New budgie baby! Not sure about gender

Very cute little tyke!

Do you have the baby quarantined away from your other budgie?

Quarantine means housing the new bird in a different cage in a different room than the current bird (as far away from the room the current bird is in as possible) for a period of 35-45 days.

Budgies mask symptoms when they are ill. Symptoms may not show up for over two weeks.
Often you will not even realize your bird is not well. Many budgie illnesses are airborne which is why you need to quarantine your new bird in a completely different room.

Quarantine - Is it Really that Important?
Quarantine Your Birds

It is also a good idea to always take a new budgie in to see an Avian Vet for a "well-birdie" check-up. This allows you to develop a good relationship with the vet and the vet can establish a baseline for your bird in case of any future illnesses or injuries.

BudgieJeffery said:

I agree. Male baby budgies will have a pinkish- purple cere which will turn deep blue at maturity. It still can be difficult to be sure however. I am only referring to non-mutations however which your budgie is. I mean it's not only one color or part English budgie etc. It's a standard budgie without the green and yellow.

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Thank you! I’ve been reading up on budgie genetics and I believe this budgie has some violet factor, as visually she appears quite purple. It’s not as obvious in the pictures, for some reason. I’m not sure what counts as a mutation, but she’s a lovely light violet all the way down her back. I was also wondering — are the light-colored bands on her head something that will darken as she ages, or will she have those light bands into adulthood?

Cody said:

Looks good, how does she like it? Now that I can see the bird's full body it appears the wings are clipped so she will not be able to fly for months, until the clipped feathers molt out and regrow. Be careful with that carboard tube, I know someone whose bird got stuck in one and died because the owner was not paying attention and the bird could not free itself and I am assuming died because the breathing was restricted because of the tightness of the tube around it. You can just put a slit in it across the length of it so if she crawls in it it would expand, if it is flexible.

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I cut the cardboard! I didn’t even think about her getting stuck in it. Thank you!!

Yes, unfortunately her wings are clipped. They are quite short! Her flying is pretty weak, but she still gets around.

At first, both birds seemed much less active and less happy, which was a little sad. But they have since perked up somewhat and started singing and foraging. Blue seemed less impacted by the change than the baby, but she’s lived alone her whole life, so she’s probably fairly comfortable that way. The baby is more disturbed to be alone. She did a lot of panicked-sounding flock calling to Blue at first (Blue barely calls back). But she’s settled down and doesn’t flock call as much now. But if Blue ever does call, the baby responds five or six times in a row.

At least this will give me time to tame the baby before she joins Blue in the big cage. We’re making progress. She’s already voluntarily hopped onto my hand for some millet, which makes me happy.

Look at that little face

allie-rae said:

Darcy it is! Here she is this morning! There are still some purple/pinks in there, but it looks like it’s getting paler to me.

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I have to tell you that this is one of the best photos of a cere I've seen in a long time!

Those lines on her head will eventually fade. They are commonly referred to as baby bars. By around 6-9 months old they will be gone. As the lines start to recede the age can be estimated. After that guessing the age is difficult, if not impossible. She is so darn cute, and looks very much like my girl.

I'm glad to hear you'll be letting the flight wings grow out. From the hundreds of posts I've read on various groups, it appears to me the wings are generally clipped for the humans convince. They will often say they do it for the birds safety, but if there are that many dangers to be found, they need to arrange the room to be more safe. How did you decide on the name Darcy? Where the the two names you were thinking of come from literature? For some reason the origin of those names is tickling the back of my brain lol.

Why thank you! When I took the photo, I thought, hey, I’m getting better at this! 🤣

Darcy is from one of my all-time favorite books, Pride and Prejudice! ❤ Definitely a literary name as well as a popular Australian name. It has a modern twist, since Darcy is the main male character in Pride and Prejudice and my birdie is (probably) female.

I think Adelaide is a literary name as well, although it’s not from a story I’ve read. It’s an Australian city, though, and a popular girl name in Australia. There was a historical figure named Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen who the city Adelaide was actually named after.

I was going for an Australian theme, although I’m tempted to stick with a literary theme now. I have lots of beloved names to choose from that way. 😍

Honestly, after watching Darcy fly around, I don’t think it’s safer to clip the wings at all! Blue is able to turn, aim, fly straight, etc. while Darcy struggles with all of those things, which means more bumping into walls and crash landings. It does mean I can handle her a bit more, which might be a plus for taming, but I like my animals to do the things that are natural for them, and for birds that means flying! 🐥