# Is Stanley waiting for me to lay an egg??



## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Hi everyone! Sorry for my absence. I just got a new job (yay!) and I have had very little PT time (bummer)  but I am back and have a new question 

For the past couple days (maybe 5 or 6 at the most) Stanley has been taking up residence on a corner of my bed, near my pillow. I spend about 95% of my time in my room sitting on my bed while I read or am on my lap top and he has been coming over and sitting next to me. I started to notice that he has been gradually spending more and more time sitting on the spot although he has not brought over any nesting material. He is not glued to the spot because he will fly, play, eat, and drink but usually when I leave the room he will fly over to the spot and sit on it. Over the weekend he was very cuddly and nice constantly laying with me and preening. However today he has been attacking me if I get near the bed. He will not stop attacking me until I leave the room. It was not until just an hour ago that he left the spot and allowed me to sit on the bed. 

I guess my question is is he waiting for me to lay an egg? Does he think the bed is a nest since I am constantly sitting on it when we are in the room? I am just curious as to what is going on in his head and how I should react as to not offend his ego 

Thank you everyone! Pigeon behavior is just so fascinating!! 

PS. I know he is a male pigeon because he has tried to mate with my hand so he wouldn't be laying an egg. Just as an FYI


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## sesamestick (Dec 4, 2008)

Of course he is expecting you to lay an egg. What are you waiting for...???... time's a wasting...... Spring is near.


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## DoveNoob (Jan 25, 2010)

sesamestick said:


> Of course he is expecting you to lay an egg. What are you waiting for...???... time's a wasting...... Spring is near.


lol he probably thinks of u as his mate, and i heard the male usually sits on it lol


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## Insomniac (Aug 21, 2007)

Hehe, he probably is, I think that's what Fox is waiting for too... I tried giving him a nest and a fake egg, but he attacked it. I was like "Hey, I defied nature to lay that egg for you, I formed it in my body and lovingly laid it, and that's how you treat me?!"


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

LOL. Better start collecting nesting material, and get a couple of eggs. Might as well be doing something constructive while you're sitting there on your nest, I mean bed.


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

Talk about spoiled pigeons--you people have got to be crazy--but I'm loving it . c.hert


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## Columba livia! (May 4, 2009)

DoveNoob said:


> lol he probably thinks of u as his mate, and i heard the male usually sits on it lol


The males and females both sit on the egg. Usually the hen during the night and the male during the day.


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## Biveon100 (Jan 8, 2010)

I think he thinks of you as a mate. My cocks do the coartmanship danse to me all the time


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Mr. Squeaks has 2 modes: MATE and DADDY!

In mate mode he will follow me around and want attention. 

In daddy mode, he sits on his nest with his egg for HOURS...comes off to poop and eat! Highly protective of "his" territory and if my bare feet happen to get too close to his nest, he will ATTACK!! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! 

Right now, he is on a _real_ egg that Woe laid. I doubt that it is fertile as all her others were not. Gimie, her mate, has a broken leg that healed very badly and interferes with mating. Also, Gimie can break the egg if not careful.

I give Squeaks strips of paper for his nest material.

Love and Hugs
Shi


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Hahaha!! I love the responses! Way too funny. So I guess he really is waiting for me to lay an egg, I guess I better get on that  I can only imagine what he is thinking... "Boy did I choose a dud! She sucks at this egg gig." haha  Yes c.hert we are crazy and yes Jay3 he is prob wondering why I am sitting on the nest/bed and not actually being constructive  

But why the attacking? Is he just an impatient spoiled pidge? If he does think I am his mate then he should prob treat me a little nicer for goodness sakes  

PS. Insomniac, I died reading your comment. haha.


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Hmmm, that is very interesting Mr Squeaks. That sounds like our arrangement too. Why is he keeping you away from his nest if he thinks your his mate?


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

That pigeon is smart he knows that Mr Squeaks has access to plastic eggs and thats why he keeps him away--c.hert


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## sesamestick (Dec 4, 2008)

StanelyPidge09 said:


> Hmmm, that is very interesting Mr Squeaks. That sounds like our arrangement too. Why is he keeping you away from his nest if he thinks your his mate?


It's that big, featherless ''spidey'' thing with the wriggling appendages that has invaded his territory, that Mr Squeaks attacks. ( Knowing Shi.... probably spidey appendages with painted ''faces''.) And then there is those other ''spidey'' things with the longer appendages that even have ''claws''. OMG.... the horrors that invade a poor defenseless pijie's homeland while he is defending his future squabs.!!!!!


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## Tamara21 (Jun 24, 2009)

Stanley sounds so cute...like I said on our PM...Petey does the same thing...and I like you think that Petey has got to be thinking "boy I picked the worst mate"...cause I don't sit on the eggs...but get this...I come in to give him a break on nest duty (during the week this is at night and during the weekend a couple of times a day)...the hand he doesn't attack that he loves comes in and scoots him off and covers the fake eggs while I read a book (standing) and he eats and takes off and does what I call his pijy yoga to stretch everything out...when I get done with a few chapters I leave and he comes back...but I tell ya he looks at me in the mornings when I leave for work...Like WTH? Why can't you get in here and take your turn!!


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Sesamestick, that is very true. I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. 

Tamara, Petey sounds so cute. I just got home from work and as soon as he saw me he jumped off the bed and gave me that same "WTH" look that Petey gives you. "Well its about time you get home! I got to poop!" haha. So I sat down on the bed and off he went stretching and chowing down. This is just too funny.

So, I work from 8 to 5 every day and unless my sister is available to watch him while I am gone, he has to be in his cage. Will this cause him distress not being able to sit on his nest? 

Also when my sister is watching him, like today, will he get off the nest on his own and eat and drink when necessary, if I am not there to take my turn?

