My cockatiel, Banana, is a chronic egg layer. She started laying in February. Her last egg was laid in May. She had a nest box and dummy eggs for her first two clutches, then I removed it when she lost interest. She laid two more clutches. I replaced them with dummy eggs, but didn’t add a nest box. 17 eggs total.
I gave her a mineral supplement (ABBA 2000) in her water twice a week, plus Calciboost once a week and once for every egg she laid. She also has a cuttlebone and mineral block.
I took her to the vet last month. He said Lupron was $1500 and may not work. He told me that hormone implants are the same price, but I heard on forums that they are cheaper. I’m wondering if he was mistaken / if you guys think they are a good option.
He suggested environmental changes: 8-10 hours of daylight, reducing protein (no seeds, foraging for 70% of food, feeding more vegetables), and not interacting with her at all. I did the first two, but I have been interacting with her normally because she lives alone and I’m the one who takes care of her. I never pet her back and I haven’t been preening her at all since the appointment.
The vet also suggested that I stop giving her supplements. He also said that I shouldn’t replace her eggs with dummy eggs anymore, just take them away as they’re laid.
She hasn’t laid any eggs since I started these changes, but she has been acting hormonal on and off (looking for places to nest, pushing her tail down, trying to preen me). I’m worried that she will start laying again.
Care info:
- She was on a natural solar schedule, but now I’m covering her cage at 4PM.
- Diet: Gloop with grains (kamut, pearl barley, farro, white/brown/wild/red rice mix, buckwheat, amaranth grain, small white beans, lentils) and vegetables (2-3 orange vegetables, dark leafy greens, 3 green vegetables, 1 herb, 1 fruit). Served in the morning with fresh vegetables and leafy greens. -- Before bed, she gets ABBA 1600 seeds and TOPs pellets.
- I've stopped giving her nuts, seeds in foraging toys, and sharing my food with her.
- Stopped giving her supplements. If she lays again, I'm going to give her a dose of calcium supplement for each egg because I'm terrified of her getting egg bound.
- She's outside of the cage all day, usually with me in the room with her cage and playstand. She spends a lot of the day foraging. I wrap her gloop in cupcake liners and place them around the room. When I can, she comes outside in a small cage to get sunlight for a few hours.
- She is flighted