Sun Conure laid and egg and still acts like she wants to lay another

[tkirsch9368]

My SC laid an egg last night and I took it away right away and now she is doing the samething like she is going to lay another. She is laying under her paper and wont come out. She even still has a little pouch in abdomen area, which the vet said was just fat not an egg. So now what should I do? Should I not have moved the egg, should I put it back? I just want my happy go lucky SC back that she was. Thank you in advance!!!!

[Trickham]

Is she your only bird?

[tkirsch9368]

yes she is the only conure I have

[Trickham]

The eggs shouldn't be fertile. You are going to have to let her finish the process. Don't remove any future eggs and replace the first one if you sill have it. She should set on them for 3 or 4 weeks tops and then lose interest. In the mean time, you should work on adjusting her environment so she will no longer be in breeding mode. Change the location of her toys, food dish, etc. Most importantly, cover her cage so that she is getting at least 10 hours, preferably 12, of total darkness a night. Just have patience, and stick to the sleep routine, and she will return to normal. :-)

[tkirsch9368]

I just gave her the infertle egg back upon the advice of my vet. Yes, the same vet that told me she didnt even have an egg, anyway she is much quieter now she isnt scurrying in her cage. Am I hurting my bird by keeping it in with her or not?

[Trickham]

Oh and I think the pooch in her abdomen is common at least with conures when they are laying eggs.

[tkirsch9368]

thank you so much for everything!!!!

[tkirsch9368]

My bird laid an egg and she needs 10-12hrs of total darkness does this mean that it has to be quiet too? If so, that is going to be almost impossible as she is in our living room. She is covered at 6p and uncovered at 8am, but it isnt always quiet after 6pm. She has been covered tonight since 6pm and you can only hear her moving around. No chirping or something normal if she were uncovered. So is this sufficient for her?

[Trickham]

So you're saying that you've been covering her cage from 6pm to 8am and she still laid an egg?

[Monica]

Birds wont necessarily go to sleep if theres still some light and noise. Any way to use a sleeping cage/carrier for her at night?

If you want to discourage egg laying then you need to do the following...

1. Remove nest and/or nesting material
2. Remove anything that could be taken as a nest and/or nesting material
3. Remove the egg[s], and safe-keep it in the fridge
4. Rearrange the cage, including all perches and toys
5. Possibly move the cage to a new location
6. Ensure the bird gets a minimum of 10 hours of sleep each night, although 12-14 is fine, too
7. Change the diet. More fresh less seeds/pellets? Less fresh more seeds/pellets?
8. No petting anywhere other than the head
9. No cuddles underneath any blankets
10. No access underneath furniture or into cubby holes

If after doing all that, and she continues to lay eggs and you remove them, when she's at her third egg she should be allowed to have all eggs and to go through the entire sitting process, which, as mentioned, is 3-4 weeks, or until the bird gets bored of the eggs. If you simply remove the egg but don't change anything around you really aren't discouraging anything at all.

And as for the "pouch" around the abdomen, it could be an egg... but there's also the possibility of fluid buildup or a tumor. Is there any way you could get a second opinion from an avian vet?