I know that a make parakeet has a blue cere, or the top part of the beak with the nose, and a female cere turns a brownish color. I have a parakeet that is 10 months old and he is molting for the first time. I think he is a male because the edges of the cere is a bluish color, but the middle has not gained a definite color yet. How soon does the cere change color?
2007-03-20 16:38:30 · 6 answers · asked by nkb 2 in Pets ➔ Birds
It's so hard to set an exact time of when the cere changes. My 1 year old male budgie has had a blue cere from the day I got him at about 10 weeks old; he's white, blue and grey. The green budgies have definite dark blue ceres, and have since I got them also.
The white budgie I had a few years ago had a cere that was smooth, pale bluish and white. I called her a she, but the vet said he thought she was a "he". :) And the little blue budgie I had also had a smooth, pale pinkish cere with pale blue and white, so I called her a she...the vet thought she was a "he" too!! The female I have now definitely has a bumpy brownish cere.
Unless you do DNA sexing, you can't know for sure what some of the budgies are, and their cere may never change to a definite blue or brownish. If yours has darker bluish edges, the cere still may turn blue. I wasn't much help, but just telling you my experience. :)
2007-03-20 16:55:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not certain until 9 - to 12 months however I had the same prob as you. I had a green female at home and went to buy a blue and white male it was very young but I had no choice all the rest my pet shop had were old males and females so I bought this one and @ around 9 to 10 months the cere had a bluish color but the middle was not yet definite. I was happy and i thought it was a male but then a few months later I noticed both birds angrily some times and my new parakeet had brownish color in its cere-IT WAS A FEMALE!!! nevertheless if you take your bird to a good stock breeder he should be able to help even the vet.
2007-03-21 14:31:23 · answer #2 · answered by NAMEK 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the color of budgie you have, but generally the colors appear around 6-9 months old. Despite this, some birds change faster than others. Some of my hens didn't change colors until they were almost a year and a half. Some of my males started changing at 9 months. What confuses things more is that some hens (like my Buzzsaw)will lose their brown when they come out of breeding condition then will become a deep deep brown when she's in egg laying mode.
Good luck!
2007-03-21 04:48:50 · answer #3 · answered by white_ravens_white_crows 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cere is pink when the budgie is a baby.
After the bird is 6-9 months old the cere will turn either blue (for males), or brown (for female.)
2007-03-21 00:03:14 · answer #4 · answered by Rev. Two Bears 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hi there. These days it can be confusing with all the different colours of parakeets. At sexual maturity, many are more definite. This occurs 8months to around 1 year of age.1-800-625-0874 is a DNA center that can send you a free kit and instructions. The cost is around 20 dollars and the results are e-mailed and a certificate mailed within 5 business days. Have a tweet year.
2007-03-21 01:02:30 · answer #5 · answered by firestarter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the blue and brown are far more noticable during breeding season . The color really deepens.
During the rest of the year they tend to be very pale and can be confused.
the cere should be faintly colored after the forehead bars are gone .
2007-03-21 00:28:55 · answer #6 · answered by mark 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