I do not have any dummy eggs, so he is not sitting on anything yet. What if I don't get any dummy eggs, will he just continue to sit on the nest? and for how long?

I kind of feel bad giving him an egg knowing it will never hatch. They are so smart so won't they be sad when it never hatches, after investing so much time?

Sorry for all the questions


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If a bird isn't sitting on eggs, then there's no reason why he wouldn't get off the nest. Yes, I switch mine out, but always feel a bit bad doing it. I'm sure they must feel bad when it doesn't hatch. They put so much time and effort into it. Poor things.


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Yeah, I agree Jay. I think it might brake my heart to see my little man disappointed after he puts all that time and energy into sitting on the egg and it never hatches  But at the same time... how long will he continue to sit on an empty nest until he gives up? Will that cause him distress?


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## Tamara21 (Jun 24, 2009)

I thought about that too...but you know in nature they don't always hatch either...and I figured I would only do it so often when he really starts going hard core on the cooing and nesting. I am not there at home from 7 am to 6-7pm...but on the weekends I have noticed that he does come off the eggs on his own and get food and water and such..he won't starve himself.I read that the nesting can go like 21 days and then 10 days off...so I plan on letting him sit for about then and see if he will get off them on his own...if not then I will pull them. Do you have a cage for Stanley? I ask because you can try to get him to nest there...I got a basket and started adding hay and it took off from there.I so wish I could get him a mate but its not in the cards right now for sure...I figure this is the best thing...it gives him something to do (purpose if you will) while I am not home.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

StanelyPidge09 said:


> Yeah, I agree Jay. I think it might brake my heart to see my little man disappointed after he puts all that time and energy into sitting on the egg and it never hatches  But at the same time... how long will he continue to sit on an empty nest until he gives up? Will that cause him distress?


No. that won't cause him stress. He's sitting there because he likes it there. I wouldn't worry about giving him eggs. He doesn't need that. And I doubt if he would sit them anyway. Unless he has a pijjie mate, he doesn't need to be bothered with eggs. He's fine the way he is.


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

First of all, thank you everyone for helping out! 

Tamara, so Petey's nest is in his cage? Petey sounds so cute. I bet he looks adorable acting all daddy-ish and protective on his nest. Stanley does have a cage but he really only goes in it when he we have to go out or to work. He rarely goes in it on his own. So I am concerned that since his nest is not in his cage, he will freak when I have to go to work and he needs to be in his cage. Plus, since Josh and I do not live together anymore (we are searching for our own apartment and will hopefully move out towards the end of the summer) he spends Monday through Friday with me and Josh picks him up Friday after work and he spends the weekends with him. Joint custody, haha. So he will be away from his nest for a couple days. 

Like Jay mentioned, I think that I will skip out on giving him an egg and see how it goes. But I find it very interesting that even though he has no eggs he sits on the nest ALL day until the sun goes down and only then will he tolerate me taking my turn. I just hope he gives up on me laying eggs soon because he has quite a bite and is very persistent with his attacks.


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## Tamara21 (Jun 24, 2009)

Yep Petey's nest is in his cage...you can see it in one of the pictures the cage I mean so the nest is on the top shelf...the basket is secured there and he isn't in there when we are home...he just goes in at night and while we are at work...he lays in the basket when we aren't home.You don't have to do the egg thing at all...but believe me I know what you mean about the bites...my hands were always getting nipped as well as my feet and ankles.The eggs did help with all of that because he was on them for so long.Perhaps you can try to get some nesting material in a basket in the cage you have for him and then just put two fake eggs in there and see...you never know...if it doesn't work it doesn't work. I did move his basket and eggs to the bathroom...so Josh could take it with him...and put it in a comfortable place.Petey didn't care as long as the nest was there...Like I said he just turned so agressive and now that he is off the eggs again...I am his best mate again.Joint custody...that was funny...good luck with the apartment.


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

This thread gave me a few laughs. Too funny about your mates -- I mean, pij -- Tamara and StanleyPidge. 

We're in nesting cycle #3 with C and C right now. My loyal, resident pigeon rescuer helped me get more comfortable with moving the nest. So maybe it would work on weekend visits.

In fact, during the first nesting cycle here, I was so nervous out having to leave for the holidays, knowing they would probably lay eggs while I was gone, our friend took care of our two pij for me at her place. They laid eggs while I was gone and when I went to pick them up, we put the whole nesting box in a cardboard box -- with Clyde in it -- Chauncey separate in her carrier. Took them in the car, back to our place, pulled the nesting box and Clyde out of the box, and they were just fine.

And yeah, I'm new to this, but I do feel sad about the eggs that won't hatch.  Our eggs are fertile so we have to swap the real ones. After about 21 days, they leave the nest and go right into their mating rituals again, so I'm not sure what their impressions are of the process.


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Thank you Tamara and Valeri for all the great advice. Your responses give me confidence that I would be able to move the nest around, in and out of his cage and to Josh's place, in the future.

Luckily, he is already off the nest!! He must have given up on the idea that I was going to lay an egg. Haha. So he sat on it for about 4 days, but on Friday my sister, who watches him while I am at work, said he did not sit on the nest at all. He went to Josh's for the weekend with no unusual behavior and yesterday he showed no inclination to sit on the nest either. It is so nice to have my little friendly man back, like you said Tamara, it is such a behavior difference. 

I think I am going to try to not sit on my bed as much while we are hanging out in my room, that way he doesn't think I am trying to lay another egg. If he does start this all up again (which it sounds like he will) I may go the fake egg route depending on the duration of time he spends on the nest/my bed. If its only a period of 4 days, like this past week, then I may just give him a nest like suggested and put it in his cage with out an egg. We will see.


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