Are both my birds male?

[gman46]

Hello there,

I'm new to the forum and would just like some advice on the sex of my 2 budgies. I got them 2 days ago and they seem to be setting in well, I'm pretty sure the blue one is male. Thank you for any comments and help.

[Marianne Marlow]

Welcome!

Yes they are both male.

[OP]

I won't argue with that, both male. Maybe you could help us out. What is different about the middle photo on your laptop, why is it rotated? We seem to have a number of photos like this I wonder why.

[gman46]

Really? Brilliant. I was hoping they were but was getting confused the more I looked online at the colour of their noses. They are very affectionate to each other, I visited the shop on 3 different occasions, there was 10-12 budgies in the cage but these two were inseparable. I've named them Sparky and Blue.

[Marianne Marlow]

I'm going to guess it was taken sideways on a phone?

[gman46]

The photo was posted by an iPad.

[Marianne Marlow]

Aug 3, 2015 13:02:33 GMT gman46 said:

Really? Brilliant. I was hoping they were but was getting confused the more I looked online at the colour of their noses. They are very affectionate to each other, I visited the shop on 3 different occasions, there was 10-12 budgies in the cage but these two were inseparable. I've named them Sparky and Blue.

That's great that you took the time to observe the budgies behaviour and picked out two friends.
I also did that with my first two budgies

A budgies nose is called a cere

[gman46]

I had a lutino cockatiel for almost nine years who unfortunately passed away in January this year, I wasn't going to get another bird but these to cheeky boys just pulled me in!

[gman46]

I have a couple more questions, I've had them 2 days now and they still haven't drank any water. I've even offered it up to them but they're not interested. They also won't go to their normal feed pot although they have completely devoured a millet spray and I also put a small pot of Vitakraft fruit cocktail in for them which they have been nibbling at today.

Also, when should I put a bath in for them? Should I do this once a week? My cockatiel just wouldn't have a bath, he'd wash his feet and that was it.

[OP]

You may not see them drink any water, sometimes they are a bit shy and won't drink when you are watching. Just keep an eye on the level of water in whatever the container is. If you can try removing the millet as they will eat that in preference to seed. There is not much protein and general goodness in millet, it is rather fattening. Use it as a treat. The fruit cocktail should be fine, but they should be eating seeds at best. Don't worry about the bath, if they come out of the cage at all then offer them one.

[gman46]

Thanks, the fruit cocktail is a seed mix that can be fed as a complete food or you can add it to regular seed. I've just offered them the regular seed pot and they'll eat it if I hold it in front of them. Maybe they just need more time to get comfortable enough to explore a bit more.

[Hezz]

Aug 3, 2015 14:41:23 GMT OP said:

You may not see them drink any water, sometimes they are a bit shy and won't drink when you are watching. Just keep an eye on the level of water in whatever the container is. If you can try removing the millet as they will eat that in preference to seed. There is not much protein and general goodness in millet, it is rather fattening. Use it as a treat. The fruit cocktail should be fine, but they should be eating seeds at best. Don't worry about the bath, if they come out of the cage at all then offer them one.

Sorry, OP, but I have to correct this; most budgie seed mixes are made up predominantly, or around 50%, of millets - of different varieties. It is not that the millet is fattening, or lacks goodness, but rather that the birds will feed exclusively on the millet sprays so are only getting one variety of food. It is like having a diet of only bread, or only carrots. There is nothing wrong with either food, but it is not a healthy diet, not enough variety, and sooner or later you are going to have deficiencies of one sort or the other. The different millets contain different levels of nutrients and different trace elements.

[OP]

I stand corrected. One should not post when one is not thinking straight.

[Shirls]

Very handsome boys gman46. Loved the pictures.

[gman46]

Thank you

They're still not fully settled yet, although it's only been 3 days. It looks like they've found the food pot now so that's progress