fertilized or not...

Question
I recently had a female lovebird given to me a little while after the male died. The first night at my house, she was breathing very hard. When I woke up the next morning, she was on the bottom of her cage. When trying to change the water, she was spooked a little and she moved and out rolled an egg. I'm not sure how long ago the male died and people are telling me that the egg might not be fertilized. How long should I wait?

Thanks,
Nick

Answer
Hi, Nick.  Thanks for posting.

If the egg is 7-10 days old, you can candle it to see if it's fertile or not.  This would eliminate the need to wait the full 18+ days it would take for incubation and hatching.  

To candle an egg, you need to shine a light source through it to see if it's clear or if you can see something inside the egg.  You can do this with an ordinary flashlight.  Don't touch the egg with your bare hands...use a glove or something between your skin and the egg shell just in case the egg is fertile (if you want to keep it).  Oil, dirt, etc., from our hands can block the pores of the egg and the egg won't be able to breathe (if fertile).  To practice what you should see, try candling a chicken egg from your refrigerator.  The chicken egg, of course, is infertile.  If you see veins and/or a dark area inside the lovebird egg, it could be fertile.  The veins you might see would be nourishing the embryo, which would be a dark area inside the egg.

If your lovebird had a successful mating with the male, she might lay additional eggs.  An egg would arrive every other day until a full clutch is laid...about 6 eggs.

Come back if you have additional questions.  Thanks.

Chrys