A budgie can be a good pet if you are ready to invest time and energy into its care.
When you decide to get a budgie parakeet as a pet, you will want to know its gender. Usually, knowing the gender helps as both male and female birds may need extra care. For instance, information on breeding conditions will be crucial in caring for a female budgie.
Furthermore, you will have to know the gender of your birds to prepare the right breeding condition and for them to lay eggs.
Hence, we have curated some easy steps on how to identify your pet birds.
How To Identify Your Budgie
Most budgies are easy to identify as they are sexually dimorphic. Thus, male and female budgies are different in form, so they are easily identifiable. However, we have a guide for you if you need more clarification on the process. Follow the instructions below to identify the gender of your bird.
Some Important Elements To Check
1. Age Of Birds
When identifying the sex of budgies, the age of these birds is essential. According to their age, they will display distinct forms, which will help in accurate identification.
A. Baby Budgies
As it hatches, a baby budgie, even the cere, will be pink all over. Due to this, they are hard to identify. Furthermore, it might only develop a proper colour for a month. Later, it will develop blue ceres or grey-blue based on its gender. Male ceres may change to light pink or light purple cere later as they age.
Besides these factors, female budgies will have white rings around their nostrils. On the other hand, male budgies will develop a solid-coloured cere.
B. Adult Budgies
As they age and become more mature birds, their colour will be more or less fixed. So, adult budgies can be easily identified by their colour compared to young budgies. Adult male parakeets will have a distinct blue cere. However, budgies bred for their colour may also develop a light blue cere.
On the other hand, adult female parakeets will have a flaky brown colour to them based on their mood. Note that female budgies need proper care and will develop a tan or whitish core. Sometimes a female budgie might develop a hint of light blue cere, making it challenging to identify. However, they will never have a dark blue cere.
2. Coloured Budgies
Bird owners like to breed budgies into different colours. Therefore, the budgie’s cere will develop differently and take at least a year to distinguishable. For instance, cinnamon-coloured budgies will have the same pink cere, whether male or female. So, in general, you should know that a female budgie will have a darker colour than a male budgie.
Contrary to that, a male parakeet bred for colour will have a pink or dark purple cere. Also, a male budgie bred for colour is similar to a young budgie in colour, as they will never develop a distinct dark blue colour.
Furthermore, an albino budgie will be harder to identify, as male and female albino birds are the same colour. However, the female budgie will develop a brown cere as they get ready to breed. Since they are hard to identify based on their cere colour, the best method to determine the sex is a DNA test.
3. Feet And Leg Colour
Another way to differentiate the sex of budgies is to check the colour of the skin around the legs and feet. However, the birds will have to be at least a year old. Once a year old, a male budgie will have blue skin on its legs and feet. Contrary to that, a female parakeet will have a brown or pink skin colour.
For other bird species, like the albino birds, all of them will have the same skin colour despite their gender. Therefore, you will have to try other methods.
4. Other Ways To Check
Besides checking the colour of the budgies’ cere, you can also differentiate between them by observing their behaviour. So, for example, male budgies tend to be the singer of the two, so if your budgies squawk and do not sing, it may be a female budgie. Furthermore, a male budgie is more flirty, so it will seductively bounce its head and try to mate with the female budgie!
Contrary to male budgies, female budgies are more assertive and can be moody. As such, they can be destructive as they chew and tear things to build a nest. One last check you can do is see which birds lay eggs during the breeding cycle. As obvious as it can be, the egg-laying bird will be female and not never a male.
Some species can be hard to identify, like the albino birds. Therefore, you must use a DNA test when all tactics regarding cere colours and behaviours fail. With this test, you can always be sure of the sex of your birds.
How To Take Care Of Your Budgie
Having a budgie will require commitment in terms of care. So, factors like diet, entertainment, and cage care are essential. As you feed your bird, remember that 75% of its food needs to be specially formulated pellet food. After that, you can add fruits, leafy greens, and nuts. Also, regularly change the water as they need clean drinking water for good health.
As budgies are active creatures, they need to be entertained from time to time. Therefore, try buying bird toys from the pet store for them to chew on and play with. But ensure that the toys do not have toxic chemicals. Furthermore, the birds will need to be let out of its cage occasionally. Thus, close all windows and doors in the room and let the bird fly around.
Lastly, cage maintenance is crucial for proper care. First and foremost, you must buy a big enough cage that fits in your home so the bird can flap its wings around without any disturbance. Place the cage in a corner with natural lights without direct sunlight. Also, clean the cage once a week and remove any food and water deposits.
You can further place a perch in the cage for the bird to move around. Ensure the perch is not above water or a food tray, as it can lead to contamination. Moreover, provide them with materials to chew and make a nest box for good breeding conditions. Follow these instructions, and your budgie will be healthy and happy!
Budgie Sexing Guide
These are some ways to identify the gender of your birds. Remember, the cere colour is a crucial indicator in sexing budgies. You can also observe their behaviour and skin colour to identify their sex. Based on these instructions, if you decide to buy any products for your budgies, we recommend you try Planet Pet. Here, we offer some of the best products for your budgies.
We offer a variety of bird feeds, cages, toys, seeds, etc. Our cage accessories, like the wooden bird perch suits or the white hanging cage stand, are must-haves for your birds to play in. Alternatively, our wooden bird nesting box will be a good addition to your bird cage for the nesting season.
