If the parrots form a pair, the male gives attention to the female, and she accepts them favorably, the breeder can hope for replenishment in the family of pets.
All preparations are finished, days go by days, and impatience grows. What signs indicate that a female parrot is pregnant? How to understand that fertilization was successful?
Nesting preparation
Parrots will safely bring and grow offspring, if carefully prepared steamed, that is, creating a harmonious pair, birds. Work begins almost a month before the proposed masonry:
Behavior of a female parrot during pregnancy
Physiological signs of an interesting position will appear when the first egg begins to form. One week after fertilization, it is already apparent that the female parrot is pregnant. How to understand that this happened in the very first days? A sign that the female is preparing for the laying will be her changed habits:
Parrot egg ripening
A female parrot has only one ovary. Egg cells mature in it in turn. In a vial containing one of the cells, nutrients accumulate. This forms the yolk of the future egg.
When the enlarged egg breaks away from the ovary, it enters the oviduct, where fertilization occurs. An embryo forms, which begins to develop rapidly. At this time, the yolk continues to move along the oviduct, as if on a conveyor. In one section, special glands will cover it with a thick mucous membrane - protein. In the other, it will be overgrown with a thin subshell film similar to a soft peel. At the last stage, the egg acquires a hard shell saturated with calcium.
Full maturation occurs in a day or a little longer. All this time, muscle contraction creates a rotational movement of the egg, propelling it forward and shaping it. This process causes the bird severe discomfort.
The condition of the female during oviposition
By external signs, you can notice that an egg will appear soon:
- The female abdomen is greatly enlarged. Bloating is observed in the hypochondrium until the egg is fully formed.
- Ready to go, it becomes clearly visible. The cloaca area swells and turns red.
- Having increased in size, the egg interferes with digestion and the transit of feces. Therefore, bowel movements become rare, but feces come out in large portions. The stool has an unusual smell. Possible relaxation of the stool.
- Before the female lays an egg, she begins to rhythmically, in time with her breath, twitch her tail. This is similar to biting fishing rods on winter fishing.
- A completely bald “hatching spot” appears on the stomach.
Egg laying
During this period, birds especially need rest, and the breeder’s close attention does not please them. It is known that a female parrot is pregnant. How to understand that the egg laying process is also going well? It is enough to look into the nest box only once a day.
The female lays an egg every day. Usually there are five to six pieces. Young couples bring up to twelve eggs, mature - only three or four. It is not necessary that they all be fertilized. The female sits on the nest when the first two or three eggs appear. She carefully warms them, regularly turns over and sorted out the litter. The bird leaves the clutch only to empty the intestines. The male does not participate in hatched eggs, although he feeds the female and happens to be in the house for a long time.
The incubation period of eggs in parrots is about eighteen days. By the time the first chick appears, the clutch will be completed. The female will gradually begin to regain strength for a new, no less difficult period of feeding the chicks.
7 days after birth, sometimes it is 2 days earlier, chicks open their eyes, and after a day or two they notice the first hemp of feathers. Feathers on the back, tail and wings appear in the third week of age, but the plumage takes on a look by the age of one month. The difference from adults is only in size and color, they are vague and without shades.
In captivity reaching a month old, small parrots already leave the nest and walk on the cage or aviary floor, adult birds watch them and bring them food both parents and other parrots. After some time, the chick himself begins to take food. From this moment, as a rule, the owners part with their pet and pass into other good hands.
It is possible that in the pet store you will get a rather mature or even old bird instead of a young chick.
How to determine the age of the budgerigar?
In order to deal with the age of the budgerigar, you need pay attention to the following factors:
- When you first look at the bird, pay attention to wavy "hat" on the head. In young budgies, these waves begin from the beak and spread throughout the head. The exception is the rocks of albinos and lutinos, these parrots have not conceived such a pattern by nature. Such babies will remain for about 3-4 months, then the first, juvenile molting will occur.
- In a young budgie eyes are large and completely blackand in an adult, the pupil surrounds a white ring. Older birds can give out a lack of plumage around their eyes. The iris appears by six months, however, the appearance of a white rim around the pupil is an individual process and can occur in some cases only after 10 months. A wide light bezel means that the parrot is more than a year old.
- The chicks have a black beak. Up to one and a half to two months from birth, a black smear is visible on the beak of the parrots, which will soon disappear on its own, this will happen when the parrot grows up. Sometimes it happens that the beak loses a black spot earlier, on the twenty-fifth or even on the twentieth day of life. This feature is characteristic of lighter species of parrots. Adult birds have a straw yellow or greenish beak.
- Budgerigar chicks are capable of flying already when they reach one month of age. Although the plumage still continues to form, but it is usually enough to get the first flight experiments. Thus, if the seller claims that the chick does not yet know how to fly, you should be alert. A baby parrot being sold, by the age it has reached, usually by that time more than a month by this time, is already able to master the vastness.
- Guess age of budgerigar m body size. An adult has a body length of about 20 centimeters.
- Young parrots have a short tail. But it is able to grow to the length of an adult approximately two months after birth. But it is worth knowing that this may turn out to be an adult bird, which lost the long feathers of its tail for some reason unknown to you.
