Parakeet (or budgie) Experts Help!

[Fancy Feather Poultry]

Well, I have been thinking about getting a parakeet, and I learned budgies with white ceres are usaually females.

Well, I wanted a female and they had 2 yellow and green and 2 blue budgies, both of the blue had blue ceres so my instinct was that there both males. Then both of the yellows had purple ceres with a faint white or blue color by there nostrils.

Should I go with my instincts and get one of the yellow ones?. They are really the last pet store I can go to because they have sorta tame birds, mejir birds are really mean and hard to train, but this other mejir has a really good pet section I am considering them.

Should I go to the next mejirs and see what they have for budgies, or should I just buy one from my local pet store?

I am sorta leaning tord going to the other mejir and seeing if they have definate females...what do y'all think?

 

[Henriettahen]

It sounds like the budgies are all males....females should have almost no coloring in the cere..

 

[arlee453]

Unless the parakeets are mature, you can't tell gender 100% from cere color.

My Buirdy we were convinced she was a HE due to her bluish cere, but since she's matured, it's turned a pale pink.

My Lavendar we thought was a girl because his cere was just the palest blue, but now as he's aged it is a beautiful rich blue color.

You can estimate age by how many 'bars' are on their heads. When the heads are almost solid white/yellow then the bird is mature. HOWEVER, that's not 100% either...

In many parrot species.... only the parrots know for sure!

-S

 

[rosyposyosy]

may I ask why you want a female? Males can talk you know.

 

[birdnutz]

Males also have always seemed more sociable.Most of the females I had also bit harder than the males.

 

[Fancy Feather Poultry]

Well, I wont to get a male and a female but I dont have the money right now so I can only afford one, and it if better to get just one for now so I can spend more time with it then have it get associated with the other bird and find me as there enemy, so I just find it the right choice for right now, people on yahoo answers are saying its bad to get female and she will continously lay eggs and get sick....I would just take the eggs away so she wont set on them! I dont see the problem but then again im not an expert.

 

[country freedom]

I have raised Budgies in the past. Females-white, pink, or brown ceres, depending on the color of the bird. you can buy a simple book on budgies in pet stores or bookstores and the books will have that info in them. Lutinos might be hard to tell.( Lutinos, I didn't have any). Mature males usually have blue ceres. Youngsters with barring on forehead will be too young to tell yet. My female continuosly laid eggs, even without her mate.Sorry, I don't remember if she started laying eggs before I got her mate. I would wisely advise you, if you do pair her up with a male, if she doesn't like him, she could kill him. More wise advice, if they like each other, and produce a brood, you'll have to be ready for 24 hour around the clock EVERY TWO HOURS demanding chicks who get LOUDER as they get larger! Tis no fun to hear 'them' around the clock! Oh, they have budgie nesting boxes in petstores. Your best bet would be to read a book and decide on a color of bird you would like and get a male Budgie, if you're not interested in breeding. If you want to tame your bird--don't get another for company. You want your Budgie to imprint/bond strongly to you, or else they'll (2 birds) will imprint/bond with each other and act like wild birds towards people.

 

[barg]

I bred them

If they are old enough to tell what sex they are, you probably don't want them as a pet, it is better to get young birds for pets.

There are several types that do not follow the usual cere color of blue- boy, tan brown white- girl.

As mentioned above the Lutino is one of these types, the recessive pied is another of these.

If you see one that has splotches of color, it may be pied or it may be a recessive pied, if it is the recessive version, males and females cere's are always the same color - a kind of pinkish.

Older male budgies can be tamed but may never be as tame or as willing to talk as ones that were bought at a younger age.

Females in the wild are the ones responsible for making a hole in a tree for a nest, that is why they are known for their bite, and it is true, females bite about 10 times harder then males.

So you might try handling each one before you buy it, the ones that don't draw blood, are probably your best choice for a pet.
Good luck

 

[barg]

A couple more things on bugies,
In the united states bugies are bred comercially for one purpose.. to make more bugies
It is my understanding... and correct me if i'm wrong, that outside the united states bugies are much more like Our show quality bugies.. the ones we call "english Bugies"

The majority of the bugies I owned were the "english" type and it is worth mentioning that these birds were nothing like the American version as far as disposition.

I had more then one breeding pair that remained finger tame even while they had chicks.

American bugies are runts, they are small, flighty, anxious birds that are more of a challenge to tame.

If you can find the english type, they are usually more expensive, but they are far superior for pets, they are more healthy and live longer then the American type.

The "English" type are usually about twice the size of the American type and have pronounced forheads.
For breeding purposes , they lay about half as many eggs as the Americans- which probably has something to do with their larger size.

Probably more info then you needed but.. there ya go

 

[country freedom]

Quote:
Thank you for more info than I could give. I only had 2 Blue. Male was English. My female was very small--she could fit through a hole just a bit larger than a quarter. Their babies were the colors: blue or blue/white splotched or gray/white. Female was given to me along with a blue/white male (was told wasn't related) but I think they were. He got to her 1 time and out of 5 eggs hatched, 1 was "special" . She killed it.