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Breeding Log for March 2016
Entry #1:
Baioretto & Shehai's First Egg!
When I woke up this morning, a little voice in my head told me to check the nestbox for an egg. I had a feeling that there was going to be an egg in there, and I was right! The last time I checked was on Sunday. Both Baioretto and Shehai have since been going inside of the nestbox together. Sometimes they'd spend several long minutes in there, so I knew it wouldn't take much longer for Shehai to finally lay her first egg.
As far as I know, this is Shehai's first time breeding. She was already at least a year of age when I bought her from Petland. I found it unusual because budgies sold at pet stores are typically 6 months or younger. Because of that, I'm not 100% sure if Shehai was previously owned by someone else or ever bred before. Baioretto on the other hand was very young with my sisters bought him from Petsmart. His cere hadn't even turned blue yet, and I originally thought that he was a female!
Also worth mentioning, I noticed yesterday that Shehai's droppings were significantly larger than usual. Unusually large droppings are a telltale sign that a female budgie is "with egg" as I like to call it.
I've already marked the egg and have started putting together my breeding calendars for March and April. Up until all the chicks hatch, expect my updates to be routine and fall on a date that an egg is laid, candled, or hatches. Check out my calendar below for an idea of when to check back here next for Entry #2!
March 17, 2016 at 9:20am
Entry #2:
Cracked Eggs
Cracked Eggs
I didn't even notice the second egg laying at the bottom of the cage until after I checked the nestbox and found the first egg cracked in the corner. Since my cage doesn't have an opening at the top, I can't actually get into the nestbox without completely removing the top of the cage. To check on the eggs, I don't necessarily have to remove the top of the cage every single time. I just crack open the nestbox as far as it will go and slide my phone inside to take a picture. That's how I found out that Egg #1 was cracked. When I finally noticed Egg #2 actually laying at the bottom of the cage, I was just about to remove the top of the cage to retrieve and examine Egg #1. That's when I realized that Egg #2 was cracked as well...
All I know is that when I checked inside of the nestbox this morning, Egg #1 was perfectly fine. There wasn't a second egg, and I wasn't expecting Shehai to lay her second egg until tomorrow. Because of this, Egg #1 was likely laid on the 16th instead of yesterday.
I don't know why Shehai laid her second egg outside of the nestbox, or why her first egg was inside of the nestbox cracked. After examining Egg #1 though, it appeared that Shehai started eating the shell. The shell could have gotten damaged somehow by either Shehai or Baioretto, and Shehai was just disposing of the egg naturally by eating it. She could have also purposly ate her own egg, but I don't have a reason as to why she'd do that. I've heard of that happening before, so it's always a possibility. It'll take more time before I'm sure of what's going on, but I hope this was all just an accident...
Baioretto & Shehai's Third Egg
A Clutch Size of Three
Entry #3:
Baioretto & Shehai's Third Egg!
Dummy eggs are actually a thing, and you can use them to encourage your female to stay inside of the nestbox to brood her eggs. In my case, I took the shells of Egg #1 and #2 and used them as molds for my paper mache dummy eggs. I drained the contents from both eggs and coated the shells with shreds of white printer paper and glue to seal up the holes. After they dried, they looked like regular budgie eggs. The idea was to place them in the nestbox and encourage Shehai to sit on them. This would keep her inside of the nestbox until she laid her third egg. The dummy eggs are also harder than budgie eggs, so there was no way Shehai would damage them. Not unless she was trying to, which thankfully she hasn't so far.
My plan worked, but not as well as I had hopped. Shehai would go inside of the nestbox to be with her "eggs", but she'd leave often to spend time outside with Baioretto. This isn't normal behavior for a nesting female. It wasn't until after she laid her third egg that she started spending more time inside of the nestbox to sit on it. So far, so good. Hopfully she realizes that she needs to stay inside of the nestbox to sit on her eggs now. I only expect her to leave when she has to poop, and occasionally when she's hungry or needs a drink. However, Baioretto's job as her mate is to eat and drink for the both of them. I expect him to start visiting the nestbox periodically to feed Shehai and help her brood their eggs.
For now, I'm choosing not to mark Egg #3. I also plan to keep the dummy eggs inside of the nestbox as well. The more eggs, even though two of them are fake, the more likely Shehai is to stay in the nestbox.
Entry #4:
A Clutch Size of Three
It's a little too early to be posting today, but Shehai has been showing signs that she's finished laying eggs. I'm actually expecting her fourth egg today, but Shehai doesn't look as plump as she's been since Egg #1. When budgies are "with egg", they'll look a little rounder towards their bum. The feathers around their vent are also fanned out more exposing the skin. I got a look at Shehai a few minutes ago and she isn't as round and her feathers are now hiding her vent again, so I can only assume that she's finished laying eggs...
Egg #3 is doing perfectly fine. However, I won't know for sure if it's even ferile until later this week. I have a feeling that it isn't though, because I candled the egg yesterday and all I saw was the yolk. It's still too early to be 100% sure. Normally you won't start seeing signs of life until day 3, and that's assuming the female has been sitting on her egg keeping it warm since it was laid. I'll usually candle an egg at day 5, but considering all that has happened this breeding season, I just want to make sure that Egg #3 is fertile.
If I don't see a fourth egg in the nestbox by the time I go to bed tonight, I'm going to take out the two dummy eggs so Shehai can focus on Egg #3. I'm going to candle Egg #3 again tonight as well. Hopefully tonight I'll see the first signs of life inside. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Update:
Pending...