Lovebirds mating

Do pets fall into this category?
Please move if not!

My OH got me 2 lovebirds last Feb for my b'day, i named them gin & tonic & they are now part of the family :D

Problem is i came home from work today & DD found an egg on the bottom of the cage :eek: i've rung the vet but they don't know what to do! somebody is going to ring me tomorrow with the number of a bird specialist :eek:

i don't even know if i can neuter birds :confused: to be honest i assumed they were already done when i got them from the pet shop - how daft am i :o

any experts out there ???

according to my book they are going to lay between 4&8 eggs which will take a month to hatch. i'm wondering about just taking them out the cage & destroying them (they aren't baby birds yet, right?)

sorry ... probably not making much sense but don't know what to do :cry:

Comments

  • You could destroy the eggs but they will very quickly lay more which will draw on the calcium reserves of the hen. Continually laying eggs will make the hen ill. Why don't you buy/make a little nesting box and let them get on with it? You'll be able to give any offspring to the local pet shop.

    Our lovebirds hatched 5 chicks from one clutch. Unfortunately the hen was rampent and wouldn't leave the male alone. he ended up with a bald spot on the back of his neck where she kept pestering him. We took him to the vets to get him treated with antiseptic powder and the vet said she thought it was mites (even though the hen was fine). She injected him and half an hour later he was dead :mad: The vet told us it was because he was old (he was 18 months) funny the other lived to 9 years old.
  • Let them do what they have to do, There are always going to be people and places that will take care of the offspring as they are not your usual cat or dog and I am sure homes can be found vedry easily.

    Our local freecycle even has pets being offered.
    Loving the dtd thread. x
  • I bred lovebirds for a few years, they really do live up to their names!

    If you don't want them to have chicks (and please don't have them if you aren't sure you can find homes) then you can buy fake eggs at the pet shop. Every time the hen lays, replace it with a fake egg. She won't notice the difference. She'll sit on them but obviously they won't hatch. Eventually she'll get bored and give up, until next time... But I don't think this stresses them too much. You can give them a nest box if you like as if she's going to sit it might as well be somewhere comfortable, but you might find that she's very defensive (rightly so) when you're trying to do the egg swap so you might get pecked and a nestbox makes it slightly less easy to shoo her off.

    Or if you are going to let them have chicks, then a nest box is vital. One of my baby birds was hatched out on the cage floor (parents forgot to remove that one when I was away for a while) and his legs were permanently splayed due to having been born on a hard surface. It could have been corrected at birth with a splint but I didn't know that at the time. We had to keep him because we couldn't sell/give him away in that condition - he was a perfectly happy bird in himself though. Also be prepared for complications such as egg-binding or having to rear the chicks yourself if they're rejected - you might want to consult your book on this stuff!

    Remember to also give nesting material, eg hay or twigs from apple trees so they can strip off the bark. Give them a cuttlefish bone so your female gets enough calcium whilst she's having to make eggshells. You'll also need special chick food for when they hatch, it's a kind of yellow granular stuff that you mix in a pot with a bit of water to make it gooey and the parents then feed this to their young.

    And no, you can't have them neutered, they'd never survive the anaesthetic.

    PM me if you need any more advice!
  • thanks all
    i think i might try fake eggs
    have read up a bit on it & websites have suggested early bedtime (so they think it's winter) and moving stuff in the cage round will try that too
    i don't think i have the time to rear them as i work full time & as i read about it sounds worse than having a baby !
    thanks again
    lou
  • i can't believe that on a money saving website no one has suggested you collect the eggs and have em for your dinner :)
  • juno
    juno Posts: 6,553
    Combo Breaker First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    I'm hopefully having baby parakeets soon!
    Murphy's No More Pies Club #209

    Total debt [STRIKE]£4578.27[/STRIKE] £0.00 :j
    100% paid off :j

  • Avoriaz
    Avoriaz Posts: 39,110 Forumite
    Lovebird egg mini omelette.

    Yummy.:D
  • laikadog wrote:
    i can't believe that on a money saving website no one has suggested you collect the eggs and have em for your dinner :)

    :rotfl: tbh my dad suggested a bit of bacon but i didnt think dd would appreciate it!
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