By the age of one and a half months, a wavy parrot different shaped plumage, from now on, the parrot should look like “feather to feather”. If you are assured that the bird is young and the feathers have not yet fully grown, then the bird is probably sick or old. The plumage of not fully formed chicks is dull and fuzzy in contrast. Over time, it takes on a bright and clear appearance. They remove the chick's outfit and acquire the adult plumage of the bird at the age of six months or a little earlier.- The criterion for determining the age of the budgerigar is wax color (this is the beak site where the nostrils are located). Basically, the waxweed of young parrots is painted in light pink, bluish or beige. After the onset of puberty, which occurs at the age of six months, it acquires a darker color. It should be borne in mind that such metamorphoses are more applicable to females. Males usually wear a pinkish-purple color of the wax, and it is not subject to change over time. However, everything has its exceptions and the wax can have a blue color, as well as blue fragmentary spots. The color of the wax is not a determining factor; when a verdict is issued to a bird regarding its age, all signs should be considered comprehensively.
- Neck stains also give the age of a wavy bird. They differ in their characteristic shape, the older the parrot, the smoother the contours of the spots. Young pets have throat spots in the form of numerous sectors and semicircles of irregular shape.
- And finally, it is very easy to determine the age of the budgie by examining its paws. If the scales on the paws fit snugly together, giving the impression of a smooth surface, be aware that you have a young “specimen”. Over time, the parrot individual scales become noticeable, respectively, the older the bird, the more loose the cover of its paws.
Attention!
How long does a budgerigar live?
Budgerigar lives approximately ten, maximum fifteen years. When comparing its life expectancy with human life, the age of a one-year-old parrot is equal to the age of a ten-year-old child. But this comparison is very arbitrary.
Studying the communication of birds among themselves helps to figure out how to understand a parrot. When interacting with each other, birds use tactile, olfactory, and auditory communication methods. They have an amazingly beautiful voice, a pleasant person.
Bird tongue
To figure out how to understand a parrot, you need to observe its behavior
In nature, the budgerigar is less common than at home. The opinion that they reproduce only a cry is erroneous. This sharp jerky sound is not for them the basis of communication. In human speech, he would have sounded like "cha-cha-cha." Parrots with his help report that they are excited, nervous or scared. Sometimes it indicates a cheerful and impudent mood of a bird. She begins to actively move around the cell and flap wings, informing the owner of her fun.
With short sounds reminiscent of “chak-chak”, the bird expresses approval and consent. At the same time, it leaves the beak ajar. This action shows that it brings pleasure to the beloved pet.
When a bird wants to have fun, it starts whistling
Bird is trying to talk
Gestures help express friendship. When meeting with the owner, the bird can hit its outstretched finger with its closed beak. Such a greeting symbolizes trust and a friendly disposition.
Parrot tweets differ from other species of birds in melody. In it various intonations and half tones are guessed. A simple tweet expresses anxiety, curiosity, or a pleasant mood. It all depends on the volume level.
Owners like to communicate with feathered pets in human language. However, the bird does not understand the meaning of the spoken words. For her, the sounds of human speech are a way to express emotions. She reproduces speech in a good mood, expressing a willingness to communicate.
Often the behavior of budgerigars is perplexing and perplexing the novice owners. Basically, these pets by their actions are trying to explain what they want. To establish communication with the bird, any owner must understand what this or that bird movement, posture or strange sounds means. In this article, we will examine the basic habits of budgies.
Budgerigars have a very changeable character and their own perception of the world around them. They can have fun and, in a minute, have a lot of fun and grunt. Some birds have a flexible disposition and therefore they make contact quite easily, others behave quite aggressively, others are cowardly and can constantly hide from brothers or people.
The owner must understand the behavior of his pet in order to be able to understand in time when everything is in order with him and when something is wrong. Of course, changing the nature of the "wave" will not work, but you can change his attitude personally to the owner. Observing these birds for a long time, we can conclude that their habits are divided into two types:
- biological;
- external.
Let us consider in more detail each type of behavior of a budgerigar.
Biological factors
Sexual arousal
During sex drive, when the level of testosterone rises in budgies, their behavior changes markedly. In some birds this is very noticeable, while others quite calmly tolerate such changes.
For example, a lone male can try to mate with the owner’s hand or with some toy, and the female - eggs. That is why, at such moments, experts advise cleaning away from the pet. If he takes this item as a partner, then relations with a real bird may not work out. There were times when a bird, not receiving reciprocity from its reflection, fell into a deep depression.
Hormonal activity makes budgies to care for each other. If you notice that the behavior of the birds has changed, they started spinning next to each other, taking various poses, making loud noises, cooing, which means they are ready for.
However, if you have a single male or a single female, then puberty in them is manifested in the form of habits such as rubbing a cesspool on a heart or a rod of a cage. At such moments, picking up a pet is not recommended - it may begin to do the same with you. Also, you can not pat the female on the back, because after that she can lay eggs.
Some pets living alone may begin to feed their master. On the one hand, this speaks of the manifestation of love, but during the sexual period, the bird thus displays its parental instinct. If you don’t like this behavior, distract the parrot with a toy or something else when it begins to crank its neck.
