Okay, Jacey. Thanks for all that information. It's very helpful. I am going to be telling you several things you are probably not going to want to hear and probably some you won't like at all so I will do my best to explain why I'm saying, and suggesting them. But, it is my duty to you and to your birds to tell you the truth, no matter what. First off, 99 out of 100 times, if an employee in a pet store tells you the sun is shining, you better look out the window to see for yourself. The is never more true than in the large chain stores like PetCo, PetLand, PetSmart, etc. In fact, PetCo is one of the worst. All these stores get their birds from very questionable sources. Translate that to "bird mill". I know you have heard of puppy mills and bird have their own version. They are even worse, if you can imagine it. True bird people have been trying for years to make it against the law for these stores to sell any live animals. The only birds that should ever be allowed to reproduce are birds of proven strong genetic backgrounds. The birds that are sold in these stores are pet birds at best and definitely not breeder birds. What you really need to do is to take down that nest box immediately. Egg laying is very stressful on a hen's health and a semi private, semi dark place like that will only inspire her to lay more an more eggs. Tha't the last thing you want to have happen. Seeds and seed products should only be about 25% of their entire dailey diet. You must keep trying with the fruits, but try even harder with vegetables, raw grated or cooked, cooked brown rice, hard boiled or scrambled eggs, well cooked bean mixes, green leafy items like Kale, Mustard, Turnip or Collard greens and Romaine lettuce. No ice berg and no spinach. You have to be persistent and keep offering. Their life depends on it. Parakeets on a diet to high in seeds, and therefore much too high in fat are at risk of many illnesses, including fatty liver disease, fatty tumors and obesity. I'm going to give you a lot of links where you can study this in much more detail. Now, back to the egg situation. Assuming they told you correctly and assuming the birds were even old enough to determine gender, you have to assume that egg, and any that follow are fertile and proceed accordingly. First off, do not take her egg/s away from her. There may be more, laid at the rate of every other day, up to an average clutch size of 3-5 eggs. She needs a place to keep her eggs safe from being damaged but you do not want to provide her with anything that even remotely resembles a true nest box. Nest boxes are semi dark and much too "private and safe". An enclosure like that will only spur her to lay even more eggs than she might otherwise. That's a possible serious health issue which I'll address. I suggest giving her one of the clear plastic, shoe box size storage boxes like you can find at WalMart, KMart, etc. Leave the lid off, line the box with many layers of plain white paper towels, and ever so gently, (while you are probably being pecked and fussed at) move her egg into the box. Since we are having to assume they are fertile, you need to take one step in between moving them to the wide open box. You need to very gently, hard boil them, cool them back to the slightly warm temperature they were, and return them to her. Put just a tiny dot on the end of each boiled egg, using a felt tip pen. That way, you will know which have been boiled and which need it. Boiling them right way will prevent a chick from forming. Now, for the health issues. You must be ever vigilant that she is getting enough calcium from a literally bottomless source. The easiest and most obvious is to keep her in cuttlebones. She will likely go through them very quickly right now. She must have very good calcium reserves in order to produce firm, solid egg shells and to help give her body the ability to produce the contractions needed to deliver the egg. If she is calcium deficient, her body will start to pull calcium from her bones. The danger of broken bones is obvious. The added danger is when there is not enough calcium, from anywhere, her eggs will become soft shelled. She will not be able to pass them and will become egg bound. The danger that goes hand in hand with this is an egg could rupture inside of her. Either of those two scenarios is a life threatening emergency and she will die without intervention from a well qualified avian vet. Not only does the boiling insure there will be no chicks, it also makes them less likely to be damaged. If her eggs are damaged or removed, she will, more than likely, continue to try to replace them, leading to the above health risks. If something should happen to her eggs so that they have to be pitched, a reasonable substitute needs to be found. You can probably find a reasonably sized facimile egg at craft stores and place them in her box. Beyond insuring she has the safe, yet not private place for her eggs and making sure she has the proper diet and calcium, there is nothing else for you to do beyond waiting her out. Normal gestation time is about 18 days. She may sit her eggs that long, maybe less, maybe more. You just have to be sure, beyond any doubt, that she has totally abandoned them before removing. To take them too soon, is to inspire more. If you have not seen her go near them for at least 3-4 days, then it should be safe to remove them. Attempting to allow pet quality birds to reproduce is just asking for trouble and heartache with malformed or crippled chicks. Aside from that, for an inexperienced person to attempt it can also lead to disaster. There is always the possibility, especially with first time parents, that they might not now know to tend the babies at all. Since your birds are less than a year old, they are much too young to be trying it, even if they came from top notch breeding stock. A female should be close to two years old and the male should be no less than 18 months. If they hatch babies, then did not feed them, you would have to immediately locate an experienced hand feeder to take it over. They have to be fed every two hours around the clock and it can take as long as 15-20 minutes, per chick, to do it properly and safely. Hand feeding is not something one can learn, only by reading about it. It must be learned, hands on, with an experienced person standing right over you. Novice hand feeders, trying it without help, will kill the chicks first try, 99% of the time because you will aspirate them. (forcing the formula into their lungs.) I know you were probably all excited about having baby birds but I'm sure you also had no idea of the dangers involved and why it is not a wise thing to do with pet store birds. If you are really serious about wanting to try it some day, I suggest you let the birds you have just be pets and enjoy them. Start doing a ton of research about raising birds, then locate a local, very reputable breeder and purchase a pair of genetically sound, breeder birds. A good breeder will also be more than willing to teach you how to hand feed. I hope this helps but if you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I want you to be comfortable with all the information and all the warnings I've given you. Patricia.
Click here: Hepatic Lipidosis
Click here: PetCareLibrary - Tumors in Parakeets (pvy.com)
Click here: Parakeet Medical and Safety Information
Click here: Parakeet Budgie and Keet FAQs and Info
Click here: Toxic and Safe Plants/Trees for Birds - Household Poisons
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Obesity & Diets (budgies)
Click here: The Basics: Intro to Budgies / Parakeets
Click here: The Budgie and Parakeet Place - Care, Training, Pictures and More
Click here: BUDGIE CARE SHEET
Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian
Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
Click here: Avian Vet List
Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds
This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he
Parrot C&onsultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.