[oopsaflock]

Hi all first time poster here. I would like to introduce Birdie, Umi and Tommy (left to right below)

Can someone please help identify the mutation of Umi? Also why he's larger and more fluffy than Birdie and Tommy? All input/information is very appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Edit: Umi's tailfeather is black same as the wing tips.

 

[Cody]

Beautiful flock, Umi is an English budgie which is why there is a difference in size, Umi also appears to be a female, although the cere is blue it has quite a bit of white mixed in which is usually not seen in males. I love the first picture, the boys seem to be saying "OK Umi you're in charge, we will do whatever you say" How old are they and are they caged together? StarlingWings will comment on the muatations a bit later.

 

[oopsaflock]

Beautiful flock, Umi is an English budgie which is why there is a difference in size, Umi also appears to be a female, although the cere is blue it has quite a bit of white mixed in which is usually not seen in males. I love the first picture, the boys seem to be saying "OK Umi you're in charge, we will do whatever you say" How old are they and are they caged together? StarlingWings will comment on the muatations a bit later.

Hi thanks for the reply, my wife's client said looks to be an English Budgie. I'm a bit shocked you saying Umi is female!! I was under the wrong impression... Umi was introduced to Birdie and Tommy recently and only just started spending time in the same cage (after a week of segregation). Will it cause an issue being caged together?

Birdie was rescued from my yard when he was a baby (probably an aviary escapee, no one in the community claimed him) and was practically hand raised from then on, he's about 13 months old. Tommy was from a breeder at 9 months and is pretty wild but leaves and enters the cage at his own will so there is no handling at all which is fine by me, he is now about one year old. Umi recently joined the boys about 2 weeks ago from a pet shop who told me she's a male, she is now about 10 months old. Do you have any advice on moving forward now that it's confirmed Umi is female? I've made a terrible mistake caging them together for the last week and am worried for their welfare.

 

[Cody]

It is generally advisable not to house 2 males with one female due to the fact that there is sometimes aggression over who gets the girl. I would cage her separately, has either male shown any interest in her or have you observed any hostility between any of them? With mixed genders you will also have to watch for unwanted breeding, even if there is no mating if she is hormonally stimulated she may lay infertile eggs. How much time do they spend out of the cage?

 

[oopsaflock]

It is generally advisable not to house 2 males with one female due to the fact that there is sometimes aggression over who gets the girl. I would cage her separately, has either male shown any interest in her or have you observed any hostility between any of them? With mixed genders you will also have to watch for unwanted breeding, even if there is no mating if she is hormonally stimulated she may lay infertile eggs. How much time do they spend out of the cage?

Yes they will be seperated even though it is a bit heartbreaking, it would have been ideal to have a flock of males which was my intention to avoid this situation. There has been no signs of aggression between the males but keeping them all together won't be risked. They are out every day in the evening for an hour or so and offered a bath on weekend mornings etc. The saving grace in this situation is their cage is huge and I reorganised the setup before integrating Umi to minimise territorial disputes. Had no intention to breed (thus prefering all male flock), would getting another female help avoid hostility between the males?. I feel bad about this situation but really glad to have learned this from you sooner rather than later. Thanks for the information.

 

[Cody]

All birds have different personalities so it is hard to say what might happen in various situations and there is never any guarantee that introducing a new bird will work out favorably, Umi might be very happy in her own cage and the boys may form a bond between themselves. I have had various situations with a mixed flock. I had a male and female together for 8 years, they were together from a young age in their own cage but spent out of the cage time with other males and females and no problems, no eggs no aggression no mating, although he was very protective of her, that was ideal. He passed away last year but I still have her and she spends her days with two males, they are out all day but she sleeps at night with one male, everybody happy. I acquired another pair a brother and sister about 4 years ago, that was a whole different experience, she turned out to be a chronic egg layer and eventually had a cloacal prolapse which was surgically repaired but she had to be permanently separated from the boys so she was moved to a different part of the house and I got another female to be company for her. Sometimes you just cannot predict what will happen but with multiple birds and mixed genders you have to be prepared for anything. The brother and sister were supposed to be brothers but surprise, one turned out to be a female. as a young bird her cere looked just like a young male, it was dark pink, so we all thought it would eventually turn blue but instead it started turning tan
If you were to get another female to house with Umi it may or may not work out and you might end up with 3 cages if it didn't. What is her personality like, is she bossy?

 

[oopsaflock]

All birds have different personalities so it is hard to say what might happen in various situations and there is never any guarantee that introducing a new bird will work out favorably, Umi might be very happy in her own cage and the boys may form a bond between themselves. I have had various situations with a mixed flock. I had a male and female together for 8 years, they were together from a young age in their own cage but spent out of the cage time with other males and females and no problems, no eggs no aggression no mating, although he was very protective of her, that was ideal. He passed away last year but I still have her and she spends her days with two males, they are out all day but she sleeps at night with one male, everybody happy. I acquired another pair a brother and sister about 4 years ago, that was a whole different experience, she turned out to be a chronic egg layer and eventually had a cloacal prolapse which was surgically repaired but she had to be permanently separated from the boys so she was moved to a different part of the house and I got another female to be company for her. Sometimes you just cannot predict what will happen but with multiple birds and mixed genders you have to be prepared for anything. The brother and sister were supposed to be brothers but surprise, one turned out to be a female. as a young bird her cere looked just like a young male, it was dark pink, so we all thought it would eventually turn blue but instead it started turning tan
If you were to get another female to house with Umi it may or may not work out and you might end up with 3 cages if it didn't. What is her personality like, is she bossy?

