Is my parakeet (Budgie) EGG BOUND ! HELP !

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

I have a breeding pair of parakeets and they have the proper set up and nestbox, up until 4 days ago my female never went in the next box, but 4 days ago shes been in and out. Yesterday night, I thought noticed her vent area slightly bigger than normal. Today it is BIGGER, but she is not puffy and not breathing hard. She is actually acting quite normally, climbing up and down the cage sides and flying back and forth, and no obvious abdominal contractions. So is she egg bound ?? Or is it an egg that was calcifying and is getting ready to be laid ?

 

[bagendhens]

if theres no egg by mid morning tomorrow id treat it as an egg binding. (lots of good egg binding info online)
hows she doing in terms of eating and drinking, and do you have cuttle and crushed oyster shell available for her too!?

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

Quote:
She is still acting normal (no puffy or bottom of cage ) I still think the vent looks swollen. She pooped and it was sooo HUGE, but that was in the morning. At 1:30 went I came back home she is still acting normal, the male feeds her and she preens him. I still think it looks slightly swollen and her tail still bobs a little, but I looked at my other parakeets and some of their tails bob and some dont; so I dont know if im being paranoid about the tail bobbing

And I havent pHYSICALLY SEEN her eat, but I just ran out side to see her and then ran back in to check this

 

[rsepiphyte]

She sounds like she is getting ready to lay. Keep the area around the cage quite and give her some privacy. If she were egg bound she would more than likely be on the bottom of the cage by now. If that should happen i would put her in a bathroom that has been warmed and steamy by running a hot shower. Leave her there and perhaps place a light (not too intense, we don't want to burn her) to keep the temps in the 80's. You can also mash TUMS into some water to give to her IF she shows signs of being eggbound for some extra calcium. Good luck and i hope all turns out fine for you. Ruth

 

[silkiechicken]

Think you are describing "torpedo butt" meaning an egg will be on it's way soon.

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

OMG your posts really calmed my down a lot. fuuu . .. I saw her heading down the cage for food. And when she was on the side of the sage I saw her vent. the vent itself looks fine, its the area of feathers before the vent that look puffy but im not sure if thats just how they are. Her tail is still kinda bobs though. Dont all parakeets tails kinda "bob" ?

 

[rsepiphyte]

My guess is she is going to lay soon, so i would just sit back and relax as much as you can and let nature take its course. Ruth

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

I SAW her eat. Still not puffy , but STILL BOBS HER TAIL !!!

 

[rsepiphyte]

Good sign! Hang in there! Ruth

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

While on bird watch at 8:15 AM . . .she ate perched was fed by the male, preened each other .. . . .and mated . . .. Do egg bound females mate. But her tail still twitches !!!