# Mum has left the nest box



## vstar (Nov 27, 2021)

Hi. Can anyone help. We have a new mum with one baby who is nearly 3 weeks old. Up until tonight mum has slept in the nest box but now she has gone into a different area of the aviary to sleep and has left the baby alone in the box. Is this normal or do we need to intervene? Today she was feeding the baby like normal.
Any advice would be appreciated!


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

Is the father budgie not around?


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## vstar (Nov 27, 2021)

Mum and dad both slept in a different area. So far dad has always gone to sleep elsewhere and mum has stayed in the box. Last night was the first time mum slept outside with dad. This morning mum is perched outside the box but I’m yet to see her go inside.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*What is your level of experience and how much research have you done?
Is this the first time you've bred budgies? 
Do you have the two adults and the nest box in an individual breeding cage?
Has the father been helping to feed the baby?
At this point, the father should be doing the primary caretaking of the chick.
In fact, at 3 1/2 weeks the female needs to be removed from the cage so she does not double-clutch.

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## vstar (Nov 27, 2021)

Hi. Thanks for the reply. We only have the two budgies. The father hasn’t been feeding the baby at all. When he approaches the box she chases him away but she was feeding the baby yesterday. I also saw them mating yesterday too! We are not breeders as such. We just have pet budgies 🥰


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

This is honestly quite distressing.
I know what you mean well, but you’re setting yourself up for a real pain. Female budgies should be separated from their male partners after the aforementioned time to avoid double clutching, as this can be “very” stressful on her.

If you decide to keep the babies, you’re gonna have to split them up by gender. Budgies don’t know any better and then when you keep mixed pairs together they “will” mate unless you take the proper precautions.

I highly suggest that you split the parents at this time.

I say this, because pet budgies are not the same thing as breeders budgies. When birds go in to breeding condition and are allowed to mate and raise clutches, they become very hormonal and territorial. Over time you will find that your family pets have turned into a little beaky monsters and want nothing to do with you.

The easiest thing would be to sell the offspring after the appropriate weaning time period (no less than 8 weeks) and do your best to keep the parents from breeding again.

Speaking of, let’s talk about the babies. You have a lot of research ahead of you because there is a lot of work that goes into raising a clutch of birds (especially if you want them to be tame). There are some good resources on this forum, if you check some of the stickies in the subform links.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*At this point you need to remove the mother from the cage. You will have to hand-feed the youngest chick if the father is not feeding it.
It is very important that you do not allow these budgies to breed again.

PLEASE do what is best for your budgies.*


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