Can i change my baby cockatiels' pine shavings?

i have a male and female cockatiels, they have babies for about 2 weeks now. the babies have been inside the nestbox ever since and i occasionally let them out and handle them (without their mom and dad knowing anything). the problem is, the babies have been pooping inside the nest box and their poop is accumulating inside so the nestbox really has a stinky smell and i want to change the pine shaving for hygiene of both the babies and my home. is that ok or would the parents abandon the kids if they noticed that the pine shavings have been changed? i don't want that to happen because i don't want to hand-feed the little birds. thank u

Can i change my baby cockatiels' pine shavings?
You sure can. Wait til the parents are out of the nest and do it. Morning is probably a good time because they both might come out to eat. Its a good time to start handling the babies any way if you want them to be a nice pet.
Reply:Hi,





I have the same problem with my budgies. When I clean out the cages (Sundays) I also clean out the next boxes. I remove the chicks and put them in a box, I then clean out the nest boxes. I put a thin layer of wood shaving in there too. Put the chicks back.





I've been doing this for over 30 years and not lost a single chick doing it.
Reply:Yes, you can change it, but use aspen instead of pine. Pine can cause respiratory problems in birds and small animals. The parents will still care for the young. The story about birds abandoning the nest or young because of human scent is an old wives tale. Please read my profile.