My Tiel won't sit on her eggs!

[Raven4378]

Hi! My Tiels are about 1 yr old. They recently started laying eggs. They have a nice nesting box. They have no nesting material as everything I have tried, they have thrown out. The female will lay an egg, roll it around in the box and then after 12-24 hours she throws it out of the box into the cage. Am I doing something wrong? I am at my wits end!! Are they to young? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks.

[charmedagain]

HI the main problem here is that your birds are still juveniles breeding of any animal wether biord cat or dog should not be done till around 2years of age this gives there bodies and brains time to mature.

Cockatiels usually have there nest boxes lined with 2inches of plain wood shavings packed down which then the male will go in and make adjustments he will not allow the female to enter the nest before this.

If the female has been disturbed after she has laid her 1st egg she will usually abandon the egg or throw it from the nest especially if been handled handling eggs is best done after about 5days.

If the temprature or light in the room the birds are kept in is reduce to much this will bring her out of breeding mode and she will just throw any eggs she has laid.

At the moment the pair are sexually imature and should not be bred from until both are 2year old. Also at the moment the chances of the pair raising a family succesfully is small as they are not sure of what they are doing.

Are you prepared to hand feed all chicks every 2hours around the clock and keep them warm?
Do you have the time to do this?
How long have you had the birds?
How long have they been together?
Are they free from any genetic problems?

These are just a couple of things that you should think about before breeding.

Also she will need extra cuttlefish bone and mineral blocks as laying eggs puts a strain on her own body calcium.

If you would like further help or advice please feel free to email me.

mike