Green conure behaviour and egg laying.

Question
Greetings again, Maggie. I wrote you a week or so ago about the sex of my green conure (the species of which you correctly advised me of). I had asked if the pelvis was a good way to test the sex.

Well, since then I have had four eggs laid (by the bird, not me.) I guess that this is a pretty clear indication that "Bob" is now "Babs".

I am just wondering how you felt on removing the eggs. Several sites claimed that removing the eggs too early would trigger more egg laying. Another website, that I feel is more trustworthy, said that it would not trigger it, that she would lay more eggs anyway. I have been removing the eggs as soon as I see them. The first two she did not even acknowledge. Of the last two, she was sitting on one and was trying to sit the other. She has not seemed to be exhibiting any distress over them, or been searching for them.

I had just bought a little hanging tent for her, like a birdie bunk, since she loves being in small, clothy spaces (she loved to duck into the sleeve of a fleece lined leather coat of mine). Might this be triggering her behavior? She lays an egg every four or five days, unlike the every-other-day schedule like was posted on some sites. I take the tent out during the day since she sometimes wants to spend most of her time in there, and replace it shortly before I cover her up for the night. I figured that if she lays one more egg, I will try taking the tent out for a week to see how she does. I'd rather keep it in there, since she loves it so much (she practically leaps into it while I am putting it in her cage).

I do have a calcium block in there, that I sometimes scrape into her food. She is not a big fan of greens, although I am trying to get her to eat more of them.  I try to give her a varied diet of seed, soybeans (she loves them), pureed papaya, some fruits, bran flakes, and protein like boiled eggs. Is there anything else that I should be doing for her to help support her in this time?

And one last question, I promise: She has this habbit of sitting on her tail, rocking back and forth, and squawking like a duck. I thought at first that she was getting stuck, but have actually watched her grab her tail feathers with her right foot and deliberately pull it under her, to the front. I know that these birds do all sorts of crazy thing, but have you ever heard of this? I read one article about cockatoos "masturbating"; might she be doing somthing like this, and might this be triggering her egg-laying?

I am grateful for any advice and thoughts of yours. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Christopher Hall

Answer
HI Christopher,

I do not recommend removing the eggs until your little girl looses interest in them.   

The birdie tent would encourage her to lay eggs, and I would recommend removing it (although I know that it is upsetting, because she loves it so much). You might want to put the tent on a playpen or something for her instead.  That way she probably won't be spending the majority of her time with it and therefore would be less likely to think of this tent as her nest. Just a thought if you want to try and not get rid of it completely.

For tips on reducing your bird's breeding behavior and egg laying... I would highly recommend the following article:

http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/breedingbehavior.htm

It is written by a highly recommended avian vet somewhat near where I live. Her website was recommended to me by a local bird rescue group.

The diet you're feeding her sounds good. But try to supplement her diet with pellets as well. I highly recommend Harrison's bird pellets, Zupreem or Hagen's Tropicana pellets.

As far as the habbit of sitting on her tail... I'm not sure what this could be. I've never seen it before in my conure. I wouldn't be concerned about it though.  Most birds when they maturbate will rub their vent area on a toy or perch.... or will rub their lower back on a toy or such.

I hope this all helps.

-Maggie