getting veggies every day, not ever week. pellets supplemented into the diet is good but too much pellets can be bad. best offer variety.

also, remove the nest box after. thats what is causing her to lay. and i would not breed her in the future either. with a history of funny eggs and egg binding, i wouldnt risk it. why does she even have a nest box in the first place? just asking as i dont understand that there

the eggs may still be coming out funny because shes not recovering enough from the calcium deficiency. each egg uses a lot of calcium so she will need time to recover. but dont take my advice here too well because this is just a guess, hopefully a more experienced member can help there.


and are you sure the male is 2 months old? at 2 months old he'd be clueless about nesting and sitting on fake eggs...


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## krystina (Mar 12, 2010)

There was no nesting box in her cage to start off.
She got a egg bum one day and I had no clue as to why!
Then I remember someone telling me that birds only lay eggs in summer.
We got her a nesting box because 2 weeks later, she got another egg bum.
The nesting box allowed her to lay her eggs in peace and make sure she's as comfy as possible. I can't stop her from laying eggs, unless if I can pull $400AU out of my pocket and ask for a years worth of vacines to stop her laying eggs, and that doesn't work for all birds and can stop working after a certain amount of time.

She get's fruit and vegies when we have the money, in which they get fruit and vegies 3-4 times a week with grass 7 times a week.

And yes, the male is only 2 months old. We recieved him when he was still growing out his pin feathers.

So I should just give her a break till next season? She's got another egg bum already though.


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## Injood (May 8, 2011)

wow from the pic i can see that the egg looks like a stone !


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Your problem is soft chelled eggs which is a result of not the proper lighting needed for the body to assimulate calcium in the bloodstream. Here is a link with some info: http://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=19866

Get rid of the nestbox it is only going to compound the problem. If she lays she can lay the eggs on the floor of the cage.

With the condition of the eggs (meaning lack of calcium) she is at high risk for a prolapsed oviduct and also peritonitis.


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## igottafeelin (Aug 29, 2011)

I am wishing you the best of luck with your girl. You have done so much. but just from the reading I've done over the past few months I think taking the nest box out is the way to go just as srtiels says. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!


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