Finch hasn't laid eggs in 3 weeks - strange behavior

[C_Mu]

Hello,

So, I've been getting steady clutches from my finch pair, but lately things have changed... They have not laid eggs for me in 3 weeks, going on 4. I do not know what has changed, and since I'm needing these eggs for my snake, I'm getting increasingly concerned. They have been acting very, very different, but I don't know why. They alternate sitting in their nesting box most of the time - they only both stay out at the same time for a few minutes. So the female will sit in there, then the male comes in, then she comes out, then after a while she goes in, he comes out. They're almost acting as if there *is* an egg in there, but there just isn't.

They don't really sit outside the nesting box together like they use to - they used to sit by each other outside the nesting box all the time, but that's rare now as one always is in that box. Almost as if they no longer *want* to be together. They'd eat together, play together... The male often sleeps outside the nesting box for a while at night, sleeping on a perch right outside it. Something has changed, but I just don't know what that something is. I have noticed that the male has tried to mate - making his mating noise and fluttering his tail - but she is not receptive. Have they unbonded?

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[JaeG]

Expecting a finch hen to constantly lay eggs is a big ask. Producing eggs depletes her stores of calcium and other nutrients. These would usually be regained while she took a break sitting on her eggs and raising her babies. Constantly removing eggs from caged birds can lead to long-term health problems because they keep on laying to try and replace lost eggs, depleting vitamin and mineral stores further and this takes a toll on the hens health. It often leads to egg binding issues which, in a finch, is fatal.

"Egg laying is dangerous for the bird and excessive egg-laying can lead to calcium depletion which could result in egg binding (dystocia), weakness, fragile bones with a great risk of fracture and even seizures. If your bird is having difficulty with any of these issues then she will need to see the veterinarian right away.

Egg binding or dystocia can sometimes be difficult to recognize as the initial symptoms may be barely detectable. Technically egg binding is defined as failure of the egg to pass through the oviduct at a normal rate. Typically, most pet bird species lay eggs at intervals greater than 24 hours - zebra finches at one day and most parrots at 2-3 days. This is caused by uterine exhaustion secondary to chronic egg laying and or nutritional deficits such as calcium, vitamin E and selenium deficiencies. When an egg does not descend properly it can cause pressure on the pelvic nerves and causing rear limb weakness and even paralysis or shock."

If you are wanting to feed your snake exclusively on finch eggs you are going to need many more pairs of finches.

 

[C_Mu]

Expecting a finch hen to constantly lay eggs is a big ask. Producing eggs depletes her stores of calcium and other nutrients. These would usually be regained while she took a break sitting on her eggs and raising her babies. Constantly removing eggs from caged birds can lead to long-term health problems because they keep on laying to try and replace lost eggs, depleting vitamin and mineral stores further and this takes a toll on the hens health. It often leads to egg binding issues which, in a finch, is fatal.

"Egg laying is dangerous for the bird and excessive egg-laying can lead to calcium depletion which could result in egg binding (dystocia), weakness, fragile bones with a great risk of fracture and even seizures. If your bird is having difficulty with any of these issues then she will need to see the veterinarian right away.

Egg binding or dystocia can sometimes be difficult to recognize as the initial symptoms may be barely detectable. Technically egg binding is defined as failure of the egg to pass through the oviduct at a normal rate. Typically, most pet bird species lay eggs at intervals greater than 24 hours - zebra finches at one day and most parrots at 2-3 days. This is caused by uterine exhaustion secondary to chronic egg laying and or nutritional deficits such as calcium, vitamin E and selenium deficiencies. When an egg does not descend properly it can cause pressure on the pelvic nerves and causing rear limb weakness and even paralysis or shock."

If you are wanting to feed your snake exclusively on finch eggs you are going to need many more pairs of finches.

That... is important to hear, thank you for telling me. I have to feed my snake exclusively on eggs, as she's a dasypeltis - egg eating snake, can't eat much else. I was told that if I were to get a pair of finches, then that would be enough as they lay eggs frequently. But if this frequent laying is this dangerous for her, then she *needs* these periods of not laying eggs. In that case, I need to firstly make sure she's getting what she needs to try and make up for it. So then this is her body telling her she needs to just stop, correct?

If that is the case, then I suppose I'm not as worried - if her body is needing to stop for a while, then she stops. I was afraid there could be something else that's wrong, but if this is her body just needing to rest, then that is a much preferable alternative. I'll just make sure that she's getting whatever she is losing.

Looking further into how to prevent this... mashed eggs, shell grit, and/or cuttlefish bone need to be added to her diet for starters, is that correct?

And I'll definitely be getting another pair or so, but I need to upgrade their setup then. I currently have them in a large flight cage (30 long, 20 wide, 53 high), but I've been told that more than one pair in a flight cage isn't a good idea. So I'll look into building a much larger aviary for them so that I can get another pair or so. The snake only eats a couple eggs a month, so even if I just have a few pairs I should be able to healthily get enough out of them.

I had thought I did research, but I did not see anything about excessive egg laying being such a dangerous thing - I had thought that finches were *supposed* to lay frequently. So, thank you very, very much for telling me - I appreciate it, and my finches will to.

 

[JaeG]

That's an interesting little snake. I live in a country where there are no snakes so I hadn't ever heard of a snake that only eats eggs.

Button quail are good egg producers if they are getting enough light. Or is your little snake a bit small yet?

If you had 3 pairs of finches you could hopefully get a cycle going where one pair is always laying, sitting on and raising however many eggs/chicks you let them keep after you remove the number of eggs you need. Finches eggs take approximately 14 days to hatch then the young are weaned at around 6 weeks old, so the whole cycle will take about 8 weeks. Hopefully you could work it so that the pairs were laying at different times and giving you a steady supply of eggs.

Finches love greens such as dandelion leaves, Swiss chard etc. Sprouted seed is also a favourite and good for them. Fine oyster shell grit is a good calcium source. There will be vitamins and mineral mixes you can add to their water too to give them a boost.

 

[Quailobsessed]

@C_Mu what season is it for you?
I'm in Australia, so it's late Autumn for me, meaning it's out of laying season for my finches.