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spiritbird
10-15-2013, 03:18 PM
Recently I have noticed Gypsy's cere turning more blue. I am beginning to wonder if she is a he. Vet said she was a fem. but that was before this slight change in color occurred1315. Here is a quick pic so you can compare colors. Chipper is male for sure. At the bottom is an earlier photo of Gypsy where you can see the change.1319131613171318

Honesty
10-15-2013, 05:04 PM
You could be right Dianne in thinking Gypsy could possibly be a male.
There is a vast difference in the colour of Harry and sally's cere. Harry's is much darker than Sally's

spiritbird
10-15-2013, 06:19 PM
That was the way Chip and Gypsy were when I go them. Gypsy's cere was pink all the way, even the vet said she is a little girl. As they mature the color can change. Harry and Sally are not mature yet. Mine are now 9 month old. Now I know why there was so much fussing about and no preening or feeding eachother. I may get a female EB from my breeder now. If they do breed I have the phony eggs and may just leave one or two real ones in the nest. Gypsy will have to be in a cage by herself next to the pair.

Debra
10-15-2013, 06:37 PM
That definitely looks blue to me. I once had an EB that had the palest blue cere. My vet told me at that time that any shade of blue meant a male. I had always thought Angel was female.

spiritbird
10-15-2013, 08:47 PM
When Chipper says "gypsy is a pretty girl" I tell him the same thing except gypsy is a pretty boy!

coltfire
10-16-2013, 01:18 PM
That is a male for sure.

spiritbird
10-16-2013, 04:23 PM
I was hoping you would chime in Steve. I am in touch with two breeders for a fem. EB. One is Chipper's breeder and the other one is really into show budgies. His are also English. He lives 2 states away from me in NJ but sometimes comes this way. He is offering me a 2 year female Blue Opaline who has had 2 clutches and he does not want to use her any more because he says he does not want too much inbreeding. Will get photo later. The other breeder will send me photos and has only babies. Right now I do not know which way to go.

Rescued
10-16-2013, 05:19 PM
If you really want to have a pair that will breed, I would go with the proven female. That way there are no surprises. If you want them to just get along you could go with a baby.

spiritbird
10-16-2013, 09:18 PM
Thanks Elizabeth. What you say makes sense. I am so torn. I would love to just have one clutch and keep 1 or 2. The rest of the eggs would be the dummy eggs. This 2 year old EB has been in an aviary and is I no way trained. I think it may be more difficult to train a breeder bird than a baby bird. I guess it will become more clear to me when I see what they look like.

coltfire
10-16-2013, 11:13 PM
Dianne i had my 6 m onth old,pair up with a 3 year old and they were the two babies i asked to be named on here, belive me if they want to breed they will age will not stop them , but a baby u can train, the older one well that may take a long time, if at all.

spiritbird
10-17-2013, 12:02 PM
That has been part of my thought process. My options are to do nothing and let Chipper & Gypsy continue their friendship as is. Get a baby female from Chipper's breeder and train her. Get the 2 year old female. Right now I am leaning for the baby female. The 2 year old is a very protective mom who has been in an aviary for those two years. Would she be happy indoors? I am waiting for photos now.

Rescued
10-17-2013, 01:40 PM
I guess it depends on what you really want. If you want pets, it would probably make sense to not breed at all as many breeding behaviors are not conducive to being a pet. If you really want babies then you may have to consider losing them as pets. I know that this is not a given, but it is common enough for bonded breeding pairs to not be hand tame or friendly after the bonding. That is just my experience, maybe Steve could give you more information.

spiritbird
10-17-2013, 08:05 PM
Thanks Elizabeth. I have decided to get a young EB female because I have no female budgies. I really do not care if up the line there is breeding because I would use the dummy eggs, except for the first breeding. I am not going to get the 2 yr. old hen because she has not been responsive to any training as you said and used to living in an outdoor and indoor aviary. I am not one to breed any birds. I would keep the babies if it were not too many. Maybe two at the most. I have 2 friends that would take the others. Of course this will not happen for a year I am guessing. One question if you have a male and female EB in a cage are they going to breed just because they are together? Can they be friends without breeding?

coltfire
10-18-2013, 08:08 AM
if you have a bond with your birds letting them breed will not change that bond, as for bringing her indoors, unless you intend letting her out to fly each day she will not like it, but letting her out means netting her very day to put her back,and that is stress stress stress for the bird,

Blancaej
10-19-2013, 03:38 PM
I don't know much about budgies, but it sounds like many people chimed in with there opinions. Your budgies are adorable in either case! Will you be getting another for sure at this point?

spiritbird
10-19-2013, 04:24 PM
:th_hmmm: If one came along that I really liked I would go for a young female. I do not want to take the 2 yr. old female breeder. EB are hard to find in my area.

Blancaej
10-19-2013, 04:38 PM
Sometimes being patient pays off. ;)

Feathers First Aviary
10-20-2013, 02:58 AM
Yes, Gypsy is most definitely a male. It's hard to explain but the easiest way to tell sex on young budgies is that males will have solid pink ceres with fairly tiny nostrils, females will be white or blueish with white rings around each nostril and generally, their nostrils are larger than males. Depending on the mutation there are some exceptions to that rule but generally speaking those are the best markers for sexing young budgies. I can generally get a good idea of their sexes at only a few days old but I like to wait until they are closer to 3 weeks before I get too confident about their genders.

spiritbird
10-20-2013, 01:37 PM
Thanks so much Sara for sharing your expertise.