Albino Budgie with round abdomen

[Rownak Ara]

Hello everyone! I’m new here, but I had a question about my albino budgie Snowy.
She developed a round abdomen a little while ago, I checked to see if the abdomen was hard or soft. The abdomen was hard, but is this something bad? She is not disturbed by it and she eats well and also is very active. She has mated with another budgie of mine named Olive. Can anyone tell me if she is carrying an egg or is this something else?

[maxollie]

I am thinking she is going to lay an egg. Provide plenty of cuttlebone, and fresh leaf lettuce to her, along with a good seed mix. Watch for any signs of egg binding. If you see her on the cage floor, setting there, she may not be able to push out the egg! You then will need to get her to an Avian vet ASAP!

Once she lays the first egg, more eggs will be laid, sometimes the hen will lay eggs right off the perch, especially hens who have not laid eggs before.

Get a nestbox, just for budgies, at the pet shop. Put the box inside the cage. Place any eggs, that have not been cracked, or broken in the box, Do not put nesting material in the box.

Welcome to the community! We will watch for updates!

[Rownak Ara]

Thanks for replying! Unfortunately, the small pet shop near my home doesn’t sell cuttlebone, will mineral block work?

[maxollie]

Yes, that is OK. I would suggest you shave off some of the mineral block so it is like tiny, tiny pieces and mix it in their seed cup. Also, hang it in a place close to the seed or water cup. You also should be able to find cuttlebone that is already ground in bottles or other containers. Check that at the pet store. And also, you can boil a chicken egg, and crush the shell and put some in the seed cup.

[Rownak Ara]

Update, She has been a bit inactive than usual today, is there something wrong? She hasn’t been sitting on the cage floor, just inactive.

[maxollie]

Is she sleeping alot? Are her poops watery, or very loose? Is she not eating? Is she all fluffed up? All of these symptoms, along with the swollen abdomen could signal her having a bacterial infection, or, something wrong with her abdomen, or, it is possible she is eggbound, or, cannot push the egg out, if there is one. I would suggest taking her into an avian vet for a wellness check. They would check her all over, especially her abdomen. Budgies hide their illnesses and can die fast, if not treated immediately when any symptoms of illness appear.

[Rownak Ara]

No, nothing at all no symptoms, just a teeny bit inactive. Also, her poops are big, but she eats normally, acts normally too, also, she isn’t fluffed up, and she does not sleep too much, but she only has big poops. Is this anything bad?

[maxollie]

The big poops are from her being, what I feel now, is hormonal. Is her cere which is right above her beak toasty brown or ivory co!or right now? That indicates she is in breeding condition. She has been mating with the male, and her little body inside is getting ready to lay the eggs. Just watch her, as I suggested above, in my prior post, for signs of the egg binding. It takes a few days from the time the male impregnates her, for the egg laying to begin. After your reply here now, I doubt she is sick.

We will watch for updates.

[Rownak Ara]

Yeah, her cere used to be pure white coloured, now it is a light brown colour. It has a tint of light brown, before it used to be all white as she is an albino budgie.

[maxollie]

That signals she is in breeding condition, so, I suspect you may see eggs soon!

[Rownak Ara]

I want to send a picture of her so you can confirm that she is carrying eggs, but how do i send pictures?

[maxollie]

Go on line to a website called tiny pic! Then, upload the pics to that account. Go to the home page here, and on the top of the page click on gallery. There, it will instruct you how to download the pics from your tiny pic account to your gallery. Then we can view them.

Do you know approximately how many days ago they mated? Do they continue to mate?

[Rownak Ara]

They have mated a long time ago, like a few weeks after we got her. They still mate, yes.
She has been with us for about 5 months now. When we got her she was about 4 months old.

[maxollie]

Thanks for that info. She is quite young to be laying eggs, because usually they are about a year old before they reach full hormone, but since here cere, has changed color now to the more crusty brown, and her abdomen area appears to be swollen, she probably will be laying eggs soon. If possible, I would suggest a vet wellness visit, and have her checked out. Is there an Avian vet in your area?

[Rownak Ara]

There is a pet care place about 1.4 kilometres away from my home, but I don’t think she is sick, she eats her favourite food too. She shows no signs of sickness and she is active now.