Penny

Thank you all so much for your replies. l love Coco very much and am so happy he isn't ailing in anyway. Kaz: I am so relieved that Coco is okay. I always presumed he had suffered some sort of abrasion to his shoulders/wings, however I guess I also thought that the feathers would grow back over time and when they didn't I started to worry. Incidentally, Coco has a little habit where he preens/grooms our skin. However it's a little bit harsh/sharp. It's not biting, more like sharp nibbling and very annoying, though he doesn't think so, he loves doing it. Now I'm wondering if this is what his parent/s did to him and so he does it to us. And I'm also wondering when Beanie matures and she and Coco become parents if he would do this to his chicks? Should I be concerned about this?

Thanks for your reply Dave, Yes, Coco has always had this feather fault. I got him when he was 12 wks old from the petshop and he had it then. It's always been exactly the same. I didn't think his beak was overly long. I have another budgie named Beanie and his seems about the same as hers. They have natural perches and cuttle fish and some type of mineral block that they nibble on. Do you think there's something wrong with Coco and/or his beak and feathers?

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on why my budgie Coco has a very small patch of feathers missing from the tops of his wings where they join his body (sort of like his shoulders if he had them). He is just over a year old now and was, and is, in absolute perfect health. When I got him from the petshop he had the missing feathers, it looked like he'd rubbed his shoulders or rubbed shoulders with the other baby birds and this is all I thought it was and that they would grow back when he wasn't so confined - but they haven't, though it hasn't gotten any worse either. As I said previously, he is otherwise perfect and so are all his other feathers which are beautiful and smooth and always have been. I have been googling about feathers and all I can find is horror stories which terrify me about french moult and another virus. Could this be genetic? Anway you will be able see by the photos what I am talking about and this is identical on both sides. You don't really see bare skin as he has downy feathers which cover his tiny bald patch from the sides. Poor little Coco. Oh, in case you wonder if he could be pulling out his own feathers, I am 99.9% positive that he doesn't. I work from home and he spends mostly all his waking time with me, sitting with me or on my desk. Thanks any for advice or info.

Thanks everyone. And thank you for the the info on her colouration. What you can't see in the pics I posted this morning is her rump. I don't know whether this changes the type of colour mutation she is. Here is a picture taken when she was just 6 weeks old which shows her rump. This is the only other colour on her besides the yellow of her body and the bars near her head, her face is perhaps a brighter yellow but that's it. Her wings have no markings on them.

Hi, At 6 wks I thought Beanie was a male, but now at 5 months old I am thinking boy was I wrong, and that Beanie is really a girl. What do you think? His/here cere was definately bluish to begin with and it gradually got whiter and whiter until just recently it has taken on a tanish tinge (seems to be getting more definate every week). Beanie is not nearly as interactive with me as my other budgie Coco (male) and she doesn't really chatter as much or show off like he does. I thought this was because Beanie had Coco for companionship from the beginning and so didn't need to bond with me as he did. Now that her/his cere is looking as it does I am thinking it might be female behaviour that I am experiencing. How will I manage Beanie and Coco's interaction if Beanie is a girl. They are not engaging in any sexual relations yet, so I guess what I am asking is when will I have to separate them and for how long? How old will Beanie have to be before it would be safe to let Coco live with her again. I am afraid they will get depressed if they are separated now.

Hi There, Beanie is my new budgie which I got from the pet shop. He is now 8 weeks old and very, very sweet. I would like to know if he is a he or maybe a she. The lady in the shop had no idea as he was so young. I was also interested in what variety he is. His main body colour is very pale yellow and the colour on his rump is a greyish blue. Thanks Penny

Hi Everyone Thank you all for the good advice and for sexing Coco. I didn't really care if he was a boy or a girl but it's nice to be able to call him a him. He is bonding quite well and is really getting tame. I agree he is very cute. About his cage. Actually we have two cages, one is pretty identical to cage A & B in the link that Kaz posted, I bought that one from the pet shop. The cage Coco is in is huge and very heavy, I can't really lift it around. It is bolted to a beam in our lounge room. I just measured it and it's diameter is 93cm and height is 100cm. The wire is snake wire to keep out snakes (pythons) which, however careful we are, sometimes get in. I would hate it if Coco were taken by a snake. I bought the other cage (rectangular one) mainly just to transport him in it from the petshop and if it were needed at other times, like holidays etc. So anyway he stayed in the rectangular cage for about a week but kept flying to the round cage and so I set that one up too. I don't know why he prefers the round cage but he does and if I want him to stay in the other cage I will have to hide the round cage from him. Should I do that? I feel a bit mean. Anyhow thanks so much to everyone for their advice which I appreciate.

Hi all, I purchased Coco from our local petshop as a baby bird about 3 weeks ago. The girl that served me told me that Coco was a girl. After information searching online I am not so sure. I think Coco is a recessive pied. Is this correct? Her cere is a pale pinkish mauve colour. I also learnt that recessive pieds do not develop the white rim around their iris like other budgies. Is this correct? Is it true that female budgies don't talk readily, are not as responsive to human contact and are generally harder to tame when compared to male budgies? I had always thought this was just an old wives tale. Thanks for filling me in.