Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/20/2007

Question
hi i have had my budgie peridot for at least two years now and she is now acting really weird she is being mean to all of the other birds in the cage she is always sleeping and she cant fly right its like her wings have been clipped but they haven't she has built a nest out of some supplies i have given her and she sits on it a lot with my other budgie star (male) so do you think she is just pregnant or is there something wrong with her please answer my question a.s.a.p she is my favorite budgie and the very first one i have ever gotten thank you for your time

Answer
Hi, Katherine,

It sounds like your female is getting ready to lay eggs.  Birds don't get pregnant.  They don't carry eggs around inside them and then lay them...1 embryo is produced at a time and the egg shell develops around an embryo just before an egg is laid.  Your female is trying to chase all the other birds away from her nest/eggs, so this is why she is being mean to the others.  The best thing to do would be to move the other birds out of the cage so the female and male can have their eggs/offspring by themselves in the cage.  If you leave all the birds together, there will most likely be fighting and perhaps one of the birds will be severely injured or even killed by the female on the nest.  The other birds may even hurt her trying to get to her eggs/babies so they can destroy the eggs/kill any babies.  To move her and the male out would likely result in her abandoning her eggs.

Chrys