Are plastic tupperware bins safe?

[rivx]

Gracy laid an egg.
In her water dish.
I know I need to move the egg and keep it in a box/basket/etc. on the floor lined with paper towels, but I just realized I cannot find any boxes, spare for plastic tupperware. Will this do?

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Has she been near any males of the species?
Tupperware should be good, anything leeching out of the plastic would probably take several birdy lifetimes before it built up enough to be toxic. And you wouldn't have the lid on I hope :)

[rivx]

Yep, no lid! I put it in and she's so far been ignoring it, but I'll leave it there anyhow.
Not as far as I'm concerned, nope! I don't know much about all of her past homes, though, but I think it's safe to say she's infertile.

[Dragonlady2]

As long as she doesn't begin chewing the plastic, it should be fine.

[rivx]

Great!
Should I wait the full 21 days before letting her into her new cage (assuming she's comfortable with the transition we've planned), or just move the nest with her?
Not sure what's best for a nesting bird, but I couldn't find this info. elsewhere!

[rivx]

An update on this:

After consulting w/ her old foster parent, she is indeed a chronic layer. Wish I'd been told sooner, but, it's alright. We can deal with it now, and that's good!

Now she's on 14 hours of sleep, lots of calcium + protein + orange veggies for her immune system. Let's hope it goes well <3

[Dragonlady2]

I think you can transition her with her"nest" into the new cage. She might enjoy the extra room.

[Quakerella]

You could move the nest with her to her new cage.

If Gracy is a chronic layer I would consider getting dummy eggs and leaving them in the nest in the cage. She may ignore them, or she may incubate them, but it may stop her from laying as frequently as she does.

You are on the right track, but over supplementing can also be dangerous if she is on a pellet diet.

You can learn a lot about a bird from the egg. If you don't mind me asking can you describe it.

Is it smooth or rough, does it have any dents in it, does it have spiraling lines (very faint, probably need a light), and any other characteristics?

[rivx]

Thanks for the tip! I'll get some white marbles or something to put in as her 'eggs'.

She's not yet on a pellet diet, but I'll keep that in mind once she is (finally) eating them.

I did go check on the egg. It's quite smooth, and I didn't see any noticeable dents -- there's also no spiral pattern. It has a slight pinkish tint to it, which I've heard means infertile. Parts of the shell do look a tad thinner than others, but nothing I would've noticed without the light. She hasn't nested on it, but she does look at it sometimes.

[Stephen12]

Gracy laid an egg.
In her water dish.
I know I need to move the egg and keep it in a box/basket/etc. on the floor lined with paper towels, but I just realized I cannot find any boxes, spare for plastic tupperware. Will this do?

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

I too think that you should move her into a new cage along with her nest.

[Lady]

Hey rivx how is Gracy? Did the plastic containers work?

[rivx]

Sorry for the late reply!

They did work, and she's doing great. She's settled into our family really well, and we've gotten quite close. We're watching criminal minds together right now. <3

[Quakerella]

That is wonderful to hear. Is she still laying or has that subsided?

[Lady]

How nice she is bonding to you. I too am wondering how is she doing with the egg laying? Did you move her into her new cage with the "nest"? Did it make a difference. We would love to see some pics if you feel like sharing :).