Posted November 7, 200717 yr Hi, Thought I would now say hello as I've read some fantastic information and tips on this website. We bought our budgie last Sunday from a petstore and are still not 100% sure if its a boy or a girl. It has a bluish cere but not all one colour its a bit lighter at the top. I have no idea how old he/she is but I am guessing less than 3 months as he/she still has the black bands on her head. Have has a lot of progress so far with the taming. He/she was eating from my hand very quickly and yesterday sat on my finger while eating some millet. If I just put my hand in the cage, he/she most of the time will move away from it but occasionally he/she will stay still to let me brush the feathers on her chest, and hasn't tried to bite once. She absolutely loves celery and cucumber but wont touch fresh bread when i put it in there. We'll be taking her to the vet tonight to get his/her wings clipped and a general health check. Pictures of Ernie (or Missy) here: Budgie 1 Budgie 2 Can anybody give me an indication of whether our bird is a boy/girl and how old you think he/she may be. Thanks and look forward to many more posts in the future. Cam and Penny
November 8, 200717 yr Hi cam and Penny! I don't have enough experience to say if a Missy or Ernie! But they are great photos and sounds like you are well on your way to a lovely tame little friend! I have found food best taming tool so far.
November 8, 200717 yr Author I would say girl but I'm not an expert :mellow: I took her (I'm leaning towards a girl simply because the bit around the nostrils are lighter than the rest) outside today, and she is a lot more placid when I put my hand in the cage than she is when the cage is inside. She absolutely loves the birds chirping in the background and keeps looking and running around the bottom of her cage to try and find them. I am thinking the comfort level may be better for her because outside i am sitting down and at eye level with the cage on the table, whereas inside I am taller than where the cage sits (about 1.6m high). She sat on my finger eating millet for about 15min, though she is still very reluctant to get on it consistently... she'll nearly always put on her left foot then when i nudge a bit more she quickly moves sideways along the perch. I took her inside a bit later and tried the same thing, and she fluttered around the cage avoiding my hand. I was a bit upset as I thought we'd made some good progress... but then I've always been an impatient person Cam
November 8, 200717 yr I have always found with my budgies with taming them it seems to be a "2 steps forwards one step back" kinda thing! Hang in there, the rewards of your little friend trusting you is worth it!
November 8, 200717 yr Hello I think it's a girl, but I'm not 100% sure. Do you have a picture without flash? It's a baby, I would say a couple of months old and very pretty
November 8, 200717 yr Author Hello I think it's a girl, but I'm not 100% sure. Do you have a picture without flash? It's a baby, I would say a couple of months old and very pretty We've just come back from the vet and Ernie has had his wings clipped. The vet seemed pretty sure it was a boy, as she said that the cere was too blue to be a girl. However, she said that sometimes it still can turn brown as the budgie gets older, so for now its Ernie until it goes brown... Last night he was also warbling to himself for a few minutes. Do females talk to themselves or is it just the males? I'll try and get some more photos up over the weekend. Cam
November 8, 200717 yr Hello I think it's a girl, but I'm not 100% sure. Do you have a picture without flash? It's a baby, I would say a couple of months old and very pretty We've just come back from the vet and Ernie has had his wings clipped. The vet seemed pretty sure it was a boy, as she said that the cere was too blue to be a girl. However, she said that sometimes it still can turn brown as the budgie gets older, so for now its Ernie until it goes brown... Last night he was also warbling to himself for a few minutes. Do females talk to themselves or is it just the males? I'll try and get some more photos up over the weekend. Cam I'm not sure if they talk to themselves - I think they do. I have more budgies, and even the females chat with the rest. But I don't know if single female would do the same
November 13, 200717 yr Author Thanks, Ernie is settling in very well to our home. He loves music, especially a bit of Lionel Ritchie in the morning He has been out of cage quite a bit now and at the start he would step-up and would sit there as i took him out of the cage. He's very calm outside and will happily sit on your shoulder and then try to climb on top of your head. Once there, he proceeds to groom you, very cute. The problem is now he won't happily come out of his cage easily, he knows whats going on when i get him to step up and as soon as he gets near the cage he flys back to his perch or grabs the cage above the door with his beak and climbs off. How can I train him to come out on command. He now has his white iris but hasn't had his first moult yet. I'll put up some more photos in the next few days. Cam
November 14, 200717 yr I think that your budgie is a girl. Her cere is too light to be a male This is a picture of an adult female and male together: Female on left, Male on right Here is a picture of a female adult who has a cere very similar to your budgie's cere (most female babies have ceres like this) Baby female: Baby male:
November 14, 200717 yr Author I think that your budgie is a girl. Her cere is too light to be a male Hmm.. I think I've convinced myself that Ernie is a boy.. or is this just wishful thinking... Anyway, here's a few more photos of his second week at home. Ernie the Budgie 1 Ernie the Budgie 2 Ernie the Budgie 3 Ernie the Budgie 4 Over the weekend i am going to make him a perch that is eye level as he now demands to be able to climb from the shoulder to your head and now that he knows he can't fly he is very determined to climb up using hair as rope :grbud: Cam
November 14, 200717 yr very pretty,. yes i agree shes a she. when i bred many many budgies, for my store, i had to guess alot of em, i have to say girl, on the other hand im not as good with color and mutation, juliet
November 14, 200717 yr Author The last photo was the only one of the four that I used a flash, which does make it appear lighter than it really is. I'm going to modify the cage so we can open the roof as she still is quite stubborn about letting my take her out through the small lift up door at the front. Cam
November 15, 200717 yr Author Ernie is an ERNESTINE....cute little girl We are so used to called her Ernie now that I think it will stick... (I'm sure she won't mind) Anyway, these days gender specifity for names is going out the door... but her full name will be Miss Ernie to avoid any confusion. Do female budgies get more or less active as they grow older? Miss Ernie is just so placid and relaxed which we love, happily sits on anyones finger until she either a) glimpses her cage where she get all excited again or b ) someone starts playing the budgie videos on youtube to which so goes bananas! Disappointed I won;t have a talking budgie as I've spent hours repeating words to her already but wouldn't replace her for the world. Cam Edited November 15, 200717 yr by Cam
November 15, 200717 yr Disappointed I won;t have a talking budgie as I've spent hours repeating words to her already but wouldn't replace her for the world. Cam Dont give up the training...others on here and elsewhere have talking female budgies. Its not true that females wont talk.
November 23, 200717 yr Don't give up on the talking. My Dad had a female that would say "you little buggers" she picked it up from him! So it can happen. Very cute little girl!
