The other board suggested i come over here and ask my question, I habe 3 birds, Bootzy(F),Sammy(M), and Kami(F). Kami is in a seperate cage b/c the other 2 pick on her. Well my question/concern is that Bootzy is now flicking her food out of her dish. This is something she just started and she will literally get inside of her dish and paw all the food out with her feet. I dont understand what is going on. I will fill the food dish in AM and by PM it is empty, and i know for a fact she is not eating it, i watch her as she flicks the food out of the dish. Can someone give me some suggestions on what is going on or what to do? TIA

Sounds like she is nesting. That's what my bird, Daphne, did and so I got her a nesting box. She has a mate Phoenix. They now have 4 eggs and two of them are fertile. The other two are not old enough to candle yet, maybe tomorrow. If you don't want her to lay or you want her to get out of the breeding mode, you should change the cage around and check out some more information on how to stop her nesting.

If you want her to breed you should get her a nesting box. By the way I read on a site where there were vets offering info. and they said that it is possible that even without a male a female can lay eggs. In fact it is very common. They also said that statistically it is more common for a female to become egg bound w/out a mate.

So whether you breed a female or not, there is always the possibility of her getting egg bound.

I noticed that people on here say you shouldn't breed because of the female possibly becoming egg bound. That can happen even if all you have is one female and no males. So breeding does not cause that. If you have healthy birds and you are taking good care of them everything should be fine.

If you have a female, under any circumstances, you should be prepared for egg binding.

Sorry, I got a new computer since I found that site, of course, so I can't find that site right now, I will try to find it.

I have been on this forum for quite a while now and actually most of the experienced bird owners discourage breeding unless you have prepared yourself for the responsibility by reading all you can about breeding and raising keets. Most knowledgable forum members do "not" tell people that breeding causes egg binding. Aside from the health issues of the parent birds there are the health issues of the babies and the costs associated with properly caring for the parent birds and a clutch. Complications can occur and emergency vet bills can be in the thousands. There are ways to discourage mateing and haveing babies even if the eggs are fertile if you are not ready. If you don't have a vet fund set aside and have not read up on what this involves then a responsible keet owner would not consider it, in my opinion.

Obviously anything that you want to breed should be researched, any animal that you even consider owning should be researched.

Complications can occur whether you breed your birds or not.

And yes, you should be prepared to take responsibility for that animal and or any babies that should come along.

But to just assume that someone would not prepare before, is so judgmental. I know that some people may not, but that doesn't mean that you have to be so demeaning to people who would mention the idea of breeding. You do not know anything about that particular person and until you do, you should treat them with respect. If they need help they will ask.
These birds will not get help if people keep treating people that way. It will turn them away.

And yes, many people imply that it will cause egg binding if you breed them.[i][/i]

Let's not get off on the wrong foot here. I was talking in generalities and not assuming anything about the poster. I was seeking to let the person know what I had read regarding the statement;

"I noticed that people on here say you shouldn't breed because of the female possibly becoming egg bound. That can happen even if all you have is one female and no males. So breeding does not cause that. If you have healthy birds and you are taking good care of them everything should be fine."

I did not dispute the previous post but offered my own opinion. I have read thousands of posts in the two years I have been on this forum and felt the statement was not entirely accurate. Anyone that knows me on this forum know that I treat everyone with respect. I have always been there to help anyone needing it and one of the nice things about this forum is that you can rely on people to help you with information wheather you ask for it or not. Please re-read my post and try not to read anything into it and I think you will see that I am speaking in general about "anyone" thinking about breeding. I am not addressing it to the poster in particular. If you want to get to know me, please feel free to go to my posts and read to your hearts content. You will see just how badly you misinterpreted my post.

That post was not necessarily directed to you, it was directed to all who tirelessly repeat on and on about how you need an avian vet and how you need to have funds and how you need to be responsible.

I think people in general need to remember that we all read multiple posts and unless you think that someone is not doing research or not tending to their animals, stop telling them the same thing. It's very exasperating.

I just read a post today with someone pleading not to be told that. He thought his bird might have mites. There are some things that do not require a vet and people on this site are so quick to direct them to their vet.

People are looking for answers to questions that others have faced and have experience with. And no matter how much research you have done, when faced with an issue, sometimes you forget and you post a question or maybe that issue wasn't discussed in the information you have. So the forum should help in filling in the gaps. Doesn't mean you do not know what you are doing.
Obviously, if you are even looking on here, it is for the well-being of your animal.

It makes you wonder what the forum is for.

I don't know what post you are saying was not directed at me. If you are referring to the one I quoted, I was explaining that I disagreed with the statement and offered my own opinion. I was choosing to give the person some general information about "breeding concerns". I have no confusion myself what this forum is for. It is for the free and friendly and respectful exchange of information and ideas. People are free to express those ideas without restrictions like adhereing to other people's opinions of structure, content, repetition or style. The only requirements in general are stated in the forum guidlines and rules. Basically you are free to be yourself as long as you are respectful and courteous. Most of the people on this forum care enough to listen carefully and they are able to tell when someone is a newbie to owning birds or is experienced. We try to offer specifics and general knowledge to be helpful and sympathetic to their needs. Listening as well as asking questions is paramount. I notice you have posted eleven posts. I would like to suggest that you take a little time before you form an opinion about the general atmosphere on this forum. I think you will find there are a lot of friendly people on here that are ready and willing to help and be friends. They are all individuals, non the less, with their own ways of caring and expressing themselves. By the way, I appreciate that you may have the information you need and are more experienced, but there a lot of people who come on here that have never owned a bird. They have birds that have never even been seen by a vet and are thinking about breeding. Everyone who comes on here has a different level of experience and requires different things. One thing most people who have experience with keets will agree, however, that emergencies happen and if you don't have a fund set aside, your keet suffers. Your right that a lot of things can be done at home. That still requires knowledge and capabilities. If you get the impression from talking to someone that they are so inexperienced that they might make a mistake, sometimes the best thing is to refer them to a vet for that first instruction. Often, if they are short of money, everyone offers alternative ways. Every case is different as you will see after you have been on here a while.

11 posts, because I read a lot, I don't always respond to them or make posts. I have been looking on this site,on and off, for years, but I recently joined, I have had birds for a long time. I love them. I have even rehabilitated wild birds. crows, owls. So I'm pretty sure I know what I am doing. I also know each species is different, so requires different research.

However, I am not so prideful as to think I know everything. I mostly wanted to state my frustration of the constant reminders, that I would hope that everyone would know to begin with.

If they have spent any amount of time on here, they know.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, or if I may have offended you. You didn't do anything, you just happened to be the one who said it to me when I had had enough of reading the whole responsible thing. If you hadn't posted it would have been someone else. I wasn't saying that no one was nice on here. There are some who talk down to people.

Oh yeah, the owls were babies. They were so precious! We released them back into the wild after, of course, they were grown.