Post by wellensittich on Apr 13, 2020 10:23:46 GMT
Hallo there,
I hope everyone is safe and well!
I wondered if anyone might be able to help us, as we're rather confused! We bought a pair of budgies last year, both blue, from a pet store, where we were reliably informed that one was female, and one was male. Their names are Louie (female) and Louis (male). They got on reasonably well, though Louie (female) seemed the dominant personality, and was generally more vocal. They would both be over a year old now, though the pet shop was a little vague on exactly how old they were when we bought them.
Over Christmas, for various convoluted reasons, we inherited a third budgie, a yellow/green variation, and apparently most definitely a female. (She has been renamed Looey, to cause extra confusion). After acclimating her, she joined the other pair. She and Louis (male) ignored one another completely, and she and Louie (female) seemed to have a relationship that was quite close; they would occasionally bicker, but otherwise sit and preen and bill one another.
This suddenly seems to have changed, and rather violently, and upsettingly. Louis (male) and Looey (yellow/green female) have been spending a lot of time together. Louie (blue female) has been excluded from this, but is continually trying to interpose herself between the two of them, even when they're flying free in the room. There have been a couple of occasions where Louis (blue male) has dragged her to the floor, and a couple where Looey (yellow/green female) has clawed her and bitten at her. We have had to separate them for the time being, and it seems most settled when Looey (the yellow/green female) is apart from the original pair, Louie (blue female) and Louis (male).
The seemingly intractable problem is now complicated by the fact that I'm not entirely sure that Louie (blue female) IS female! Her cere is a most definite shade of blue, though a more violet-blue than Louis (male), whose cere is a deep ultramarine, almost. I am so confused by the books I've read, as to whether his/her behavior is that of a male jockeying with his rival male for the single female, or that of a female getting jealous that the single male's attention is being bestowed on the other female!
Getting a picture of the three of them together has been difficult, given the discord between them at the moment, but I got this one yesterday. From left to right, this is Louie (blue female/male?), Louis (blue male) and Looey (yellow/green female).
Any help in determining Louie's exact gender would be very gratefully appreciated, plus any advice as to what to do in the long-term to manage the trio we've ended up with!
Many thanks!
I hope everyone is safe and well!
I wondered if anyone might be able to help us, as we're rather confused! We bought a pair of budgies last year, both blue, from a pet store, where we were reliably informed that one was female, and one was male. Their names are Louie (female) and Louis (male). They got on reasonably well, though Louie (female) seemed the dominant personality, and was generally more vocal. They would both be over a year old now, though the pet shop was a little vague on exactly how old they were when we bought them.
Over Christmas, for various convoluted reasons, we inherited a third budgie, a yellow/green variation, and apparently most definitely a female. (She has been renamed Looey, to cause extra confusion). After acclimating her, she joined the other pair. She and Louis (male) ignored one another completely, and she and Louie (female) seemed to have a relationship that was quite close; they would occasionally bicker, but otherwise sit and preen and bill one another.
This suddenly seems to have changed, and rather violently, and upsettingly. Louis (male) and Looey (yellow/green female) have been spending a lot of time together. Louie (blue female) has been excluded from this, but is continually trying to interpose herself between the two of them, even when they're flying free in the room. There have been a couple of occasions where Louis (blue male) has dragged her to the floor, and a couple where Looey (yellow/green female) has clawed her and bitten at her. We have had to separate them for the time being, and it seems most settled when Looey (the yellow/green female) is apart from the original pair, Louie (blue female) and Louis (male).
The seemingly intractable problem is now complicated by the fact that I'm not entirely sure that Louie (blue female) IS female! Her cere is a most definite shade of blue, though a more violet-blue than Louis (male), whose cere is a deep ultramarine, almost. I am so confused by the books I've read, as to whether his/her behavior is that of a male jockeying with his rival male for the single female, or that of a female getting jealous that the single male's attention is being bestowed on the other female!
Getting a picture of the three of them together has been difficult, given the discord between them at the moment, but I got this one yesterday. From left to right, this is Louie (blue female/male?), Louis (blue male) and Looey (yellow/green female).
Any help in determining Louie's exact gender would be very gratefully appreciated, plus any advice as to what to do in the long-term to manage the trio we've ended up with!
Many thanks!
