Budgie was sold as a male, but has a crusty cere?

[Alexandra33]

Even though the parrot shop stated he is a male, and someone on a budgie forum confirmed it, I've read crusty ceres can be a sign of health issues in a male. Or is "he" actually a female? Mildly irritable bird, and not nearly as loud as other male budgies I have kept in the past. (he is pictured on the left)

~Alex

 

[nchls school]

Sorry, while the picture is a good one, it doesn't really show if the "crust" is a crust or a change in pigmentation. What is the budgie's age?. Most males of this coloration will have a bright blue cere by time it is 6 months old. Young hens of the same color will have a pale blue cere which turns brown as they mature.

If the cere was bright blue and got this crustiness I would suspect mites of some kind. You should be able to see if the crustiness is the result of some kind of irritant or just a pigment change. Is the crustiness rough in texture or smooth to the touch?

I found this online. If your budgie were a male his cere would have looked like this one.


The most common reason for this condition is a mite called Knemidokoptes. This usually appears as a fuzzy or crusty overgrowth of the tissue of the cere (the band of tissue over the beak), around the nares, around the skin of the eyes, around the vent or on the legs.Sep 3, 2013

 

[Alexandra33]

Thank you for the response!

Pip is about 4-5 years old, and his cere has consistently been the same color. I've not actually touched the crust (which oftentimes comes and goes), but will as soon as possible.

 

[nchls school]

How long have you owned Pip? Those that said Pip was a male-did they explain how they knew this? Pip looks to be an English budgie because of the size and head shape. His mate an American standard budgie. Sometimes the breed difference leads some to incorrectly sex the bird. (I showed the picture to my wife who also used to raise budgies and she thinks the same as I, if the brown is not crustiness but a natural pigmentation, Pip is an English hen budgie.)
Consider having a vet look at Pip if mites are the problem.

 

[Serin]

Thats a girl.

 

[nchls school]

In the picture there appears to be a black bump on the blue and white budgie's cere. When I enlarge the photo it is blurry. Please post a close up of this bird's head that shows the cere clearly.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

its def a female thats coming i to condition

 

[Alexandra33]

How long have you owned Pip? Those that said Pip was a male-did they explain how they knew this? Pip looks to be an English budgie because of the size and head shape. His mate an American standard budgie. Sometimes the breed difference leads some to incorrectly sex the bird. (I showed the picture to my wife who also used to raise budgies and she thinks the same as I, if the brown is not crustiness but a natural pigmentation, Pip is an English hen budgie.)
Consider having a vet look at Pip if mites are the problem.

I've had Pip for around 5-6 years now. It was a small pet shop that sold hand-fed budgies, but they never gave an explanation as to how he was sexed. It seems a little small to be an English.....that said, I'm no budgie expert. Thank you so much for your input! Here's a better picture of Pip's cere. (I'm personally leaning towards female)

In the picture there appears to be a black bump on the blue and white budgie's cere. When I enlarge the photo it is blurry. Please post a close up of this bird's head that shows the cere clearly.

Here you go! I don't think she has any black bumps. It may have been the angle.

 

[nchls school]

While Pip's cere doesn't look male, it doesn't look right for a female that's 5-6 years old either. Consider looking for videos that show a male budgies' courtship behavior and compare it to Pip's behavior. If Pip doesn't behave as a male then Pip is a hen.

 

[Alexandra33]

While Pip's cere doesn't look male, it doesn't look right for a female that's 5-6 years old either. Consider looking for videos that show a male budgies' courtship behavior and compare it to Pip's behavior. If Pip doesn't behave as a male then Pip is a hen.

That's what has been confusing me. Pip's cere isn't nearly as crusty as my confirmed female's. I will take a look at videos for reference. My two males (that were rehomed several months back) displayed much different behavior.....they fought constantly, and were much more vocal. Pip's personality lines up with Maus's (Recessive Pied female). It's relatively quiet and sometimes gets aggressive with Maus.