Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present....

[Anansi]

She's just criminally lovable! Even when pinning and such. Lol!

So sorry to hear about the resumed egg-laying, though. How old is she, again?

 

[Scott]

Well Scott this behaviour does normally end with her launching herself at me and attacking my face, usually straight after that loud “squawk” you heard. She gets away with it because she’s too tiny to do any damage. The only thing that saved me this time was the presence of the camera!

And just when I thought we were in the clear with the egg-laying she presented me with one today, and looked pretty proud of herself too. I’ve had the discussion with her vet about a hormonal implant and apparently it is doable so she’ll definitely be getting one when this cycle is over!

Oh dear, trying to impress under the klieg lights and camera. Such princess behavior!

Uh oh, another egg, and we're nowhere near Easter!

 

[LaManuka]

She's just criminally lovable! Even when pinning and such. Lol!

So sorry to hear about the resumed egg-laying, though. How old is she, again?

La Princesse Royale is 18 months old. I thought we were in the clear since she hadn't laid an egg since September. It seems she is a stickler for such things as "when do purple-crowns reach maturity?" and "length of breeding season" almost as if she read them from the textbook and thought "Ok, I'm a year old, I gotta start laying eggs NOW and for the next 6 months!"

I'd say she will lay another in the next 24 to 36 hours and be all broody over it for about 10 days or so, and once this cycle is over it's off to see her Uncle Adrian (or Uncle Patrick) for that implant!

 

[GaleriaGila]

CRIMINALLY LOVABLE... you nailed it, Stephen. Oh, Scott, you darling man... finding any connection between the criminal princess-essence and Easter-innocence...

The world is watching you, Princess.

 

[LaManuka]

I’ve been on tenterhooks all day waiting for Lilly to pass her anticipated second egg, quietly freaking out about when/if she’d pass it, is she eggbound, do I ring the vet, OMG I’M FREAKING OUT!! Needn’t have worried, just like clockwork she laid it almost exactly 48 hours after the first one. She’s been swotting up on that textbook again ...

Cannot wait to get that implant done!

Now to go pour myself a well-earned G&T

 

[Anansi]

We'll down some with you! Lol!

I'm relieved there were no complications with that egg passing.

 

[Laurasea]

I hope the implant goes well and works as should when time comes. So stressful with tiny bird and tiny eggs. Hey you promised a pic of the tiny egg last time!! I want to see these little eggs !

 

[TiredOldMan]

Make mine whiskey...neat

 

[LaManuka]

I hope the implant goes well and works as should when time comes. So stressful with tiny bird and tiny eggs. Hey you promised a pic of the tiny egg last time!! I want to see these little eggs !

Well Aunty Laura the trick there is to actually take the egg off her! I waited until she was in bed last night and boiled her egg so she doesn't make a mess if she accidentally breaks it and got you a photo. Usually she only lays 2 before the novelty wears off so I'm hoping there won't be another after this and I can get her implant done in the next 10 days/2 weeks or so.

So it's celebratory G&Ts all round, except for Uncle Dave. I'll mix you a nice Thai whiskey and Fanta, you'll love it!

 

[TiredOldMan]

Sounds great! Never tasted Thai whiskey

 

[LaManuka]

Sounds great! Never tasted Thai whiskey

I'm not sure you'd want to to be honest. I've got a half-finished bottle that's gotta be 20 years old, i keep it for sentimental value and to unblock drains with! It was purchased from a "reputable" seller who lived along a canal that branches off the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. The locals up there like to mix it with Fanta at sundown and get themselves totally legless at the end of a long hot day, then they throw themselves in the river - probably to wash away the taste!

 

[Laurasea]

I hope the implant goes well and works as should when time comes. So stressful with tiny bird and tiny eggs. Hey you promised a pic of the tiny egg last time!! I want to see these little eggs !

Well Aunty Laura the trick there is to actually take the egg off her! I waited until she was in bed last night and boiled her egg so she doesn't make a mess if she accidentally breaks it and got you a photo. Usually she only lays 2 before the novelty wears off so I'm hoping there won't be another after this and I can get her implant done in the next 10 days/2 weeks or so.

So it's celebratory G&Ts all round, except for Uncle Dave. I'll mix you a nice Thai whiskey and Fanta, you'll love it!

So tiny!!!!!