Possible problems
Under the influence of hormones, the pet can become quite aggressive and begin to bite. Females are especially active in this regard. Since you still have to clean the cage, replace the water and food, you will have to think about how to wean the parrot from this bad habit. Otherwise, these habits will bring you inconvenience.
There are several options for weaning a parrot to bite. Consider an example of the most effective option.
By the way, the answer to the question: why the budgerigar bites, there can be not only hormonal changes. Such habits can also occur due to a lack of attention, a protective reaction, and character traits. And some birds play in a similar way. Therefore, it is first necessary to establish the cause of this behavior, and only then try to eliminate it.
After you understand at what moments the pet strives to bite you, begin to remove the object of biting, strictly saying "No". Then try to turn his attention to something else (a toy, a yummy one).
Get ready for the fact that the bird does not immediately understand what you want from it. Remember - in order to wean a parrot to bite, you have to be patient. You can not shout at him and even more so to beat. The pet may be afraid to start biting harder, defending itself against you. Gradually, he will cease to perform actions that are objectionable to you, after hearing your categorical “It is impossible”.
Also, to wean a parrot to bite, you can gently click on its beak before he wants to do it. But this is not the best way, since it does not always affect the bird. You can just leave the room when your pet tries to bite you. He will understand that he is losing your attention and will stop behaving like that.
External factors
Throat problems
Sometimes, watching a wavy parrot, you may notice that he opens his beak several times in a row. Moreover, the bird does not make any sounds. Many owners may be afraid of such a strange thing. We will figure out what can cause this behavior.
Firstly, pets thus try to clear their throats after they have cleaned their plumage. The fact is that during such a hygienic procedure a small part of the fluff falls into their throats, and the parrots try to get rid of it.
Secondly, this behavior may be due to the fact that the bird choked on something. No need to worry - the “wavy” easily cope with such problems.
Thirdly, the parrot opens its mouth because it is infected. In this case, these movements are accompanied by a lethargic appearance of the pet, loss of appetite and a decrease in its activity. If you notice something like this for your feathered friend, urgently consult a veterinarian for advice. Only he can make a more accurate diagnosis after examining the bird and prescribe treatment.
It is very bad if the budgerigar breathes with its mouth open. Such bird behavior indicates that he has problems with the airways. If a bird does this for a long time and in a sitting position, it may have been sick for a long time. Take your pet to the vet urgently for timely intervention.
Accommodations
If your wavy pet hides its head under the wing, it may just be cold. So the bird tries to keep warm. Try to enlarge the room with a portable heater. The main thing is that he does not stand too close to the cage with a parrot.
Often a bird hides its head under the wing during sleep. But not all individuals do this — some may sleep by tilting their head forward or throwing it back. In general, these birds can. For example, grabbing one foot on the cage, and the other on the perch.
However, if your wavy pet often tries to hide its head under the wing while it should be awake, and this movement is accompanied by rapid or labored breathing, lack of appetite, weakness, drowsiness, lack of singing, the parrot may be sick or depressed.
If you took up such an interesting thing as -, then you probably should have had a whole bunch of questions. Most likely, you will be interested not only in how to determine the pregnancy of a budgerigar, but also in how to choose a pair of birds suitable for breeding. All of these, as well as many other issues, we will certainly consider in the article that follows.
Principles of breeding budgies
In order to breed domesticated birds, you just need to know a few basic rules.
First of all, breeders will need to find a pair of wavy animals suitable for creating a family. It is very important that the birds you choose show sympathy for each other and do not fight.
If you get a pair of parrots from different breeders or in different pet stores, then they should first be planted in separate cells, thus allowing them to get used to each other's appearance. Only after a week or two, it will be possible to try to plant one parrot to another.
Secondly, the birds you choose should be completely healthy. Only young and strong wavy can subsequently bring you healthy offspring.
Thirdly, initially the breeder will need to decide what period of time he plans to start breeding his wards. Under natural conditions, it occurs in late spring or early summer.
However, if, due to some circumstances, you plan to shift this period to a later one or vice versa - an earlier one, then you will need to perform a number of certain manipulations.
For example, daylight hours during the breeding of birds should be slightly increased with the help of daylight placed near the cage.
Fourth, the one you choose must have a certain age. It is not allowed to involve younger than one year in the process, or vice versa - too old and weakened, over six years old.
Fifth, a break between egg laying should be at least six months. If you break this rule and want your pets to bring you offspring as often as possible, then the female will most likely not survive and die.
Mating season
The beginning of the mating season in birds is visible with the naked eye. The male begins to show interest in the female planted in him. He flirts in every way in front of her, flaunts and simply attracts her attention. The female reciprocates with the male.
If you are already seeing a similar picture, then it's time to cook. Surely, each of you knows about how he might look. Usually, they are either made by hand or purchased at pet stores.
In any case, no matter which nest house you choose, the female will certainly show interest in him and begin to restore his order inside. She will often drop in and cross for a long time.
Signs of a Parrot Pregnancy
So we come to the main issue of this article. So how do you know if your budgerigar is pregnant.
