cockatiel wont sit on eggs!

Question
Hi Chrys, we had our pet cockatiel lay some eggs about two weeks ago, she stopped sitting on them and now I suppose we have to keep them warm for her. I don't know why she refuses to sit on them, she appears to want out of her cage. She just recently lost her mate before the hatching and now she's without one. We are using an electric heat blanket and keeping them covered. When I felt it later, they were quite warm. Is there a danger if there is too much heat there, will it affect growth? Health? General danger?



They will be ready to hatch in a couple of days. I don't have any exp with bird breeding (haven't had something like this happen before) so what worries me is that when they should hatch we don't know when it will be, and if we leave the eggs in the blanket too long we think it could burn or kill the little one(s). I really don't know what to do other than this after the hen stopped nursing them herself. Would you recommend doing something differently? I do have a little heat lamp but I doubt it would be strong enough to keep 5 eggs warmed equally

Answer
Hi, Graham.  Thanks for posting!

If fertile and everything goes well during incubation, babies should start emerging about 18 days from the date the female started incubating her eggs.  

You aren't actually incubating these eggs properly, so I don't know if they will even hatch (if they were fertile to begin with).  These eggs should be in an incubator where the temperature can be kept at a certain level constantly, humidity is required, as well as turning the eggs at least once every 12 hours.  

Won't the female sit on her eggs?  If not, she's likely grieving over the loss of her mate.  Also, because the male and female share in the duties of incubating and raising the babies, she might not be willing to do this on her own without her mate.  Yes, there is a danger with too much heat (will cook the eggs), as well as not enough heat and humidity.

When/if these babies hatch, you need to move them immediately to an incubator (you can make one yourself...see my website for details):  www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

In addition, you will most likely have to handfeed these little guys yourself.  This information is on my website, too.

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys