Please Help ME

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.

I agree with catsaybrdgood, sounds like your bird may be looking for a place to nest and lay eggs, and yes they can lay eggs without breeding with a male.The eggs won't be fertile of course but they can still lay them.There are things you can do to discourage laying- Rearrange everything in her cage frequently, make sure there is nothing she might think of as nesting material in her cage and shorten the amount of light she gets by covering her cage earlier at night and uncovering later in the morn.
If she is not nesting..have you by any chance switched the kind of food you are feeding her, and maybe she doesn't like it?

Catsaybrdgood, I am sure you are knowledgeable, as I have read all of your posts. Many who come on here for the first time "know next to nothing" and will benefit from your help. I am not offended at all. As I said, there are many types of people and everyone's style is a little different. A lot of the time it is unintentional or a misunderstanding.

That is why I said don't let's get off on the wrong foot. I hope your experience here is positive and...Welcome!

First off I just wanted to point out some the rules:

Breeding forum:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Every breeder should have a VET ON CALL as soon as they have a male and female keet together. The female keet needs to be checked out for health issues before she lays eggs. The breeder must have the correct equipment necessary to care for the chicks. We are not vets here. We cannot dispense medical advice. We can only provide our experience with similar issues. Always call your vet first!!

General medical forum:
It is CRITICAL to remember that nobody can properly diagnose your keet without having the keet right there in front of them to examine. Advice given in this forum is well intentioned but CANNOT be used for medical diagnosis. If your keet seems at all "off" or "ill", take him to a vet immediately. Never wait for a web response of any kind. Every pet household should always have an emergency fund set aside for these situations. A keet can die within hours of showing signs of sickness. Take your pet ownership responsibility seriously.
Posting in these forums is a privilege, not a right. Posts that fail to follow our rules will be deleted, and repeat offenders will have their posting privileges revoked. It is critical that our forums be helpful to all members, and free of any abuse.


We are not vets and we do not pretend to be. We have been told by the owner and the moderator to not try to diagnose, so when the best advice we have is to recommend a vet, then that is what we do. If a pet owner can not afford to go to the vet, then they should not own a pet.

This is exactly the kind of thing I was referring to, thanks for posting. Great example of what everyone is getting tired of hearing. How many times does it needs to be stated. Almost every post says this, even if it is your first time on this site, you will definitely notice this. I think we need to give people their dignity and not insult their intelligence and repeat this over and over.

If someone is on here and it is an emergency medical situation or an illness, then fine, mention it. But that is not what is going on here.


as I stated before, if you even own an animal, hopefully you have done your research before even purchasing. ESPECIALLY if you are contemplating owning a female bird. Regardless of whether you have a male or not.

The other thing that bugs me, is that it is only stated that you need a vet on call when you are breeding. What about just owning a female, I don't see any warnings about that. Tell people what they possibly don't know, not what is posted everywhere and that they can read on every page.

And Yes, it is difficult to tell the sex at first, but that is more important than telling someone not to breed their birds.
Once someone has a male and female together it is a lot of work to keep them from breeding. And it happens naturally. Why not tell people not to let their males and females bond, especially if you do not want them to breed.
The same complications can and do occur without breeding.

And having two pairs or even other birds with your pair, your just asking for trouble if you do not want to breed.

Its actually quite comical when you think about it, all this talk of how you shouldn't breed your birds, but there are a lot of birds on this site who are unwittingly exposed to breeding conditions.

It really doesn't matter if someone is tired of hearing it. We are simply following the rules of this forum. There is really no need to criticize everyone for it. New people join and ask for our opinions and we give them. If that involves consulting a vet so be it.

Welcome to the forum, catsaybrdgood.

Could you please ensure that you have read all the rules.
Thank you.

The members of this forum are encouraged to keep to the rules for both the smooth-running of the forum and for the benefit of their birds.

You may feel that you do not need the information or advice that is on offer, but it is there nonetheless and, hopefully, it will help others.

It would be totally irresponsible of this site to offer a 'breeding' section, but not to make it very clear that breeding requires knowledge, funding and plenty of time and experience ~ and an avian vet on hand, should anything go wrong, or just to ensure that all is well.

If you become exasperated, or tired, because people are encouraging responsible pet-ownership, then I am very sorry, but members and the site will continue to do this. It is not insulting anyone's dignity or intelligence. I cannot imagine why you should feel that it does. You chose to join this site after watching for some time, so you must have found it appealing as well as frustrating.

PDM (Moderator)