Budgie Breeding!

Question
Hey Leah! My budgies emptied out the nest box on August 13th and did not lay an egg since then. The female's droppings are big and wet. You mentioned egg binding and that these signs fit in but she still eats and goes into the nest box. And she doesn't walk with her legs apart. This happened last time I bred them too, she pooped big a few days before the egg laying. But she's been doing this for over a week. What is this and should I worry? Please reply soon!

Answer
Large droppings are generally a sign that she has eggs coming, either laying or eggbinding.  If this is how she was last time she was bred, this is normal.

I wouldn't worry unless she's walking with her legs spread, is having trouble breathing, or is sitting on the bottom of the cage.  Keep an eye out for these signs.  Keep in mind, eggbinding is fairly rare in budgies, especially if the female is over a year old, and because you mentioned that they have bred before.

Have they been mating a lot?  It sometimes takes a few tries for the female to become pregnant.  Do they seem pretty affectionate?  During courtship, they will usually preen and groom each other, and this is a good sign if you want eggs.

If you think that she might lay soon, try increasing the temperature and humidity in the room; this will help her relax and help the egg pass.  Also, you will want to make sure that she has plenty of calcium and has adequate light to get vitamin D.  Like with humans, vitamin D helps them absorb and utilize calcium, which she's going to need for her eggs.

It sounds like you could have eggs soon!  Keep me posted!
-Leah