cockatoos eggs

[dwarf-puffers]

i recently bought these of a friend of mine and there only about 4 month old and i have to batches of eggs. it says they hatch in about 5 days is this true. i have been watching the dad ( dosent even have full colors yet) ad he has dung some kind of hole under a rock there r no eggs therre but is that a pit for the fry to go in? anyways now for the real question. what do i have to do to feed them. all i have is blood worms and flakes will the mother feed them untill there big enough to eat the blood worms thanks a bunch

 

[Cian McLiam]

They will hatch in about four to five days depending on the temperature of the water. For about two days they will not eat as they have a yolk sac. After that your options are limited, the only sure fire food is baby brine shrimp or microworms. Their instinct is to hunt live food so crushed flake/frozen brine shrimp may not work.

If the eggs are white they are probably infertile, if they go red/pink they are likely to be fertile and hatch so you will need to sort out feeding arrangements now. If you arelucky the male will help look after the fry, sometimes he gets jealous and eats them. If you shock the mother in any way before or after they hatch she may eat them also.

You can get brine shrimp kits in most pet shops and they are fairly easy to hatch in sufficient quantities if you follow the instructions, but be sure to rinse off the salty water!

Ken

 

[pnyklr3]

I agree with everything so far! I'd also like to add that the eggs are at the top of the "cave." When they hatch, they fall to the bottom and are called wrigglers. This is when they are using their yolk sacks. Baby brine shrimp is about all they will be able to eat while they are small. The female will herd the fry around looking for food, so make sure that they have good cover. How long have the eggs been there? Is this their first time? Don't be surprised if the eggs are eaten. This usually happens with inexperienced females (although others have had the females be great caregivers from the start). Do you have enough room to grow out all of the fry in the main tank? If not, you may want to look into getting a 20 gallon long. Good Luck!

 

[dwarf-puffers]

k thanks i have a 30 gallon high now but i was thnking on geting another tank anyways the eggs look linda white to me but i can t really tell since there in that dark flower pot. it make sence though caus elike i sed before the male dosent even have all his colours. they laid them yesterday after noon. thanks ill keep u all posted its there first time
Josh

 

[pnyklr3]

You will be able to tell if they are fertile. Bright Red! On the op of a flower pot, they will sort of look a bit darker, but the white-infertile ones will definately stand out. If you ever decide to upgrade your cockatoo tank, look for one with a large footprint as opposed to a "high" tank. Cockatoos prefer to have a lot of space at the bottom.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

so then if there un fertile what do i do since the moms not eating them

 

[pnyklr3]

I would say remove the flower pot if possible and take the eggs out yourself. Before you pull it out of the water, make sure that all of the eggs are white, and that the female isn't in there still guarding. If you see any red eggs, try to use an eye dropper to remove the white ones. This could be very difficult because the eggs are small and can be placed very close together. With unfertile eggs, you risk a fungus growing on the if the female isn't watching them./taking care of them. This fungus can always spread to the fertile eggs and kill them.