Birds and paint

[Genny]

Yeah, I forgot to ask you if you have a male and if they might could be fertile or not? If you don't then that's ok....

[SunsetRose]

I would keep the birds out of the room for a few days after you can no longer smell anything. Just because you can't smelll anything doesn't mean the fumes are totally gone, so it's best to way a few days longer to be on the safe side. Just be sure to keep the windows open and fan on to help with circulation and help the fumes get out.

Also, I want to mention that shaking the eggs won't work. I visit a bird forum sometimes and somebody there tried it with their tiel. She didn't want babies and somebody suggested shaking the eggs. She did and now all but one of them hatched. She shook them every day and she wasn't gentle with them. She was only gentle enough to keep them from breaking, but otherwise shook them vigerously.

Your best bet if they are fertile is to drop them in boiling water. This will gaurantee no hatchlings. That is if they are fertile. If they aren't then it doesn't matter.

[Fur&Feathers]

Thank you for all of the responses.

Sorry for being a bit ignorant when it comes to birds and eggs, but don't they need a male to fertilize them?

Noel is the only female tiel that we have, and she is caged separately. The two males are completely in love with eachother. They do everything together and scream frantically when one is taken out of the other's sight.

We've decided not to move into the house that was going to be painted, we are still moving within a month, so the information that everyone has given about the paint is still very helpful.

Noel has a lot of toys, but isn't really interested in them. She also has and uses a cuttlebone.

How do I tell if they're fertile? Someone told me to hold it up to a light and see if there's a spot.

Thanks again.

[Genny]

If you don't ever let her with any of the males then they can't be fertile there does have to be a male for them to be fertile

[Husky_mom]

definately no male = unfertile eggs........ so don´t worry about boiling them or such.....

there is a site with candeling eggs, which is just placing a lamp behing the egg and see through it..... like when you lamp your hand and you can see all red light coming through..... but in the eggs you can see some sort of spot...

the site I mentioned is gone but there is another about other birds you can just google them and they show day by day candeling and progress.....

[SunsetRose]

Ok, no male no worries

Candeling is a usefull technique. Get a bright flashlight, hold the egg up and position it so the beam shines right under the egg so you can see the contents inside.

If the egg is fertile, you will see a dot (which would be the embryo's eye) and some bloodvessels spidering out like vines in the egg. It's best to wait a few days before candeling them because sometimes you can't see anything right away. If the egg is unfertile, you will be able to clearly distinquish between the yolk and the white of the egg.