3 new budgies, gender confusion, breathing probs, breeding?

[snowy_jasmine_perry]

Hello Forum,

I'm a new arrival and so glad there's a community out there to consult! Thanks so much for being here.

My kids and I were keen to get budgies (I had them as a child) so we went to a breeder of exhibition budgies here in the UK seeking a breeding pair. The breeder turned out to be a teenager, an extremely nice and knowledgable chap. 

We bought "Snowy", who is obviously a cock, and a supposed hen we called "Jasmine". The breeder also kindly gave us a third bird, supposedly another hen, and we called her "Perry". Perry is apparently the daughter of Snowy.

When we got them home, Perry seemed to be always wanting to get between Snowy and Jasmine, so we separated them and it seemed to calm everyone down. Perry is in a separate cage now, and seems agitated, walking up and down rapidly. I think we need to get Perry a mate or friend. 

Jasmine was displaying from very early on some quite distressing breathing problems. At first I thought it might be the stress of the relocation, but after a few days we took her to the vet and have been treating her since for Asperigillosis and Psittacosis on advice from vet, nebulising (Ventolin, F10) and drops (Baytril and Itrafungol) twice a day. She seems (and sounds) much improved a week on, but still lightly tail bobbing.

In a surprise move, the vet suggested that Jasmine may be a male. Perry's cere is similar. I will attach images.

I was just wanting some advice really. Can anyone identify Jasmine and Perry's gender? And how long would it be worth continuing treatment for Jas?

I've put the nesting box out for Snowy and Jasmine just to see if it encourages anything. They seem very relaxed and close with each other but I don't know what we should expect. 

Any words of wisdom gratefully received! We would love to have chicks but not really sure what to do at this stage.

The breeder is currently away on holiday but I'm hoping to have more contact with him upon their return.

Photos - Snowy then Jasmine then Perry

[Hezz]

While your photos are not terribly clear, I do think the breeder got it right.

Please, until you have done a LOT of research, please take out the nest box and allow these birds to re-settle into their new home. You have taken them out of their known environment and set them up in new, unfamiliar cages, in new and unfamiliar surroundings. They are going to take time to settle. The move is probably the reason your hen, Jasmine has become ill, and the reason why we encourage people bringing new birds into an established flock to quarantine the new birds. That is not an issue in your case, of course, as they have all come from the same place and you don't have resident birds to be infected with incoming diseases.

How long to treat Jasmine? As long as the vet has prescribed. It is important that you see a course of AB's through to the end, even a day or three over is better than cutting it short.

[snowy_jasmine_perry]

Hi Hezz,

Thank you so much for your reply - really appreciate it. Good to hear your opinion about the genders of the birds. Snowy's cere is so very, very blue, compared to the other two. But the tinges of blue on Jas (which Perry shares) I guess threw the vet. Jas seems very bright in herself, despite her illness. I just hope she can make a good recovery.

The vet has prescribed a week of meds initially, which is complete today. I am going to send him a video of Jas and her progress, and take advice accordingly. However I watched a video online from Dr Ross Perry suggesting a month was a recommended length of treatment for respiratory problems, and wondered if you had thoughts or experience of this. She seems and sounds so much better, but the tail bobbing is still apparent.

The nesting box - they are showing zero interest in it anyway at the moment so I'll take it off for now. We are just trying to show these guys lots of love and affection. They were obviously not that exposed to human interaction before, so it's a shock for them. But the kids are being super patient and we're just taking it one day at a time. Slowly they seem to be learning that we're not going to hurt them. I've been reading the threads about taming, and we'll just take it slow.

I read your other post about quarantine with interest, and realised that while it didn't apply to us just now (all these little guys came from the same garden shed aviary, as you say) that it would be great advice for later, for introducing any newcomers. I will ask the vet about treating for mites as a precaution, just to make sure everyone's clean and healthy.

Thanks again!

[Marianne Marlow]

Welcome to you, Snowy, Jasmine and Perry!

Hezz has already given some great advice.

We'd love to see more photos when they are all settled.

[Hezz]

If you feel Jasmine still has some recovery to do, and if you still have some meds left, I would definitely keep up the dosing until you get some feedback from the vet. It does sound like he/she is covering all angles. Psittacosis should be a course of up to 45 days to be finished. What have you been given for treating it?

The birds should only need to be treated for mites if there is a problem; best not to treat just because, and any sort of good vet should have picked up on a mite problem when you visited. If all birds were housed together, they will all either have or not have mites. Sorry; re-reading your post, I see you are meaning to bring up the matter or mite treatment.

Hoping Jasmine is feeling, and looking, much more comfortable and interested very, very soon.