Indian Ringneck nesting material,

[aleboy]

Hiya all need help, i have a pair of ringnecks and can some one tell me the best nesting material to use for them in there nest box .
Thenks Al

[rod038]

I use a mix of peat moss and pine shavings. About a 50/50 mix. Moisten it and pack it in the box about 75 mm deep. Make sure if you use wood shavings the wood hasnt been treated with any chemicals. The hen will move it around and throw some out the box. So check from time to time to make sure there is still some in there. These materials are available at most pet shops. Some people say the peat moss can remove moisture from the eggs but i havent found this to be a problem. Others may use rotted hard wood chips, again not treated with any chemicals.

[mikeb]

i use just pine shavings and have not had any problems you can get them at any pet shop, wal mart, or ag supply they are used in horse stables

[julie]

I use the pet bedding/pine shavings too.

[JimHcctx]

I just toured an aviary, a large avairy at that with over 500 birds. I was surprised she used "Soil Conditioner" from the nursery as bedding for all her birds. Most of which were amazons. I purchased a bag of this mix and took a long hard look at it. I have placed it in one nest box with conures to see how I like it. The breeders comments were that her birds loved it, that is more closely resembled what was actually found inside a tree cavity and its silky smooth consistency was such that her birds were very comfortable using it. We opened several boxes and examined the indentations the birds had made using the material. I plan to try it on a couple pair of my ringnecks this winter.

[Ring0Neck]

I use a mix of peat moss and pine shavings. About a 50/50 mix. Moisten it and pack it in the box about 75 mm deep. Make sure if you use wood shavings the wood hasnt been treated with any chemicals. The hen will move it around and throw some out the box. So check from time to time to make sure there is still some in there. These materials are available at most pet shops. Some people say the peat moss can remove moisture from the eggs but i havent found this to be a problem. Others may use rotted hard wood chips, again not treated with any chemicals.

Rod,

I tend to agree with you that peat moss can create problems: I am going to try a ratio of approx: 20% peat moss: & 80% wood shavings.
Problem can be the fact that peat moss has excellent water holding capacity, which is great if we have a dry season, however it can also retain way too much moisture in the nestbox floor mixture which inevitably will be transfered to eggs, it happends rarely but i have seen it last season a breeder had eggs that were too moist and eggshells turned brownish moist color. result was a total loss.

So, we need to consider the type of weather we are having during breeding season. A dry draught season would require increase % of peat moss if rainy/snowy wheather; less of.
My guess is if a breeder lives in dry region/desert like where air is dry peat moss is most effective, in dump/wet regions even wood shaving alone will suffice.

83IV