Expert: Christopher Emory - 1/7/2011

Question
Hi, I just recently bought two parakeets from a local pet store. When I picked them out, I wanted to make sure they were of the same gender because I really don't want babies. I don't have the space nor the time to accommodate more than two birds. When I got home, I realized that one of my parakeets has a blue ceres while the other has a light pink ceres. (At the pet store it looked like they both had blue ceres, as I was told that if they were blue they were female.) They are both young, however, and from the same clutch, so I can't be sure of their genders by the color. In the book I bought it said that females have light whitish rings around the nostrils and both of them have them however I'm still worried. Please help. Thanks.

Answer
Hello Veronica,

Not all is lost by having two birds of opposite sex together. It is fairly easy to discourage breeding/nesting behavior. I would start by not providing a nesting box or anything that can be shredded to make a nest, such as papers, shavings, etc. It is quite normal for female budgies to lay eggs even without a male bird present, simply remove the egg and discard it.  Lastly, the cere color is only a general guideline, it is quite common for people to think they have two of this or two of that, only to find out that they have something entirely different. Read as many books as you can, do some searching on the internet and you should do fine!


Best of luck!