Parakeet hatchlings

Question
My birds are male/female bonded.  She laid the eggs inside her nesting box.  I have no idea how old the male is because we found him after the whole Hurricane Rita(last year) situation.  A friend gave us the female parakeet so the female bird is about 2-3 years old.  I have not seen them mating since I am gone all day.  But in the evening when I play with them, I have seen no mating.

Thanks for your response,
LUcy
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
My parakeet just laid an egg.  I have never had parakeets as pets before.  What do I do?  Am I able to clean their cage?  What should I be looking for?
-----Answer-----
Hi, Lucy.  Thanks for posting!

Before I can answer your questions, please tell me if you have a male/female bonded pair of birds or a single female?  Was the egg laid in a nesting box or on the cage bottom?  How old are these birds?  If you have a pair, have you seen them mating?

Thanks.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Lucy.

Your birds have laid eggs because you provided them with a nesting box.  A nesting box is their que to lay eggs.  Since they've laid in the box, there's nothing you need to do except learn all you can about all of this as quickly as you can!  You'll need to know what to do when problems crop up, when the babies start hatching, how to handfeed, etc., etc.  You have MUCH to learn fast!

You can clean their cage as long as you don't disturb the nesting box and the eggs inside.  The male bird might have a fit...he guards the outside of the box and the cage while the female lays the eggs, incubates them, and cares for the babies.  The male bird will feed the female bird.  The female may not start incubating the eggs until the second egg is laid.  They will likely lay between 4-6 eggs.  

Start your learning process by visiting my website:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys