[Aspen.birb]

Of course, here are the parents, as for the droppings, we are getting a new cage (hopefully better quality) on the 20th and hopefully clean their feet with water or a light spray while setting up. Also, the father is white base, the lighting is just wonky

 

[Aspen.birb]

Thank you so much for the images! That's great to hear, I'm so glad you will be cleaning their feet and upgrading their home. The parents are beautiful, the father looks like a cobalt single factor violet (where your lovely little chick got her violet allele from) and in that photo the mother looks like a light green like you said. Thanks so much again for your response! Have you named your beautiful chick yet? 😁

Yep, mango fits the fruit theme I’m going for with the rest of the chicks, lychee and kiwi, the photos are older but kiwi is full yellow opaline and lychee looks just like the dad

 

[Aspen.birb]

Oh wow that's awesome I love that idea, what a great theme for the chicks' names! Lychee and Kiwi are so cute! Aww you're right Lychee is cobalt like his dad (so this means Mom is split to blue), and Kiwi is such a beautiful yellow-based budgie, I understand these are older photos, do you have any of them currently? As they gain their mature body conture feathers it will be more easy to discern their exact mutations ex. dark or light green for Kiwi, presence of the violet gene and others (theoretically for your budgie parent's cross there could be 25% cobalt, 25% sky blue, 25% dark green and 25% light green chicks, and 50% single factor violet chicks overall). I actually don't think Kiwi is opaline, just based on how each of her wing pinfeathers look like they are black at the base and edged in yellow, and she looks to be developing some pretty dark barring on her forehead, but you are correct, if a male budgie who is split to opaline (carrying an opaline allele) is crossed with a female budgie who is not opaline, then there is a probability of him producing 25% female opaline chicks. They are all so beautiful! Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and descriptions! 😁

Thanks for the feedback, here are some more recent photos of both babies that I took today, kiwi is currently 24 days and lychee is 25 days, hopefully it’s easier to tell the mutations as I’m not very good at it

 

[Aspen.birb]

My pleasure, thank you so much for the photos and information, 😁 wow they are beautiful! Lychee looks like a cobalt, I am not seeing any distinct indications of violet right now, and Lychee is possibly a male due to the more purplish-pink, smooth and shiny appearance of the cere. Kiwi looks like a light green (split to blue) greywing budgie, based on the dilution, light blue cheek patches and grey markings, and although the primary flight feathers are especially pale grey right now, they will typically darken a tiny bit as this little chick ages and molts throughout its life. Kiwi could be single factor violet, I see a hint of bluish-violet suffusion on the base of the tail, but Kiwi is also split to blue (causing some blue color near the tail and possibly vent as well) so it will be easier to tell perhaps with a photo of Kiwi's front and chest and abdomen areas, and especially after Kiwi experiences their first molt. Is Kiwi's chest and abdomen quite a light green color? I know Kiwi doesn't have that many body conture feathers at this age but it would help to have a view of the body color to more clearly see the level of dilution, sorry for all of the questions! Also, this means that both of Kiwi's parents must be carrying a greywing allele (since greywing is a recessive autosomal gene). It's truly fascinting to discover hidden genes in budgies! Also, Kiwi's cere isn't fully visible so it's difficult to tell the gender. Thanks so much again

Of course, budgie genetics is such a fun topic to delve into. I will probably update when they are 4 weeks as it gets easier to tell the color as they get more feathers but thank you so much for your responses, they are extremely helpful and informative as I’m not good at determining the mutations yet, I didn’t know that budgies had such amazing mutations that can only be visible in offspring 😄

 

[Aspen.birb]

I totally agree, thank you so much, that would be wonderful to have an update when they are 4 weeks old! 😁That's a great idea. I'm so glad, I hope I am helping, you are doing really well with the mutations and everything; thank you so much for your responses, clear information and photos too! I agree, it's so amazing to see different budgie mutations, especially when they are hidden and emerge in chicks! I hope you enjoy your budgies, and I am excited to see them progress, they are so pretty and cute 😁

Hey, kiwi is now 4 weeks old! We sadly lost lychee due to some health issues but the others are thriving! The new cage arrived yesterday and we have some toys, perches, and food arriving in a few days. I am pretty sure kiwi is a female as she and mango have similar ceres but I could be wrong. I also got some frontal photos of kiwi as requested.

