Our budgie Barry is four years old. This morning I noticed that his cere is looking brown and up till now it has been blue. Yesterday day we bought home two new baby budgies. At the moment they are in a cage next to Barry but we hope to put them in together by the end of the week. But if it doesn't work out we will have to make a decision on who goes as we only have room for the one cage(a big one).

I have been trying to teach Barry to talk since we got him but with no luck. And he doesn't like being handled.

Anyway could there be some reason why Barry's cere is now looking brown?

Do you have pics of when his cere was blue and now brown? If for sure he was a he with a deep blue cere then this is a sign of illness in a male bird and your bird should be seen by an avian vet for complete check-up and diagnosis.

Hey Shazza

Like Elly said try and post a picture of Barry, Also Don't put your new birds in the cage with Barry until at least 3 - 4 weeks.... You want to make sure that they are well and aren't sick or have anything, ( Quartine ) Trust me I just had 2 new birds and found out that they have Beak and Feather and I am very lucky that i read the post on Quartine as all my birds would have caught it).....

 

Best of luck with barry, if you can't post a of him, maybe a vet is your next best thing...

Good advice Neat, I totally overlooked that.

Here is a good information on why to quaratine it is so important

 

Quarantine Program

Categories for this entry

Budgerigar Health And Related

 

Quarantine is the best way in protecting your existing birds from the introduction of infectious disease. It is also to determine whether or not the new bird or birds are diseased and then to treat the problem. The quarantine cage is where all new birds are housed and ideally it should be in a completely different room where there is no airborne or physical contact.

 

Recommend days for quarantine are at least 30 days (1 month). Avian Vets recommend 90 days (3 months) for best results as many illness can lay dorminate.

 

It is strongly recommended you quarantine! If you don't, you could lose all your budgies!

 

Budgerigar Quarantine Program

The following list outlines the steps that should be taken to safely and effectively

quarantine new arrivals to protect your existing flock from potential infection. Most

steps can be applied to any species. The main difference is in the size of the

quarantine cages used.

 

Bird Quarantine Program

 

Bird Treatments

1. External Parasites (Lice and Mites)

Spray thoroughly with A.I.L. before putting in quarantine cage.

 

2. Internal Parasites (Worms)

Treat with Wormout Gel on day one of quarantine

- CROP NEEDLE DOSE:

Fill a 1mL syringe with Wormout Gel and deliver. Administer 0.05mL per 100g body weight, once.

Repeat every three months.

- IN WATER:

All aviary birds add one mL to 80mL of drinking water, for two days. Pigeons - use only half the

dose by adding one mL to 160mL of drinking water. Treat birds for 2 days. Remove all other water

supply. Each pump delivers 2mLs. Aviaries should be treated at least four times a year.

 

3. Protozoa (Canker/Coccidia): Treat Canker with Ronivet-S; mix 4g per 4L drinking water daily for 5 days. Treat Coccidia with Coccivet; mix 1.5mL per Litre drinking water for 5 days.

 

4. Psittacosis: Use Psittavet in water; mix 4g per 800mL of drinking water (mix fresh solution daily) daily

for 45 days.

 

5. Megabacteria: Treat with Megabac-S; mix fresh solution daily for 10 days.

 

6. Nutrition: Supply extra vitamins (Soluvet), minerals (Tracemin), probiotics (Probotic) and protein for

the entire quarantine period.

 

Quarantine Conditions

 

CAGES

Size

- Budgie/small parrot; Breeding cabinet (600mm x 450mm x 350mm)

- Finch/canary; Budgie breeding cabinet

- Medium/large parrot; 1200mm x 900mm x 900mm

- Cockatoo; 900mm x 900mm x 900mm.

Position

- Inside conditions; separate air space

- Outside conditions; At least 5 meters from other birds.

Preparation

- Cleaned and disinfected with Avi Safe

- Treated for insects with Avian Insect Liquidator (A.I.L.)

- Paper on bottom of cage.

 

Hygiene: Clean cages and feed birds in quarantine AFTER normal aviary maintenance

Wash hands with Avi Safe Scrub after attending to quarantine birds

Be careful not to carry droppings, feathers or other waste back into existing aviary

Wash and disinfect food and water containers with Avi Safe daily.

 

 

Observation During Quarantine What Should you look for?

The purpose of quarantine is to detect or eliminate potential problems before they can enter

your aviaries. You must observe all birds in quarantine for any signs of disease. Common signs

are;

 

 

• Prolonged inactivity

• Eye or nasal discharge

• Weight loss

• Soiled vent or diarrhoea (cages lined with paper make observation of droppings easier)

• Wheezing or gasping.

 

If any of these signs occur, keep the infected birds separate from your current stock. Contact

Vetafarm veterinarians or visit www.aussievet.com for an online consultation.

 

VETAFARM

Office Address: 3 Bye Street Wagga Wagga NSW, 2650 AUSTRALIA

Postal Address: PO BOX 5244 Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 AUSTRALIA

Tel: (ISD + 61) ( 2) 69 256222 (Six lines) Fax: (02) 69 256333

Email: vetafarm@vetafarm.com.au

 

We always advise before any home treatment to make an appointment with your Avian Vet.

 

 

Last update: 2007-04-21 15:01

Author: Article contributed by Daz

I have done a bit of Googling and came up with the following information from an old forum. Think it may be the answer to Barry's problem as he is other wise very healthy.

 

I found mention of another cause of a male's blue cere colour changing to brown, besides a tumour of the testis. Apparently, this can also occur when a submissive male budgie is housed with other males - his cere may turn brown to show the others that he is not a threat. :fear

I have done a bit of Googling and came up with the following information from an old forum. Think it may be the answer to Barry's problem as he is other wise very healthy.

 

I found mention of another cause of a male's blue cere colour changing to brown, besides a tumour of the testis. Apparently, this can also occur when a submissive male budgie is housed with other males - his cere may turn brown to show the others that he is not a threat.

 

 

Wow.... I've never came across that one, pretty good reason though.....

I have done a bit of Googling and came up with the following information from an old forum. Think it may be the answer to Barry's problem as he is other wise very healthy.

 

I found mention of another cause of a male's blue cere colour changing to brown, besides a tumour of the testis. Apparently, this can also occur when a submissive male budgie is housed with other males - his cere may turn brown to show the others that he is not a threat.

 

Do you have the source of that information? You can PM it to me if you feel more comfortable I have never read that and my avian vet didn't mention that when we spoke of cere changes. I would be interested in reading more about it . Thank you.

I'm not sure if the following link will work but it is the one for the forum that I found the information on. It is pretty old (2003) and some of the links no longer work. But I'll try anyway.

I am hoping that it is a good sign that Barry will accept Lou and Andy (Little Britian characters).

 

http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/communi...read.php?t=4944

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting personally I would still take a trip to the avian vet if it was my bird because I have heard more about it being hormonal or tumor related vs submissive behavior. Just my honest opinion . Great info!

Interesting personally I would still take a trip to the avian vet if it was my bird because I have heard more about it being hormonal or tumor related vs submissive behavior. Just my honest opinion . Great info!

 

I agree with Elly here. I would err on the side of caution and get it checked out.

Hi there, I agree with Elly and Kaz, only because it doesn't make a lot of sense that the cere would turn brown to show the new ones he wasn't a threat. The females are the bossy birds in the budgie world. If would make more sense for it to go blue, as males are generally much more laid back budgies than females.

 

 

Feathers.

Yes. If that theory was totally true every boy in my aviary would have a brown cere