Sunday, October 2, 2011

When are budgies ready to breed? (2)

When budgies are older than one year, it is considered safe for them to become parents. Apart from knowing their age, you should also keep a close eye on their health.

Food regurgitation is a part of the mating ritual among budgerigars. Image © allaboutbudgies.com
In order to have a successful first nest, both the father and the mother bird need to be in tip top health. You have to make sure that there are none of the most common signs of illness:
  • sitting puffed up continually
  • discharge present on feathers above nostrils
  • lethargy, quietness, listlessness
  • vomiting or diarrhoea
  • inability to balance
  • accumulated poop on vent feathers
  • itching all over, scaly face or legs; this may indicate mites
Female budgie in breeding condition. Photo © the Talk Budgies forum
If you're not completely sure, you can still take the birds to your vet to get a checkup.When both of your budgies are perfectly healthy, the breeding conditions are already favourable. There also has to be a strong bond between both budgies (not all budgies like each other!). Last but not least, you can sometimes tell from your budgies' ceres when they are in breeding condition. Females will mostly have a dark brown cere (or turning brown) while the males will have an even to deep blue cere.

5 comments:

  1. I'm already looking forward to next year ;)

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  3. ... this doesn’t show the signs of breeding for a budgie and it is very small

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    Replies
    1. I have 4 budgies and they are all over 1 year—they are all very friendly 2 male 2 female, but how do I know when they are showing signs of breeding?

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