Cockatiels,

Question
Tara, me and my wife bought two Cockatiels, about 4 years ago. At the time we thought we had a boy and a girl bird But they never had eggs so we figured they were two male.  Well about three months ago one of the birds dies   and now three months later we star finding eggs in taz's cage  He (she) has now laid three eggs in the last two weeks, why  didnt they lay eggs when they were together?

Answer
Hello Dave and thank you for your question,

In order to breed cockatiels they need to have a nesting box of which is 12x12x12 inches square or larger with a entrance hole 3 to 4 inches round with a small perch just below the hole, they need peace and quite and a quaility diet(not just seeds). The bird that died may not have been a amle but then again with out the nesting box he wouldnt have bothered the hen anyways. Taz is now laying eggs out of bordom she misses her cage mate constantly laying eggs will cause alot of health problems such as calcium diffency and egg binding, I reccomend getting taz a new friend, be sure to get a amel howver as a same sex pair doesnt offen get along very well, introduce them carefully out of cage and it would be a good idea to have a sapre cage to put him in for teh first few weeks until your sure she wont harm him... in the end however they will both be happier as a parrot cannot be happy on its own unless it has alot of human companship and is taken out daiyl for several hours, good luck with little taz oh and don't forget to offer a cuttle bone or sprinkel clacium dust over her food as laying eggs as I mentioned deplets the body's calcuim and quickly. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, thanks

Tara.