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Dancinirish90
February 28, 2013

What Now?

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Subtitle - No, really...what now?

This is my Sun Conure Mina after an egg laying episode in September 2009. This was the third time she did this since 2003. It happens more frequently now - most recently, this past Christmas. Anyway, the very first time, she sat on them, but after that, I suppose she figured out that nothing was going to happen so she just abandons them. She's not looking so great here - her hormones get out of whack when she's laying, and she plucks out her feathers. Once she settles down, they grow right back. The pic of her up high in her cage looking down a the egg on the floor was my What Now Mini Challenge photo for POD in Sept. '09.

This is for the February Monthly Sketch Challenge Week 3 with the twist of something red on the page. I only used a little - the bird's eye is a red gem, and I used red Stickles on some of the flowers on the layer behind the photo strip.

I fussy cut the bird out of another sheet of the orange pp. I used White Opal Liquid Pearls to outline it and added the gem to its eye.

EDIT: A few people have asked me about her laying eggs, so here is the best explanation I have: I know - it's weird. The way I understand it - it's not unlike us having a period - our egg is there too and is flushed out if it's not fertilized. This is similar - although, with a bird, of course, they lay them when they're fertilized too. The reason it doesn't happen all the time or to every female bird is that some birds are 'nesters' and some aren't. She has to have a 'trigger' to cause her body to think she's been fertilized and should make an egg. Some birds are triggered if you pet them on the back or wings; some rub up against a toy in their cage; it varies. Some female birds don't ever show an interest in that unless they have a real mate, others do it obsessively and lay eggs all the time. With those birds, they say you should try to discourage whatever activity is the trigger. It's not that good for them to lay too often because it leaches so much calcium out of their bodies, and it's hard to replace it. Mina lays sporadically - sometimes years between episodes, sometimes a few months. She usually lays about 3 eggs per episode, and they turn up about a day or two apart, so it lasts about a week. She doesn't always pluck her feathers out either. IDK - she's just nuts. LOL I just take them out and throw them away. The first time, she sat on them and guarded them, but after the month or so it would have taken to hatch if they'd been viable, she lost interest, and I threw those away too. Now, she has nothing to do with them after she lays them. The last one, I was sitting right next to her cage, and I didn't even see her do it. LOL Hope that answers your questions. I didn't understand it either when it first started happening. But, I guess, it's the same way we get chicken eggs - I don't know why chickens lay every day though. :)


layouts scrapbooking pets birds parrots Black Green Orange Color Small 12 x 12 Clean & Simple Monochromatic Playful Challenges Banners Bling Embellishments Gems Inking Matting Paper Layering Titles Animals
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