Budgie Breeding Problems :(

Question
Hello..I stumbled on this site thanks to Google and I hope that maybe you can help me with my two budgies, Rainbow and Pippa. A little while ago I bought a female for my male budgie (Rainbow). I let the two become friends and get to know each other for a few weeks before introducing the nestbox. I put the nestbox in a few weeks ago and Pippa went straight in and started checking it out. The two have become really bonded lately and I woke up one morning to see them 'getting busy' :) A few days ago though Pippa's beak turned from a crusty brown to a white and I can even see a little blue coming through. I'm worried theres something wrong :( She seems to be getting really fat though and has runny droppings shes also in the nestbox nearly all day. I also noticed she sits a little funny on the perch she kind of leans over it instead of sitting straight. Have I done something wrong? :( Please help I'm so worried about her :'( Thanks

Answer
Hi, Melissa,

How old are your budgies?  Normally, a female budgie has a brown/white/beige/tan cere (cere is the colored area above the bak).  Are you sure Pippa isn't a female?  The crusty brown/white would tell me Pippa is female, but with the cere turning blue, this bird could be a male.  With the cere turning colors, this tells me these birds aren't very old, probably not old enough to allow them to breed.  Once a budgie molts the first time (at about 6 months of age), the cere color usually doesn't change much.  If it's changing, this bird might not be old enough yet to breed.  

Your bird getting fat doesn't mean she's "pregnant."  Birds don't carry eggs around inside them and then lay them.  The egg shell forms just prior to an egg being laid, so this isn't causing her to be fat.  If she's getting fat, it's probably because she's on an all-seed diet (a poor diet for any parrot), and the seed is making her fat (unless she has some other health problem).  The cere color change doesn't indicate illness.  Runny droppings could indicate a problem, but I'd need more detailed information about what's going on.  Runny droppings could mean the bird is drinking more water than usual, is eating food with a high water content, the bird could be under stress from something, or the bird could have a digestive/intestinal problem of some kind.

I think you're trying to rush your birds too fast!  If they aren't at least 12 months old, they aren't old enough to breed yet.  They can be bred younger, but it could result in health problems for them and/or their offspring.  I think you really need to determine the sexes of the birds you've paired up.  Normally, the male is the first to go inside the nesting box.  The male prepares the box the way he wants it before the female goes in to lay eggs.  You may be working with 2 males.

By all means, if you think your bird(s) is sick, contact a certified avian vet ASAP.

Chrys