Help Sam Is Triple Clutching!!

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

the cupboard is nailed shut..shes been running around in the cage for two hours non stop like a bat...will she get so stressed that she'll die? how long do I let this go on for shes screaming and yelling I trie d to cover her..no way...shes screaming and running..there is a small box on the bottom of the cage with one eggie in it..i have the other three...she has an egg in her pants...she wants to lay it...i know it...should I unnail the cupboard..? dear god..what do I do? how long can she run around like that>?

[bonnie]

Oh I wish I knew how to help.Did you take eggs away right after she laid them? Maybe that's why she's so stressed?

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

no all the eggies are here...we have them all...its just her nest is closed now...could she egg bind? from the sheer stress..i dont know what to do

[Larry, Baby and Me]

My goodness... let nature take its course. She will lay eggs no matter what you do... so you might as well let her lay eggs and nest them where she feels comfortable.

JMHO

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

shes on the computer desk now where she first laid a year ago..i put on eof her eggies there and shes rolling it around..phew...dear god no wonder i have grey hair

[FoxersArtist]

Hi Anne. i'm so sorry your little gal is being so frantic. Laying three clutches in a row is worry for concern, but try not to panic. You said she already laid one? How does it feel? Is it hard or a little soft? Has Sam had lots of calcium and other nutrition (it's not like she starves herself or anything, haha.) There is certainly less risk as long as she is eating a good diet with lots and lots of calcium.

As far as allowing her out of her cage. It sounds like she is doing the bratty "let-me-out-of-my-cage" dance by racing back and forth in her cage. It is my experience that determind cockatiels just won't stop, especially when it comes to nesty stuff. I agree with Larry that it might not be best to allow her to get exhausted with an egg on the way. Let her out and give her the cupboard back for now. How long will Sam remain interested in her eggs? As soon as she starts to show disinterest, (likely a while after all of the eggs are laid) do what you can to distract her, even if it means moving her entire setup in another room, away from the cupboard and away from where her thoughts will be about breeding. Take away any nesty material and put her to bed early.

In the meantime, do whatever you can to get calcium into her, even if that means crumbling a cuttle bone into some eggs or something similar. if you feel very gently between Sam's legs you will be able to feel if the egg inside her is soft or hard. If the shell is hard, take a deep breath. If the shell feels soft, take her to a vet.
-Anna

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

nope she didnt the shell is hard...the shell is hard...thank god...shes back in the freaking cupboard..dub used one lousy nail..he must have known. thanks anna...ohmygod what a mess no she didnt lay one..she has it between her legs..we still have the four from the last clutch..so i had put one in the cage one on the computer desk and kept the other two just in case...she was settling on the computer desk but she was still freaking..oh boy oh boy thanks guys..shes back in te cupboard now

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

thanks guys..i was advised to leave her in there....and i am...shes back in there

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

yeah ok shes beak grinding now in the cupboard and im nearly having a heart attack...lol lol...the little TIELZILLA tiel fromthe dark side..dear god im getting all kinds of advice about taking her to the vet..now really anna do you think that is necessary right now..i dont..

[Dot]

If you have three eggs and she is trying to lay another one, does that mean you pulled the eggs from her nest? I think I've read that you know to leave them in there. I know I have. Maybe you are talking about the eggs from the previous clutch.....:confused:

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

nope shes got em all got em all...the little rotten monster she has four eggs..i put one in a box in her cage and kept the other two and the third one i kept up in the cupboard with the door naile dshut...ok so maybe i knew too..there must be a method to my MADNESS

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

dot all four are in the cupboard now in case thats what you wanted to know..i gathered the other three from their various places and stuck them in the cupboard along with the one that was already in there....er maybe this is way to o complicated for me now and if i wake up to discover a dinosaur in there i wont be surprised

[FoxersArtist]

My experience with cockatiels is that even if you leave the eggs until they rott and break open and fall to pieces, a determind parront will lay and lay until she has her babies sometimes. Best thing you can do is distract. I seperate my pairs so they know they can't have kiddos. In this case though, Anne can't really seperate Sam and Dub - impossible! :haha:

I do not think it's needed to take Sam to the vet if her eggshells are still hard, she seems to be laying them without any trouble, and she is active. Do be sure that she is eating, and eating high calcium foods, and try not to stress her. She needs all of that energy to make and lay eggs. Just spoil her (like that wont happen anyway) and keep an eye on her pelvic area. Once the next egg is laid, feel for a 3rd egg to make sure that one is hard too. The trouble comes when they try to lay a soft shelled egg or an egg with no shell. It sounds like Sam is fine - just being a bratty tiel. Please do take her to the vet if anything changes though.
-Anna

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Yep - what Anna said.

