My male laid an egg

Question
QUESTION: I have a cockatiel I was sure was a male. It has a bright yellow head with bright orange cheeks, but much to my surprise I woke to an egg in it's cage this morning. I made a nest out of cotton for the egg. My tiel was guarding it when I first found it, but now seems to have very little interest. The egg is unfertilized.(I only have the one tiel) My question's are: How did I get a female with such bright colors, should I remove the egg from the cage, and is it ok for the nest box to be on the ground?

Thank you very much,
Dave

ANSWER: Hello David and thank you for your post.
I have a female that you'd swear was a male (even my vets thought she was a he).  She has all of the characteristics of a male (including no barring at all under her tail), and she whistles like a male does, but I know that she is a female because she is an incessive egg layer.
Without a DNA test, it is almost impossible to determine the sex of of some species of Cockatiels because the females do have the same plumage of the males (with the exception of the barring underneath their tail...the females have a barring that is easily seen, but the barring in the males is lighter).
Cotton is not a good idea to use in her nesting bos.  She can easily ingest it, and this can be fatal to her.  The best thing to use is black and whit newspaper, plain white paper (I use legal sized sheets of copy paper), or even waxed paper.  These are all safe, and she'll shred the paper to make her own nest.
Do not remove the egg until SHE quits sitting on it.  Removing the egg too early can cause her to be an incessive egg layer, and this can be harmful to her (she will probably lay 2-3 more eggs in the next week).  Be sure to put a calcium block (not cuttlebone, which is really indigestable for Cockatiels) in her cage.  She'll need the extra calcuim.
The nesting box is fine on the floor of the cage if she'll use it.

Good luck and God Bless.
Dianna

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dianna,
Thank you so much for your response. One last question, do I leave the paper on the floor, or should I put it in the box? I removed the egg because she was not sitting on it, and it had a crack and was leaking. I will definitely provide a clacium block.Any other suggestions would be great.
Thanks again,
Dave

Answer
Hello again David.
Removing the egg that was cracked was a good idea, but she will probably lay more.
You can line both the floor of the cage and the floor of the nesting box with paper.  She will probably start to chew on it and shred it, this is normal.
I do use a couple of drops of Vitamin E my my birds' water about once a week.  You can get the Vitamin E at your local pharmacy.  With a pin, poke a hole in one end of the gelcap and squeeze a drop or two into the water.  This will not only help to keep her feathers shiny and looking beautiful, but it will also help to keep her vent moist and can help reduce the chances of her getting egg bound, which can be fatal for her.
Feel free to come back with any more questions.

God Bless.
Dianna