cere care

Question
We have had our budgie for 3 years and his cere has grown and sticks out, I have only noticed since we have looked after another budgie for a week and that bugie does not have it.  My questions is; is there something wrong and should I take my budgie to the vet, or is it normal for the cere to be quite large?.  Thanks very much. Loren

Answer
Hi, Loren.  Thanks for posting!

Are you sure your budgie is a he and not a she?  What color is the cere?    

It isn't normal for a cere to "grow and stick out."  However, if this budgie is a female and the cere is dark brown and crusty looking (which some people describe as growing), it means the budgie is a female and she's in breeding condition.  Regardless of color, if the cere looks like a wart, it could be scaly mites...do the legs/feet look like warts also?  Scaly mites bury under the skin of budgies/keets and raise the skin so it looks like warts.  This is easily treatable by a drop or two of a medication you can get from a bird vet.  Scaly mites usually come from wood/sticks from outside and that are used as perches without being disinfected and dried out.   

Otherwise, you might need to take your budgie in for an evaluation by an avian vet if it isn't either of the 2 solutions above.

Come back with more information and I'll help further if possible.

Chrys