Posted by Linda L. (199.174.240.130--user-33qts42.dialup.mindspring.com) on February 25, 2000 (or so) at 07:40:46:
In Reply to: chronic egg laying in conures posted by Cathy Magar on February 25, 2000 (or so) at 04:32:30:
: I have a pair of sun conures.My vet says I am doing everything right, no nest box, not much light, distraction from any stimulus...to prevent egg laying. We have tried costly hormone shots which are not too effective and work less and less. I have tried separating them and they scream constantly and stop eating, its just too cruel! She continues to lay on and off all year sometimes up to 20 eggs in a row every other day, until she is deficient in calcium, despite supplements, exhausted, ill, and has also had egg binding problems. A local highly recommended vet, specializing in birds and surgery, recommends removing my hens uterus and says it is very successful and that he has never lost one of the 40 small parrots he has performed the procedure on. None of the other local vets I have gotten second opinions from can give me any idea of the mortality rates or probability of loosing her if I go ahead with the surgury and I don't think 40 successes is a large enough population sample to be a good estimate of the risk. I love my bird more than anything and cannot conceive of life without her. But I know that if I don't do something I will loose her sooner than later. Please, I am desparate and want to make an informed decision, but none of the 4 vets I have seen have given me any adequate estimate of the risk involved. I think I owe her this much. My vet wants to operate as soon as she stops laying, so please write soon. Help, I am desparate and running out of cash! Thank you for all you time, Cathy Magar at ph. # 619-298-4198
Hi Cathy,
I really don't think you have any options as far as your conure hen is concerned. You took a BIG risk when you allowed the hormone shots. And, yes, if you don't do SOMETHING, her time is beginning to run out. To my way of thinking, if your vet has done 40 of these procedures and all have been successful, that's a pretty good track record. I'm not saying that surgery is not without risk because that's simply not true. However, doing nothing is JUST as great a risk. The only thing that I would stress to my vet is that you want to be near when the surgery is done. I've had several birds that have had surgery and I'm always there when they wake up. The procedure and after pain is bad enough without the bird having to wake up in a strange environment with nothing familiar around. I have a lovebird hen that I swear is alive today because I was there when the vets told me I didn't have to be.
Linda L.
Lovebirds Plus