cockateil breeding nests

Question
my female just started laying eggs. what kind of nest should i use?  should i handle the egss, shes not laying in the nest i fixed for her

Answer
Hi, Jeanie,

The best nestbox is made of wood and hung on the cage, with an opening either cut on the cage or by mounting it over an exit door.  Some cages are really huge and you can hang the nestbox on the inside, but very few are that large.  There are a lot of resources on the Internet which can show you where to buy or how to make this type of nestbox.

You mentioned your female, but you didn't say anything about a male.  I have a hunch you have a single female.  If that is the case, you can just put some fluff or hamster bedding in the corner of the cage where she can lay her eggs and sit without breaking them.  You want to wait two weeks to begin taking them away, one by one, unless she leaves them for a day or more at a time, which shows disinterest in the nest.  She doesn't need a formal nest if she isn't going to have fertile eggs.

Good luck,

Cindy