Home made nesting box? NOT for chicks

[Lady Kakata]

WEll, my Bonnie is once again laying eggs (She's just laid one today) and she's made a 'nest' at the bottom of the cage. Now, it's getting quite cold in Scotland now that the winter is coming in, and I want to make her a little nest box so that she can have a cosy hut to sit on her dud eggs in peace

I have a box with a lid which might be perfect once I cut a door in it and attatch it to the cage with cable-ties to stop it moving or falling about. What do you recommend that I look for to make a home-made non-chick nest box? Specially with a cockatiel who is half body, half tail

[ThreeX]

I honestly don't think you should give her a nest box at all since that could potentially make matters worse / make her more persistent in her nesting behaviour.

[Lady Kakata]

She's nested before for a long time, nothing really stops her short of a grate on the cage but I was advised to let her lay her eggs to ensure she didn't become egg-bound. She will lay no matter what, My concern is giving her a warm spot for her to sit on her dud eggs so she doesn't become cold

[ROYJOY]

Offer lots of calcium, also prevents binding. make the box as big as you have room for. a bent tail cant be comfortable

[MissV]

Ditto on Roy's comment


But as for material...you want to make sure your material is not of harmful metals or wood. What material is the box? It would also be nice, because it's stiff and will not adjust for the tail, that you make sure that there is enough room for her to turn inside of it.

The popular material for bird-bed type deals these days is Sherpa, which does not fray as bad as some others and is nice and soft and warm all at the same time. I would line the sides and top with this. Obviously the bottom is not necessary if she's building her on nest in there. May just complicate things.


Otherwise, you can build a simple nest box from bird-safe wood, just remember that any metal (like for screws) that you use is stanless steel. NO galvanized ANYTHING. You don't want zinc as any component of the metal. It's bad cheese.


That's about all I can think of...I'm not too familiar with nest boxes, since my fids haven't reached that age and I'm hoping the girls don't ever start laying...but I know that you can't totally prevent these things all the time!