English budgie- questions...

[christie71]

Hi-
This is our English budgie Clumsy... We love him so much!! I am wondering if anyone can help me on sex, and mutation. Thanks so much!!

[GlassOnion]

Hello! I can't help you with your mutation but it seems to be a girl. The little whitish rings around the nostrils means its a female, but you can't be 100%.

Looks like you need some perches and toys! budgies are incredibly active web given things to do and they love to shred things like cheap wicker baskets or bird kabobs from a pet store. It's in their instinct to chew and shred and toys are not a luxury to parrots.. It's actually a necessity. My budgie would be bored to death if she don't have things to shred!

Perches.. I'd suggest various natural perches as well as a rope perch, not just those wooden dowels. It's because those dowels have been linked to causing feet and joint problems such as arthritis or bumblefeet due to its smooth surface, birds need various textures and diameters to exercise their feet.

[christie71]

That is one corner of her cage... S/he does have natural perches in there:) Also s/he has some shredding toys but doesn't use them much... odd little bird LOL S/he loves two of her plastic hanging toys I think because they make noise and the wooden ladder swing... S/he also doesnt use the reg swing but honestly I think it is because s/he isnt very coordinated- hence the name! Clumsy/s favorite place is in a bird feeder porch I got her - it is made of clear plastic and she LOVES it!! She somersaults and digs and has a great time! Clumsy is a funny little bird!!

[Shelby]

Here's a tip on sexing budgies:
Females have a pink or brownish cere (the skin above their beak around their nostrils).
Males have a blue cere.
However, baby and adolescent budgies sometimes have their ceres change colors. You can guess if a budgie is young by looking at their forehead. If the bands or bars go all the way down to the cere, it is really young. As they age, the bars recede.

I see your budgie still has bars on its forehead so you can't say definitively what its sex is, sorry. But you will be able to tell soon!

[Conure Mom]

It's difficult to tell the exact color mutation from an online picture sometimes, but you appear to have either a cobalt (blue with one dark factor) or a violet, with an opaline striping pattern.
When you know what color she is (I tend to think cobalt), you'd call her an English cobalt opaline hen.

You have a very pretty bird, congratulations!

[christie71]

Thank you!