Billie the rainbow lorikeet recently presented at Bird Vet Melbourne with egg dystocia (commonly known as being egg bound). She had been unable to pass an egg that was roughly 1.52 times larger than normal.
Billie is one of the lucky ones because her owners noticed her distress and fortunately got her to the clinic in time to be saved.
This condition is life threatening, even when surgery is performed approximately 2% of birds will still die.
In this video, avian vet Dr Phil Sacks, discusses the case and the common causes. He shows the surgery and treatment for the bird. There is a happy ending here!!!
For those concerned about what is normal for a rainbow lorikeet... They have an average clutch size of 2 eggs, laid a day apart. They will normally sit on those eggs for around 28days, when they will hatch. Owners should be concerned and consult a vet if clutch sizes are larger than this or if the time between eggs is more than 24 hours.