# Breeding box introduction



## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

My female budgie is laying eggs from a perch and they drop to the cage floor and break. I installed a breeding box nd I’m wondering if it takes time for her and her mate to understand how to use it? In the meantime she continues to lay the egg from the perch. She’s four years old and this is the first time she is producing eggs. The nesting box is at the top of the cage per instructions. Will she ever use this or is it just a foreign object she’ll avoid?


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

Hi there!
First are you trying to breed them?
Unless you are an experienced breeder, you should be doing everything that you can to discourage breeding.

Budgies that do not breed are far happier and healthier overall. And further, budgies that breed do “not” make for good pets. They are typically hormonal, defensive, territorial and aggressive…


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

You should remove the nest box and do everything to discourage mating and egg laying, a 4 year old is too old to breed and complications can occur. Please read this When We Don't Want Eggs!


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## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

Cody said:


> You should remove the nest box and do everything to discourage mating and egg laying, a 4 year old is too old to breed and complications can occur. Please read this When We Don't Want Eggs!


Thank you. I wasn’t trying to breed and since these two birds have been together for 4 years without laying eggs I hadn’t given much thought to it. I thought I was giving them somewhere to lay the eggs safely by providing a nesting box now that the female had laid 4 eggs over the coarse of a month. I was worried I wasn’t giving them a chance to be parents. I’m not going to separate them because they are sweet together. I don’t know what changed but I guess I’ll see what happens moving forward.


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

Chicks54 said:


> Thank you. I wasn’t trying to breed and since these two birds have been together for 4 years without laying eggs I hadn’t given much thought to it. I thought I was giving them somewhere to lay the eggs safely by providing a nesting box now that the female had laid 4 eggs over the coarse of a month. I was worried I wasn’t giving them a chance to be parents. I’m not going to separate them because they are sweet together. I don’t know what changed but I guess I’ll see what happens moving forward.


There are things that you can do to discourage breeding and keep them together 
Remove the nest box for starters, and rearrange the cage frequently. 
Limit the amount of light that the girl gets when she’s in breeding condition (crusty brown cere).


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being*
*Locating an Avian Veterinarian*

*Your budgies are too old to be allowed to breed. Allowing a budgies over 4 to breed is VERY hard on their body.
You really need to remove the nest box right away, dispose of any eggs and do everything necessary to discourage breeding.
This is what will be best for your birds' health and well-being.*

*A Heartfelt Plea to All Members*
*Tips For Discouraging Breeding*
*Before You Ever Consider Breeding Your Budgies*
*Guidance for Breeding Advice Threads*

*Rearranging their cage frequently will help tremendously to discourage breeding.
Please be sure you never put a nest box or anything that could be used as a nesting site in their cage.
When they come into condition, you need to limit the light they get to 8 hours a day and limit the amount of protein in their diet.*

*A Healthy Diet for your Budgie*
*Quality Seed Mix*
*CuttleBones, Mineral Blocks and Manu Clay Roses*
*Safe Foods for Budgies*
*The Truth about GRIT*

*Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and all of the Stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.
Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.
(Stickies are threads “stuck” at the top of each forum sub-section)

These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.*

*SITE GUIDELINES*
*Posting on the Forums*
*Let's Talk Budgies!*
*FAQ*
*Articles*
*Be Prepared for Veterinary Care Expense*
*Avian First Aid*
*Quarantine IS Necessary!*
*Cage sizes.*
*Essentials to a Great Cage*
*Dangers to Pet Birds*
*Resource Directory*


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forums! 

You've been given excellent advice to ensure your budgies' optimal health and well being. Please do everything you can to discourage breeding at this time.

You've come to the best place to learn even more about budgies! 

Please be sure to read through the links provided above to ensure you're up to date on the best of budgie care practices. If you have any questions after doing so, please be sure to ask as we'd love to help. 

Best wishes! 👋


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## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

Hello,
Can I get some direction with my pair of budgies. I’ve had my male for 8 years and my female for 4 years. My original female who was the same age as my male died when she was 4 of unknown cause. I didn’t get my birds for breeding and didn’t know the gender at the time I got them. The female I now have has started laying eggs! After 4 years I never thought this was a possibility. I don’t know if it took this long for them to bond but they are now exhibiting a strong connection. I am in total bewilderment. I put a nesting box on they’re cage but she doesn’t seem to know what it’s for. The eggs drop and break from the perch. It breaks my heart to see this happening. She lays an egg every other day! It doesn’t seem to be bothering her at all. She’s eating her normal diet as well as calcium in her grit and cuttlebone. She’s laid 15 eggs in a little over a month. I bought fake eggs to see if this would help reduce the amount of eggs she lays but it hasn’t slowed her down. I don’t handle my birds so I don’t want to stress them out by catching one of them and separating them into another cage which I don’t have room for. I would really like to hear from an expert on budgies! Please advise me.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being

You were given the information you needed 27 days ago and have obviously not followed it.
You are putting the female budgie's health at severe risk by allowing her to continue laying.