Lar

[Don]

oh for Petes sake let the bird be a bird. Leave her eggs alone and stop stealing them and then moving them all over the place and then wondering why she's behaving just like you LOL

Give her a nesting place and leave her to her time, be sure to add calcium to her diet and make it easy for her to get to food and water too.

I think I read somewhere that laying eggs is pretty much a bird thing.......

Don

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Anne,

I was going to PM you on this, but I think it best to discuss it out in the open.

I went over to TielTalk and read all the posts there about Sam's situation. First I will say - over on TielTalk, there are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. Gems of the earth they are.

You did get a lot of advice from - applying birdie discipline, more in the cage time, cover her up, keep her away from the cupboard, and finally - put her on Lupron. People did their best to help.

This is my humble opinion and take it for what it is worth. I live my life by principles and try my best to apply basic principles when it comes to dealing with Baby. It seems like if I have a basic principle or rule to grab onto then solutions to problems come easily.

The principle I grab on to with birds and children is to let nature take its course and as parents or parronts - we have to listen and hear what our birds are trying to tell us. Sam was saying - I MUST lay my eggs and I want to lay them in MY nest... what's so wrong with that mom?

Sam doesn't have any control over her egg laying. Tiels are famous for laying eggs... a lot of eggs. So we just have to let nature do what she will do and assist in any way we can.

Please do not change the way you and Dub interact with Sam. You have a wonderful family. Let Sam be Sam. She is a big part of your life and it will do no good to do birdie discipline, covering her up, more in the cage time - or god forbid - drugging her with Lupron.

Just go along with what God has given you in that wonderful Sam of yours.

Lar

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Oh crap Don... I just now read your post. You have such a wonderful way of saying the most complexed things in a few short sentences.

"I think I read somewhere that laying eggs is pretty much a bird thing......."

Another Donism.

Lar

[Don]

Larry - your post with advice is right on - let her nest - I'd also suggest the Luproin IF she has an Avian Vet that has experience with that miracle drug.

they gave that to my Dad for his bone cancer and he actually had some bone replacement - amazing stuff.

The cockatiels have been bred so hard in every imaginable way that their reproductive clocks are really fried - removal of the stimulus and a lower protein diet may help stem the flow of eggs, but probably not - it's better for the birds mental state to just let her continue - if that is what she does. Bouncing around and causing stress only causes more stress. Lots of calcium so she doesn't deplete her bone mass - neocal gluconate in her water (if you can find it), or a calcium/phos powder on her food, and cuttlebone works for small birds like tiels, but not as the only thing.

Don

[bonnie]

Oh crap Don... I just now read your post. You have such a wonderful way of saying the most complexed things in a few short sentences.

"I think I read somewhere that laying eggs is pretty much a bird thing......."

Another Donism.

Lar

Ha ha... I like that... a bird thing... lol

[Don]

well birds, some reptiles and duck-billed platypusses

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

thanks guys..yes i know i love the people on tiel talk too i love them but I just dont get that lupron thing unless it is absolutely freaking necessary thanks Larry and Don...and Anna and everyone who helped..shes happily up in the cupboard with her little new eggie..sigh..

[too&me]

Echidnas too.

[Don]

""Echidnas too.""

Yeah - cool - thanks :)

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Okay - so I had to go look up what to heck an Echidna is. I found that it lives in Australia and is a cross between a Hedgehog, Porcupine, Platypus, and a Kangaroo... maybe even a cross between a bird because it lays eggs.

That animal is surely messed up, but very interesting...

http://australian-animals.net/echidna.htm

Lar