Um, I think I got it wrong

[Zooey]

Recently, I see Perry's cere getting brown and crusty.
Is Perry a girl? Does this happen? He (or she) is about 6 months old.

[marie83]

It's possible he is a she but if its going crusty then you should get your bird to an avian vet as soon as you can. I don't think its an emergancy as in you need to go right this minute unless the brown is dried blood or s/he is displaying other symptoms. Birds shouldn't have crust on or around their cere/nares.

[Zooey]

Actually ore like hard-ish crusty,not flaky crusty.. How would I know if it is blood or not?

[marie83]

I would catch your budgie and dab it with a slightly damp, white tissue/paper towell. If its blood then it should show up red on the towell.

[BudgieGirl]

Hello-
What color was the cere before? Their cere does change at about six months. Sometimes a female's cere can get pretty blue before it goes brown. I was kind of shocked when my first girl did that, and then went brown overnight, it seemed. If it was purple before you have a problem. If it was pale blue before then you are fine, provided it isn't deep, deep brown or reddish brown, or really crusty. But I am no expert, so if you are worried call you vet.

[Zooey]

Blue-purple. Light and pale colored. More blue than purple.

[BudgieGirl]

Hello-
Hmmm... Could you post pictures? Here are some photos of my babies at 4-6 months, to see if this helps. I hope I am not insulting your knowledge or anything!

Ok, so here is a girl, Reepicheep, at 6 months, with her cere just turning.

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Here is Luna (Reep's daughter, actually) at 4 months. The cere is typical for a girl.

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And here is a boy and a girl for comparison- the albino, Boo, is the girl, and the sky blue, Midge, is the boy. Midgie's cere is distinctly more pinky, and doesn't have that white outline around the nostrils. They are just weaned in this photo, so 11 weeks?

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How would your bird's cere compare? And how even is the color? And what color is he? That effects the cere's color also, especially if he is a yellow face or visual violet. And how crusty is it? Is he/she displaying breeding behavior? Some of my hens would get crazy crusty ceres, and after they finished breeding the ceres would actually peel. They were all related, so I suspect this was genetic (and the vet decreed it to be hormonal and weird but not bad.) But crustiness would not be usual in a young bird.

[Zooey]

This is Perry on the first day we got him/her. I think he/she was one, maybe two months old. It was in October.
Some days it seemed more blue, some days it looked pinkish. Now Perry's cere looks light brown and toughish in the middle and edges. There's the top part of his/her cere that looks slightly light blue, but it's fading further. Sorry I can't provide pictures right now. This is on a Galaxy Tab.
Your budgies are adorable, by the way!

[BudgieGirl]

Hello,

Yup, she's a girl. Don't worry, she is probably fine. And adorable! Just keep an eye on her cere. If it starts getting really dry, just rub some pure aloe on it. If it starts getting really, really dark, you may need to take her in to the vet, as that can indicate a hormonal problem. The really dark ceres are normal in older birds that breed, but not birds Perry's age. What I mean is this:

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Breeding season is over so her cere is lightening (the top has peeled) but you can see how dark, almost black, and flaky the lower part is. If Perry's does that, then you may have a problem. Start by giving her less daylight, and if it is still too dark take her in. But how she is now sounds just fine. I wouldn't worry. Her cere might have turned so blue because she is an opaline- all my opaline chicks ended up having their ceres turn late. But since all my opalines are descended from the same bird, Merlin, I am not really sure if it is the color or some weird genes going on in there somewhere.

And thanks! I think they are cute too. The one is this picture in Whinny. She was 6 when the picture was taken. (Birds her color never lose the dark eyes and barred foreheads.) I used to have the most hilarious conversations with people trying to convince me she was a baby...

I hope I am not insulting your knowledge of birds- I am just trying to be thorough so I don't lead you astray...

[Zooey]

Thank you! And don't worry, you're not insulting me in any way. Perry's cere is not very dark, it's a light medum brown, so it's good.