# Hormonal female budgie



## ridi

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for having me.

I own a female budgie named Hayato. While she doesn't allow head scritches anymore, she's an incredibly affectionate bird who loves preening people's faces.










She was born in September 2017, and ever since August 2018, she has been consistently laying eggs nearly every month. I've slowly but surely exhausted all my options - started small by limiting her daylight hours and frequently rearranging her cage, and recently took further steps by controlling her food intake (I changed her diet from seeds to pellets a few months ago), and removed her mirror (which I was reluctant to since she loves the thing and is a single bird).

I think her hormonal behavior has slowly but surely subdued, but we still seem to have a way to go, as she did lay another egg a couple of weeks ago. However, while she usually lays a clutch of 3-5 eggs, she stuck with only one this time, so I guess that's an improvement?

Still, she keeps having bouts of acting flirty and hormonal, and I'm worried she's going to keep laying eggs until it leads to health complications. I have already consulted with a vet a few times, and I worry that the final measures I have left might be a little too drastic for me to be comfortable with: removing all her toys, and limiting her daylight hours to only 8. I don't think the latter is even possible with my own schedule (sporadic, as I'm a full-time grad school student), as it would basically mean I wouldn't be able to give her any playtime outside the cage at all on certain days. The vet stressed that this has to be done strictly and consistently to even have any effect. Also, I live in a one-room apartment, so while I can light-proof her cage, I can't make it sound-proof. She KNOWS when I'm awake and up aned about.

So what I would like opinions on is whether or not these drastic measures are worth it. Would it be better to give her hormone treatment injections than making these sacrifices?

Also, does anyone have an opinion on whether or not a companion budgie would be good for her? We frequently go to bird meets and she acts very flirty towards the other budgies... also, I discovered shortly after obtaining her that I'm allergic, and while I keep symptoms to a minimum with my medication and a constantly running air purifier, I'm not sure what double the allergens would do.

Thank you so much for reading.


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## Jonah

Welcome to Talk budgies, Hayato is a pretty girl.
Check out this link....https://www.talkbudgies.com/budgie-...g-laying-still.html?highlight=constant+laying


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## FaeryBee

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

I'm sorry Hayato is a chronic egg layer. She is certainly a beautiful little lady!
The link Jonah provided may be helpful for you.

We have another member with a chronic egg-layer who has used an implant for her budgie. 
You might want to discuss that option with your Avian Vet.
I would go with an implant or injections rather than removing all of her toys. 
As a single budgie, she needs to have interaction with you, needs her toys and definitely needs to be able to have out-of-cage time.
Are you giving her calcium supplements to help ensure she isn't overly depleting her body's supply with the constant laying?

I would definitely recommend against getting another budgie as a companion for Hayato.
As she wants very much to lay eggs, even a female companion may set that in motion. Additionally, if she makes advances toward another bird and is rebuffed, she may turn aggressive.
The fact that you are slightly allergic to Hayato is another reason not to get another budgie. Two will definitely make a difference in the degree of symptoms you experience.

You should not take Hayato to bird meets. Doing so exposes her to birds which may be ill.
Budgies hide symptoms of illness and many of those illnesses are airborne. Truly, when you go to the meets, you should be coming home and washing your clothes, etc. before interacting with Hayato at all.

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, all of the How To Guides, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and 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.

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.

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## StarlingWings

Hi there and :welcome: to the forums!

Hayato is absolutely adorable! You've been given great advice above. Implants or hormone shots can both be good options for chronic egg layers. Please keep us posted on things with your girl!

Meanwhile, be sure to read through the forums' many budgie articles and "stickies" (which are provided in the links above by FaeryBee) 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. 

Hope to see you and :cobalt: around! :wave:


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## ridi

Thank you so much for all your great advice! I did not know about the implant option, I will ask my vet about it next time I see him. The drastic measures he suggested will definitely affect her quality of life, so I am leaning towards injections/an implant.

I am curious about the raspberry Releaves supplements. I can't seem to find any recent information on them, have they been discontinued? Are there other supplements I could use instead? I live in Japan, so not all options may be available.

I do give her extra doses of calcium whenever she's laying.

As for the bird meets, they are arranged by a very strict bird shelter that require yearly tests for chlamydia, PBFD, and BFD for all birds participating, and also don't allow birds under a year old, so I am under the impression that they are safe to bring her to? They also update their requirements whenever any new diseases have been known to enter the country.


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## FaeryBee

*It's entirely up to you with regard to whether or not you wish to take her to the bird meets.
Even with the annual testing, I'd still be very apprehensive about taking any of my birds to one. Birds can easily contract disease from other birds and how do you know how recently the other birds at the meet have been tested.

I'd contact the manufacturer of Releaves to see if it is still available:

Harrisons' Pet Products
2324 South Congress Avenue
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Tel: (561) 641-6745

http://marketplace.dvm360.com/product/releaves​*


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