 

[Aspen.birb]

sorry, this was a double post, my WiFi glitched but here is a photo of the cage, it’s great

 

[Aspen.birb]

Hello! Oh no, 😭 I'm so sorry you lost Lychee, he was such a special budgie, rest and fly in peace little buddy 💙💙

Wow that's a great sized cage, I'm so glad, it sounds like you have an exciting opportunity for creating some interior design for your budgies, great job! Are you adding more natural perches? Those two grayish natural ones that you have right now look really nice, are they cholla wood? Also, sorry I don't want to worry you, and I know you are still going to fully set up your budgies' cage, but I see some mirrors in the cage; mirrors can cause budgies to become overly attached to their reflection (who they perceive as another budgie), begin regurgitating food or become territorial or aggressive, and in some cases, even become malnourished due to excessive regurgitation. Thank you so much for sending the photos, I really appreciate it! I love how Mango is yawning in one of the photos, Mango and Kiwi are both so cute! I agree, I think Kiwi could possibly be a female, I am seeing some lightness on her cere around the nares. So, Kiwi looks like a light green greywing, since Kiwi has moderate dilution, light-medium blue cheek patches, grey central tail rectrices, and medium grey markings, including some cute little grey throat spots. As I mentioned earlier, Kiwi's primary flight feathers are a relatively light gray color at the moment, but they can darken a tiny bit as Kiwi ages and molts throughout life. I hope this helps, thank you so much for all of your responses and information, I hope you enjoy spending time with your lovely budgies and watching them grow! 😁 Once again, I'm so sorry about Lychee 💙 🕊🌈 If you need any help don't hesitate to ask!

thank you so much for the responses, they have helped immensely. The mirror situation has been fixed by the fact that the adults are too scared to touch the mirrors because mango chases them away by flapping her wings and begging for extra food while climbing up the mirror and running away from her reflection, it’s adorable. One question I had about the birds, when is a good time to let them out to start flying outside. They already are trying to fly and mimick the adults but aren’t quite there yet. We are definitely getting more perches and swings and planning to expand the flock in the future. I’m not sure of the type of wood on the pre existing perches as they came with the cage but the birds enjoy them.

 

[Aspen.birb]

mango told us she wanted to get out in her own way haha. The little demon tried to squeeze outside through the bars so we decided to put her outside on a clean carpet. Not even five minutes in and she flew upstairs and played with our LED lights and hair, it was very cute. We put her back and she took a long nap and flew through the cage and perches to harass her parents like the little winged devil she is. Kiwi just got to trying to fly and we think it’s a good idea to wait it out to see when she gives hints of wanting out instead of forcing it as she screeches when upset. I hope you had a great Christmas and have a happy new year!

 

[Aspen.birb]

Hey! I hope you had a good new year. The family is doing great, the dad took to flirting with the girls so he was removed, the girls can fly and they took an unexpected bath, we don’t know why haha. They both are little escape artists, And leave the cage on their own regularly, it’s a. Bit annoying but really cute at the same time. Mango particularly is eager to leave the cage most of the day with out fail and is very attached to hanging out with us and getting pats on her head haha.

 

[Aspen.birb]

Hi! I had a great New Year, thank you so much, I hope you did as well! It's so great to talk with you and hear updates again, I was actually just thinking of your budgie family and hoping you would post some updates! Oh yes with the dad budgie that does become an issue unfortunately, great job separating him. That's so cute, haha Mango and Kiwi sound like such special rambunctious little budgies, taking their first bath too, yay! That must have been quite enjoyable for Mango and Kiwi, to freshen and clean their feathers and prevent any itchiness. Awww, it must be so nice having your little budgie buddies around whenever they need some pets! I'm so glad to hear about Mango and Kiwi and the whole budgie family and hope you all are doing well! 😁 😁

thankyou! i hope you and your budgies are doing great as well, mango seems to have inherited the dilute gene on her base color as it is lighter than her mothers base for sure, identical to her sisters base color though she certainly isn't a greywing. kiwi's feathers have gotten a bit darker as they grew in as you predicted, I think the mom is split to greywing and the dad is a secret greywing, it would explain some of his flight feathers and the odd color of some of his feathers on his wing whenever he stretches, if the two ever mate again this fall, it will probably become more clear. I will probably update when the girls get their first molt and the actual feathers grow in, have a great day!