Wow seems like a rollercoaster! Umi is still settling in to the new environment so it's hard to gauge her personality based off her current behaviour, she is calm and relaxed but definitely more bold than when I introduced Tommy to Birdie. Definitely no signs of being bossy but she holds her own when Birdie gets a bit too curious. Tommy came from an environment with other birds whereas Birdie was single for a while and bonded with me, Birdie can be a bit "neurotic" and gets jealous when I give attention to the others but not hostile to them at all just a gets moody at me. The only behaviour that seems strange for Birdie is I noticed he sleeps horizontally in the top corner of cage with his head pressed against the roof like he's scared or feels threatened which I only noticed last week so not sure if it coincides with introducing Umi.

 

[Cody]

He may feel insecure, if you put her in a separate cage and he stops that behavior then you will know for sure. It would be great if I am wrong about Umi being a female and the computer was distorting the color of the cere, you do see a very pale almost white area on the cere in person, correct?

 

[oopsaflock]

He may feel insecure, if you put her in a separate cage and he stops that behavior then you will know for sure. It would be great if I am wrong about Umi being a female and the computer was distorting the color of the cere, you do see a very pale almost white area on the cere in person, correct?

It's a bit hard to see the cere with all the fluff! 😁 I'll have a close look when I can get home in a hour. They are being watched by my Grandma until then since the gender revelation.

 

[oopsaflock]

Quick update, I have seperated Umi from the boys and because the travel cage is too small for long term she now has her own brand new private suite! Tommy seems a little bit sad at the separation. I talked with my wife about letting them out during the day while we're at work in a closed up room, is that ok to do or is it a bit unsafe/risky?

 

[StarlingWings]

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

Your flock is adorable. As Cody said, Umi is an English budgie, and her mutation is grey normal (and I believe single factor violet).

Do you have more photos of Umi close up, showing the cere? I'd be happy to confirm her gender for you From the photos you've posted so far, I also suspect she's a girl.

Your setup is great! I would suggest replacing some of their perches with those made of natural wood (not dowels) as it's better for their feet, if you haven't done so already

Letting them out together under supervision is fine as long as they all continue to get along

Meanwhile, you've come to a great place to learn even more about the best of budgie care practices. If you have any questions after reading through things around here, please be sure to ask as we'd love to help.

Hope to see you around! 👋

 

[oopsaflock]

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

Your flock is adorable. As Cody said, Umi is an English budgie, and her mutation is grey normal (and I believe single factor violet).

Do you have more photos of Umi close up, showing the cere? I'd be happy to confirm her gender for you From the photos you've posted so far, I also suspect she's a girl.

Your setup is great! I would suggest replacing some of their perches with those made of natural wood (not dowels) as it's better for their feet, if you haven't done so already

Letting them out together under supervision is fine as long as they all continue to get along

Meanwhile, you've come to a great place to learn even more about the best of budgie care practices. If you have any questions after reading through things around here, please be sure to ask as we'd love to help.

Hope to see you around! 👋

Hi StarlingWings, thank you for your reply. Both yourself and Cody have been exceptionally welcoming and helpful! I will definitely look into sourcing some budgie safe natural wood to replace the dowel as well as work my way through all the resources available here (thanks for the consolidated post FaeryBee!).

Here's another photo, hope it helps and thank you so much again.

 

[StarlingWings]

Great photos, thanks! I have to say that close up the cere is more blue than it looks despite the paleness round the cere.. You mentioned they were introduced recently, do you know Umi's age?

 

[oopsaflock]

Great photos, thanks! I have to say that close up the cere is more blue than it looks despite the paleness round the cere.. You mentioned they were introduced recently, do you know Umi's age?

Pet shop advertised as 9 months old, going off that information Umi would be close to 10 months old now.

 

[StarlingWings]

If that’s the case, she may still not have gone into condition yet. I do think she’s a girl, though I have been wrong and it’s true that the strong blue around the edges could trip people up. The shape of the cere to me also indicates female; males tend to have a slightly more rounded cere. Over the next few weeks/months, it would be great to see updated photos!

 

[oopsaflock]

If that’s the case, she may still not have gone into condition yet. I do think she’s a girl, though I have been wrong and it’s true that the strong blue around the edges could trip people up. The shape of the cere to me also indicates female; males tend to have a slightly more rounded cere. Over the next few weeks/months, it would be great to see updated photos!

No worries I will keep them seperate as a precaution until we can all be 100% sure. I will definitely post updates in the future

 

[StarlingWings]

No worries I will keep them seperate as a precaution until we can all be 100% sure. I will definitely post updates in the future

Even considering the small chance she could be male, with three budgies one often gets left out, so it may be best to have them separate anyways with supervised out of cage time. Looking forward to future updates!

 

[FaeryBee]

Your budgies are beautiful!

I recommend you remove the wooden dowel perches in the cage and replace them with natural wooden perches of varying diameters to help prevent pressure sores.
Pressure Sores
Bumblefoot
The information in this link will give examples of better options for perches:
Essentials for a Great Cage

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more pictures of them.
If you would like to start an ongoing picture thread for them in the Budgie Pictures Section of the forum, we'd love that!