Haha egg candling is the most exciting thing to me, and I have to remind myself I can't just keep staring at the eggs. It's so fascinating!

I actually went to the Dollar Store and they had some of those super-bright LED penlights, so I might actually be able to get pictures now. The flashlight I was using was bright enough to see some details, but not much. This one is bright enough that it blinds for a second if you if you look straight at it, so maybe it'll show enough to show up on a picture. I'll see what I can grab when I candle them tomorrow morning.

Another advantage of LED is that it doesn't get hot so you can look as long as you like. It looks a lot different than a dimmer bulb though. I switched to an LED penlight last year and haven't quite got my bearings yet with it.

Taking photos in the dark is hard. Especially with a cell phone camera; I didn't want to screw around with my DSLR because I didn't want to pull the nest too long.

New penlight is amazing! I could see both embryos moving! I tried to take a video, but yeah that wasn't happening with my cell. It's all blurry.






And this one was a flash by mistake, but you can see the air cell really clearly. This is the one that looks odd to me.


JJ and Pippin enjoying the break from nest duty:


Denali still bitter about being a third wheel (look how well his beak healed though!):

Wonderful photos. I think the egg is around 12 days old. It won't hurt to bring more moisture to the egg by misting the walls of the nest. Are the eggs in the nest? Giving the parents a bath is also a good way for them to bring moisture to the eggs. The eggs look great.

I'm not an expert on candling but that one egg looks odd to me too - it's not usually tilted like that at this age. But the egg is obviously still alive and maybe it's just a normal variation. Susanne knows a lot more about candling than I do, so you could post the pictures on her ICR Facebook group if you want to get her opinion. You could tell her about the humidity in your area too and ask whether she thinks you need any more.

Denali is looking good! I'm glad he's recovered well - that was a nasty-looking injury. Did it leave a scar at all or does it look completely normal now?

Denali has a small little bump there, which is excess beak material that's not attached to his beak, just the skin (it looks kind of like a hangnail, but with a beak). I don't think it'll be permanent. It's the white area on his beak; it used to be bigger but he's been wearing it down on one of those beak buffer rocks.

Not sure if I'm still on the ICR facebook. I never use facebook. Would be interested to know what's going on though.

Eggs still aren't in the nest. Tonight we'll try to move them again. Parents still have their water bath so I'm deferring to their judgement re: humidity, for the moment. Pippin usually bathes, preens for a bit, and then goes to sit.

Would having a hygrometer (like one of these little things) attached to the nest box wall annoy the parents? Guides say to have a humidity gauge, but not where to put it.

I looked at the ICR member list and you're still on it, so you can post there if you want to. You could also send Susanne a PM, although she might like it better if you posted on the FB group. I don't know of any other group where she's currently active.

I've never used a hygrometer in the nestbox, but I have a temperature and humidity gauge in the room to let me know what's happening in the general area. I live in the desert so I have to worry about low humidity, but so far it's never caused any problems. This is the one I have: http://www.homedepot.com/p/AcuRite-Digi ... /202260980

When I visit the page, I can't see anything and it isn't listed on my "groups" page. This is the right link?: https://www.facebook.com/groups/129409637216508/

She doesn't like when people send her questions on PM. She just ignores it. She ignored mine.

Whoops, I got you mixed up with someone else. Sorry. You'll have to try and join, and it's not easy because she's become very nitpicky about letting people in. So read the information on joining at http://www.internationalcockatielresource.com/ and be sure to comply with it. Sometimes she'll help people by PM even if she doesn't let them in the group, so there's a good chance she'll talk to you one way or another. You do have the right address for the group.