[Fluffball123]

Hi, not sure what to put in the title, but here is my issue. I am not a breeder. But my two house pets, a lutino(male) and a pearl pied (female) cockatiels are trying to breed.
So they started about a week ago, got hormonal and all that and there is a vanity bag in my bathroom where they usually play and sit, and now this time, have laid an egg inside.
I read on the internet that its fine to move the eggs around to the new environment (which is a cockatiel egg laying nest box thing inside their cage) but the female didn't want to accept this. By Wednesday after she didn't want to do anything with the egg, I took it out, and unfortunately had to drop them off at the pet sitter because we were leaving for a 4 day holiday. Having picked them up yesterday, another 2 eggs were laid in the actual box inside their cage, and when picking them up I noticed the female sitting on them like she usually would.
Now back in their usual environment in my house, I noticed she would not sit on the eggs again, I tried all sorts of encouragement but the 2 of them just keeps tweeting and doesn't want to go nest inside the box, and they definitely don't want to be petted either.
Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can end the breeding, or encourage her to continue laying eggs inside the box again (she's always done 3-5 eggs, that were empty, but nevertheless).

 

[Robert Seale]

So your saying when she's layed eggs before they have all been infertile? If your only going to be gone four days, that shouldn't be too bad as the parents would normally take care of the eggs by sitting on them. This IS rather an odd situation if they've both had clutches of eggs in the past as they SHOULD know what to do? Just to make sure I'm understanding you, neither the female nor male will sit on them? If this is the case and you would like these eggs to hatch, it sounds like you may have to pull them and incubate them yourself. Do you know how to candle an egg to see if it's good or not? Just Google it if need be.

 

[tielfan]

It sounds like the hen doesn't like it when the location changes. If you want her to lay eggs, just continue to keep the nestbox where you want it to be and don't let her have access to the vanity bag where she laid eggs before. If you see her acting "nesty" in any place where you don't want eggs to be laid, don't let her have access to the place any more. If I understand correctly, she laid eggs in the nestbox while she was at the birdsitter's house. So she does accept the nestbox as a nesting place, but was upset by being moved.

Look around the location where the cage and nestbox are now to see if there is anything nearby that might be upsetting to the parents. If they think there is some kind of threat in the environment (like a dog or cat running around, or anything else that looks dangerous), then they might not want to breed there. In this case you can change the environment to feel less threatening.

 

[Fluffball123]

So your saying when she's layed eggs before they have all been infertile? If your only going to be gone four days, that shouldn't be too bad as the parents would normally take care of the eggs by sitting on them. This IS rather an odd situation if they've both had clutches of eggs in the past as they SHOULD know what to do? Just to make sure I'm understanding you, neither the female nor male will sit on them? If this is the case and you would like these eggs to hatch, it sounds like you may have to pull them and incubate them yourself. Do you know how to candle an egg to see if it's good or not? Just Google it if need be.

It sounds like the hen doesn't like it when the location changes. If you want her to lay eggs, just continue to keep the nestbox where you want it to be and don't let her have access to the vanity bag where she laid eggs before. If you see her acting "nesty" in any place where you don't want eggs to be laid, don't let her have access to the place any more. If I understand correctly, she laid eggs in the nestbox while she was at the birdsitter's house. So she does accept the nestbox as a nesting place, but was upset by being moved.

Look around the location where the cage and nestbox are now to see if there is anything nearby that might be upsetting to the parents. If they think there is some kind of threat in the environment (like a dog or cat running around, or anything else that looks dangerous), then they might not want to breed there. In this case you can change the environment to feel less threatening.

Hi Thanks for the reply. Yes what you are saying is correct - she obviously didnt like the location changes. But now after 2 days being back home, they've accepted their nestbox in their cage, and she laid another egg and is sitting on that one for a change. So I think everyone is happy now. Thanks again.