Eggbound macaw

Question
We have a 10 year old female scarlet macaw and a 9 year old male blue and gold.  They have been in the same cage for about 6 years now.  We always wondered if they would breed and about 3 weeks ago, we noticed shavings from the nesting box in the floor.  We believe she is trying to lay an egg.  She was going in and out of the box but now we haven't seen her out in about 3 days.  We have no idea if this is normal or if she is having problems (egg bound)  The only avian vet we've used has left the practice and now there is not one within a 4 hour drive.  We are really worried but then we don't know if this is the way she acts before laying the egg.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi, Susan.

You need to look inside the nesting box and see what's going on.  If your bird could be eggbound, it would be an emergency situation and your bird would need immediate avian veterinary care/local pet emergency clinic intervention.  An eggbound bird will die if not cared for immediately.  On the other hand, perhaps there are eggs in the nesting box.  You need to check it out and see what's going on.

It is normal for a pair of bird to ready their nesting box.  Usually the male does this, then the female goes in to lay eggs.  Since she's been in the box for about 3 days now, she may be laying.  However, you need to check and see what's going on inside the box.  This bird should be coming out of the box sometimes to defecate, eat and drink.

Chrys