My parrot laid an egg

[emperor26]

Congratulation, Sparky.

[Sparky]

Congratulations are *not* in order, as I've already explained. It's not as if the egg will hatch, after all.

[Medikor]

I don't really know anything about bird keeping but what are some measures you plan to do (if any are required, that is) to keep her from laying eggs? I can't imagine that laying "dud" eggs so often would be a healthy thing for her to do, physically or mentally.
Don't quote me on this, but I remember hearing that parrots can get lonely and a good way to help prevent that is to either put a mirror or a picture of another bird in the cage. Who knows: Maybe Kiwi will stop making eggs if she feels like she's being watched?

[Sparky]

She's got a mirror. Who knows, that might even be the problem. But it's really quite common for female birds to get broody and lay eggs.

The good news is I don't think she laid another one today, so maybe she won't lay any more and it's only the one this time.

[pitbulllady]

Pretty much all egg-laying animals can experience this problem, even tarantulas. My only tarantula bite so far came from a big female Rosehair that had laid a sac-full of infertile eggs, and was guarding them like a treasure. She had no idea that they'd never hatch, and since female tarantulas will not eat or drink while guarding an eggsac, and will continue to do so even to the point of starvation if the things never hatch, I had to take it from her. She objected, big-time! I've had female snakes lay eggs when they'd never been near a male, and it's pretty common for female lizards, especially iguanas, in captivity to have to be spayed, to keep them from laying clutch after clutch of infertile eggs, or worse, becoming "egg-bound" when an egg is too large to come out. Birds can experience that, too, and it's life-threatening, so that's another reason why laying infertile eggs is not a desirable thing for them to do.

pitbulllady

[Invader Bloo]

If the egg does hatch what do you plan on doing with the chick, Sparky?

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by Invader Bloo

If the egg does hatch what do you plan on doing with the chick, Sparky?

You might want to re-read the thread. There's no male bird, therefore the egg *won't* hatch.

[Partymember]

i suppose its too late to suggest making an omelette...

[Sparky]

Well it's 2 days old now, not that old, but thing is I can't take it away from her or she'll just keep laying more. The idea is to make her *stop*.

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Invader Bloo

If the egg does hatch what do you plan on doing with the chick, Sparky?

If the egg DOES hatch, that will be the most-studied and most-famous bird in the whole of the known universe, and Sparky will be a gazzillionaire from all the publicity it will generate, since it will be the first time that a bird has ever reproduced via parthenogenesis. Any university or zoological research institute will happily fork over most of their budget to get their hands on that bird, so Sparky can just name her price.

pitbulllady