You need to remove the nest box immediately. Your budgies are both too old to allow them to breed.
You need to do EVERYTHING necessary to prevent breeding and you need the female to stop laying.
No matter if you are giving her calcium via cuttlebones, she is depleting her body severely and this is going to take a huge toll on her health.

You need to remove all grit from the cage. Budgies do NOT need grit and it can quickly lead to crop impaction.
Calcium should be obtained from the cuttlebone and calcium supplements such as Calcivet or Calciboost.
The Truth about GRIT*

*A Heartfelt Plea to All Members*
*Tips For Discouraging Breeding*
*Before You Ever Consider Breeding Your Budgies*
*Guidance for Breeding Advice Threads*


*It would be BEST for the budgies to separate them into individual cages but it does not sound as if you are willing to do so.
You may have no choice if you are unable to get the female to stop laying, however.

1. Remove the nest box NOW. Do not have anything in the cage which could be used as a nesting site.*
*2. Rearrange the cage every other day. That means move everything in the cage to a different position.
3. Limit the amount of daylight to no more than 8 hours per day. 
You should be covering the cage at night. Top, three sides and 1/3 of the way down the front and have a night light in the room to help prevent night frights.*
*4. Cut back on the amount of protein in their diet.

Do you have an Avian Vet?

If not, you need to find one or, at minimum, an exotic pet veterinarian who has experience dealing with small birds.*
*Locating an Avian Veterinarian*

*If you are unable to get the budgie to stop laying within a week, then you need to separate the two budgies into individual cages and put them in different rooms to help get the hormonal urges back under control.
Additionally, you should take the female in for an appointment with the Avian Vet to see if Lupron injections are advisable at this point in time.

What are you feeding the birds? Do they have a healthy diet including pellets, a quality seed mix and vegetables with an occasional fruit treat?*


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## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> *The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being
> 
> You were given the information you needed 27 days ago and have obviously not followed it.
> You are putting the female budgie's health at severe risk by allowing her to continue laying.
> ...


Okay I will remove the nesting box but I don’t know if that has any bearing on the situation since I only placed one on the cage after the eggs were being laid. They don’t use it so I didn’t think it mattered to them that it was there. I do follow a healthy diet. I have always had grit on hand for the full 8 years and nothing detrimental to them has happened. I will read up on grit because I don’t want to harm my birds. I do cover the birds at night for about 10-12 hours. I’ve been afraid to separate them because I never handle them and I know they will freak out if I attempt to catch either one of them. I want to avoid this added stress if possible. I honestly thought at some point she’ll stop laying eggs but that hasn’t happened yet. I’ll figure it out eventually but do appreciate the suggestions! Thanks


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*If you do not follow the steps given then things will continue as they are.

You need to cut their daylight hours back to no more than 8 hours per day.
Rearrange the cage frequently.
Remove the grit -- it is NOT necessary for budgies and you are putting them at risk for crop impaction by using it.
Use proper calcium supplements as indicated.

The added "stress of catching and separating the budgies" is worth it to ensure the health, well-being and longevity of the female.
The stress that continual laying is taking on her is soon going to overwhelm her body and her health will deteriorate to the point she will not survive.

Take her to an Avian Vet to see if hormone injections are advisable at this time.*


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## wmcburke (Sep 30, 2021)

I want to underscore @FaeryBee 's excellent advice to which you seem resistant. If you do not take the recommended steps to break your hen's egg-laying cycle, she will not survive and likely die from hypocalycemia. So your choice is between a budgie that might get annoyed with you (and will likely get over it in short order) or a dead one.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

I might add that if the egg laying is not stopped and she continues it is possible that she could end up with a cloacal prolapse which is an emergency situation and requires immediate treatment.


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## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

Cody said:


> I might add that if the egg laying is not stopped and she continues it is possible that she could end up with a cloacal prolapse which is an emergency situation and requires immediate treatment.


Ok with the exception of separating the birds I have removed the nesting box, removed the grit, replaced all the toys with new toys. Rearranged the food cups and added new fruit. Fingers crossed that this will help. Last resort will be separating them.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Vegetables are healthier for budgies than fruit.
Fruit is too high in sugar content to be offered except sparingly as a treat.*

*Safe Foods for Budgies*

*If your female continues to lay after one week, then you need to separate the two birds and get the female to an Avian Veterinarian for an evaluation.
At that point, you need to ask about Lupron injections for her.

Locating an Avian Veterinarian*


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## wmcburke (Sep 30, 2021)

Reducing daylight to 8 hours or less is essential.


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## Chicks54 (Dec 11, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> *Vegetables are healthier for budgies than fruit.
> Fruit is too high in sugar content to be offered except sparingly as a treat.*
> 
> *Safe Foods for Budgies*
> ...


Yes this fruit is a treat so no worries. Veggies are offered. They are happy and playful. I am going to keep my eye on them.


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