Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 11/22/2007

Question
Hello, i have a parakeet that i had gotten for my son. it is a female.. My grandmother has one also that is a  male . I now have them both in the same cage and all the male is doing is cleaning the female and preening her.. Now does this mean that if they are left alone that they may have eggs. and also i was wonder i just got two cocktails for a older lady that tells me that she will lay eggs every other day.. and there are some questions i have about them if you could  help me please let me know thanks ever so much.

Tasha

Answer
Hi, Tasha,

The male cleaning and preening the female is a sign of companionship.  This does not necessarily mean eggs are on the way!  If/when you see the male feeding the female beak-to-beak, this is called pair-bonding.  This would mean eggs could be on the way soon.  Some keets won't lay eggs without a nesting box being present, but some lay eggs on the cage bottom, in a feed dish or anywhere else in the cage that resembles a nesting site.  If you don't want babies, don't put a nesting box up or have anything in the cage as a nesting site.  However, she may still lay eggs if/when they pair-bond as long as they are together.

Regarding the tiels, laying an egg every other day is normal, up to a clutch of about 6 eggs (some lay more, some less), as long as these are a male/female bonded pair.  Single/female birds can lay infertile eggs, too, without being with a male.  If this is a male/female pair, then babies will start arriving about 18 days after incubation begins.  You'll need to be more specific about additional questions you need answered.

Chrys