first time laying eggs? help?

[teanhoneytiel.]

Hello! I have a cockatiel named Tea that is showing signs of laying eggs. She turns 7 in about a month and she’s showing some behaviors that i’m worried about.

First thing that concerns me is her poop, they’re a normal/slightly brighter green color but the actual poop is very small but extremely liquidy. (sometimes kind of stringy? will attach picture) It’s been like this for about 4 days now (about the same time I noticed what i think is an egg bump). I started putting her in a separate cage at night to monitor her poops better and to give her cage mate a break from her sometimes aggressive behavior.
Today when I was putting her to bed she was very docile when she usually puts up a fight for bed and doesn’t like being pet very much, but I could hold her any way and she didn’t care (very unusual).
She’s still eating and drinking- she has never been one to enjoy playing with her toys all that much so she’s just been napping most of the day. A couple times now ive caught her breathing heavier than usual while trying to sleep, but she isn’t straining or anything. As far as I can tell she hasn’t made any attempts to actually lay the egg.

As much as I would love to take her to the vet I don’t want to make the long drive there just for them to tell me she’s fine- so am i overreacting?

her vent is wider and i’m pretty positive she has an egg in there, but again it’s been about 4 days and she hasn’t been straining or trying to lay it at all since i noticed it was there.

She’s been territorial and aggressive to her cage mate, trying to masturbate on toys, trying to build a nest, shredding wooden toys and paper, and showing just about every sign of laying eggs just no eggs.

Any help would be appreciated! I’m very worried about her.

 

[LaManuka]

Hello! I have a cockatiel named Tea that is showing signs of laying eggs. She turns 7 in about a month and she’s showing some behaviors that i’m worried about.

First thing that concerns me is her poop, they’re a normal/slightly brighter green color but the actual poop is very small but extremely liquidy. (sometimes kind of stringy? will attach picture) It’s been like this for about 4 days now (about the same time I noticed what i think is an egg bump). I started putting her in a separate cage at night to monitor her poops better and to give her cage mate a break from her sometimes aggressive behavior.
Today when I was putting her to bed she was very docile when she usually puts up a fight for bed and doesn’t like being pet very much, but I could hold her any way and she didn’t care (very unusual).
She’s still eating and drinking- she has never been one to enjoy playing with her toys all that much so she’s just been napping most of the day. A couple times now ive caught her breathing heavier than usual while trying to sleep, but she isn’t straining or anything. As far as I can tell she hasn’t made any attempts to actually lay the egg.

As much as I would love to take her to the vet I don’t want to make the long drive there just for them to tell me she’s fine- so am i overreacting?

her vent is wider and i’m pretty positive she has an egg in there, but again it’s been about 4 days and she hasn’t been straining or trying to lay it at all since i noticed it was there.

She’s been territorial and aggressive to her cage mate, trying to masturbate on toys, trying to build a nest, shredding wooden toys and paper, and showing just about every sign of laying eggs just no eggs.

Any help would be appreciated! I’m very worried about her.

I think perhaps a vet visit may be warranted in Tea's case. Generally if an egg was going to appear it would usually only take 2 to 3 days to completely develop between the ovary, the formation of the shell and being laid. It still *could* be an egg, or a complication may have developed in the process, such as egg retention, or the shell may not have formed properly thus preventing your hen from expelling it, an ectopic egg or even egg yolk peritonitis, and there are a number of other conditions that can cause abdominal distension as well. Along with the changes that you've noted in her behaviour, personally I think it would be worth contacting your vet to explain your concerns to them and scheduling an appointment if they think it's advisable.

Hope this helps, and I wish you and Tea all the very best!

 

[teanhoneytiel.]

I think perhaps a vet visit may be warranted in Tea's case. Generally if an egg was going to appear it would usually only take 2 to 3 days to completely develop between the ovary, the formation of the shell and being laid. It still *could* be an egg, or a complication may have developed in the process, such as egg retention, or the shell may not have formed properly thus preventing your hen from expelling it, an ectopic egg or even egg yolk peritonitis, and there are a number of other conditions that can cause abdominal distension as well. Along with the changes that you've noted in her behaviour, personally I think it would be worth contacting your vet to explain your concerns to them and scheduling an appointment if they think it's advisable.

Hope this helps, and I wish you and Tea all the very best!

Hello!! Thank you! I was on the fence about going and finally decided on it. She just got home and ended up needing a procedure done to remove the egg, it was apparently backwards? so one very expensive vet visit later she hopefully will be doing better.