Is HE actually a SHE? Please Help.

[villa_heather]

So I have been wondering if the salesman at Petsmart gave me a female instead of a male? I have a hard time telling as of right now and I would like your input and for you to let me know what you think =). I would appreciate any help I can get =D

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I'd agree with a boy, the cere looks like it's just starting to turn blue

 

[Julianna]

I agree it looks like a male. The cere looks to be turning blue. If you want to know for certain, though, you can get him DNA tested.

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm going with female. Just because the cere has blue on it doesn't make it a male! I had a hen that "molted" half of her crusty brown cere, and beneath it was a white cere with blue!

After the rest of it fell off, the cere was white with blue

And as time went on, it turned back to a tan-ish color

And eventually back to a crusty brown color

 

[Echo]

I would say female too as a lot of young females will have the edges of the cere blue and the rest white. It turns a crusty brown when she is ready to breed.

 

[adnan]

may be a female

 

[DallyTsuka]

female. light blue cere with white rings around the nares is a sign of female

 

[Kalidasa]

for the most part, the petsmart employees have no idea what theyre talking about. ive had many budgies, and the color of the cere had absolutely nothing to do with gender...with the exception of the female cere turning brownish during breeding season, and even that isnt consistent. as long as your budgie is healthy it really doesnt make any difference. if you really want to know youll need to get him dna tested.

 

[Julianna]

Thanks for the pictures Monica! I had no idea the ceres could change color over time...

 

[MonicaMc]

She was actually my first budgie that I had that the cere changed color! I bought her and the green one at the same time from the same breeder as adult birds... and both had crusty brown ceres. She lost half of the crustiness shortly after bringing her home. That first image also has the green hen in the same image. (you can only see the back of her neck in the cropped image!)

Males typically have pink, purple or blue ceres. I once saw a picture of a male that had a tan cere, but it was a shiny, bulbous tan color, not the same flat dull color of a hens. I've also seen males with crusty brown ceres, but this is due to a hormonal imbalance often caused by tumors.

Hens can have white, white with blue, white with tan, white with blue and tan, tan, brown, and crusty brown cere's. Some hens can even have a deep blue cere that could be mistaken as a males! And others may have a reddish hue to their brown ceres.

 

[Babygurl042591]

You most certainly have a female

Female noses start off fully white and will eventually have a tint of blue when in breeding condition it will turn to a dark brown went out of breeding condition it will turn back to its original color or will have a tan color to it

young males we'll start off with a pink purplish color and will eventually turn a dark blue but depending on his mutation he could have a pink nose for the rest of his life

 

[Lacewing]

The only sure way to know gender for any species is a DNA test. You can order a test kit from most any lab and do it at home by plucking out some feathers. Its very easy and only cost $29 or so.