 

[TiredOldMan]

Sounds great! Never tasted Thai whiskey

I'm not sure you'd want to to be honest. I've got a half-finished bottle that's gotta be 20 years old, i keep it for sentimental value and to unblock drains with! It was purchased from a "reputable" seller who lived along a canal that branches off the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. The locals up there like to mix it with Fanta at sundown and get themselves totally legless at the end of a long hot day, then they throw themselves in the river - probably to wash away the taste!

Sounds Perfect, right up my alley!

Friends? bring what they and their family can't stand.

 

[LaManuka]

Took HRH for her appointment today, supposedly to get her a hormone implant to manage her egg-laying. Her appointment was with the boss-man at the clinic which was somewhat of a comfort since he is the Original Bird-Whisperer and a total legend in the biz here, although as a nervous parront I freak out about these things anyway!

Turns out that for a variety of reasons he thought it better to try a different approach to manage things rather than giving her the implant. So she’ll be on reduced rations with more veg, less fruit and no wet mix in an attempt to convince her brain that her environmental conditions aren’t suitable for reproduction. He explained that pretty much all commercial lorikeet foods made here are formulated with breeders in mind, and are therefore high in simple sugars to encourage laying so I will also be gradually changing her dry mix to one somewhat lower in sugar.

So it’s exercise boot camp and army rations for HRH from here on in! I’m hoping that we’re also at the end of this year’s laying cycle which may factor into no more eggs for a while, maybe until next winter at least. And we still have the option of a hormonal implant up our sleeve for next time if this doesn’t work!

 

[Anansi]

I love that call! I was concerned about the implant at her young age, but I didn't feel I was knowledgeable enough on that particular topic to gainsay a veterinarian. But he's absolutely right about sugars, fats and mushy foods all potentially contributing to that reproductive state of mind.

I really hope this tactic does the job.

 

[LaManuka]

I love that call! I was concerned about the implant at her young age, but I didn't feel I was knowledgeable enough on that particular topic to gainsay a veterinarian. But he's absolutely right about sugars, fats and mushy foods all potentially contributing to that reproductive state of mind.

I really hope this tactic does the job.

This is why we LOVE Lilly’s Uncle Adrian! His word is gospel to us and we’ve been taking our birds there for over 30 years, and his clinic is a 5 minute drive from our house - how lucky is that?! He was a part time lorikeet breeder and still an enthusiast for the various species so is most definitely the best person for the job in Lilly’s case.

Unfortunately the purple crowns are one of those “feast or famine” type species where they will go for years without breeding when times are lean but will have 3 or 4 clutches when food is plentiful. They can be triggered to reproduce by something as innocuous to us as a week of rain, those instincts recognise that there’ll be lots of eucalyptus trees flowering soon so let’s start laying NOW! And of course Lilly has been bellying up to the smorgasbord on offer here and taking full advantage!

She’s still sitting on her “egg” (chunk of white quartz) but the novelty should wear off in the next few days so I expect she’ll be up to her high-octane shenanigans again soon!

 

[Scott]

Bravo, a vet willing to try a creative approach. Fingers crossed!!

 

[GaleriaGila]

For cryin' out loud, Lilly! You are a precocious little coquette, I must say. It has got to be incredibly worrisome to mothers of such "early developers"...

Shoo, roosters, shoo!

 

[LaManuka]

Aunty Gail this particular precocious little minx doesn't need a rooster to get her feathers in a frazzle. Since I spend so much time at home these days I think she thinks her “significant other" is ME!!! Oooh the worry, ooh the pain... Dr Zachary Smith said it best...

 

[LaManuka]

Well folks after 28 days of sitting on her dummy egg (a chunk of white quartz which is roughly egg shaped!) I have finally had to remove it since Lilly was becoming quite obsessive over it! This is the only drawback of using dummy eggs - unlike a real egg which she would have broken by now and lost interest of her own accord, she was never going to either break it or hatch it no matter how hard she sat on it, and believe me she was VERY determined to hatch it! And here's a picture...

So as of yesterday the egg has been removed and she is pretty much back to her old self, although within a few hours she was back to looking for new hidey holes to use as potential nesting sites for the next clutch! I've been reading to her from that textbook that says "purple-crowned lorikeets breeding season commences in July and ends in December." IT'S DECEMBER NOW BIRD, CEASE AND DESIST ALREADY!!

Here she is yesterday "helping" her dadda with his homework...

... he didn't get much done