# New lutinto baby budgie gender? Please help, going to store today.



## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Hi, I’m new to the budgie world and this is a pic of the budgie I’m looking at getting. According to my research it looks to be male according to the clear pink cere. Sorry the pic is a bit blurry. Can someone with more experience give an opinion? **Not the circled one. That’s one the pet store thinks is male.


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Or is that white around the nostrils and light purple underneath? So hard to tell. I’ve asked them if they can send a clearer picture.


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Here’s the second pic the store sent.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*The lutino is a male budgie. 

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and all of the Stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.

Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.

These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.*

*SITE GUIDELINES*

*List of Stickies*

*Posting on the Forums*

*Let's Talk Budgies!*

*FAQ*

*Articles*

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*Quarantine IS Necessary!*

*A heartfelt plea to forum members new and old*

*Tips For Discouraging Breeding*

*Before You Ever Consider Breeding Your Budgies*

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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Thank you! I will do that!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*The little lutino is a beautiful boy. I'll look forward to seeing more pictures once you have him all settled in at home.
When you bring him home, he's going to be scared.
It is very normal for a budgie to sit quietly in one spot and not move much when it is first brought home.
You can cover the top and three sides of the cage and play quiet music for him when you are not around.

You may not see your budgie eating or drinking for a few days and this is normal.

If the budgie is sitting on the floor of the cage, you can place some seed and a shallow dish of water on the bottom of the cage until the budgie begins moving around in the cage and locates its food and water dishes

While it is fine to offer a spray of millet for a day or two, it is very important that you also have a high quality seed mix available in the cage. 

Otherwise, budgies can quickly decide they aren’t going to eat anything but millet leading to obesity and nutritional disease.
Budgies drink only tiny bits of water at a time you may not see this happen as they often wait until you are not around before drinking.
Rest assured that if your budgie is pooping normally then it is also eating and drinking.*


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Thank you! I think he’s beautiful and just what I always wanted! I’ve been researching and waiting off and on for two years until the time was right. That brings me to my next issue. This bird is at a small pet store two hours away from me. I have asked where they get their budgies from because I waited so long previously to find a hand raised budgie from a breeder. I have finally found a breeder two provinces over that will ship to me for an extra cost of $140 however that would be an over an hour flight and a hour and a half drive home from the airport for the little guy. I’m wondering if that would be putting it through too much and perhaps outweigh the benefit of a hand raised private bred bird?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Getting a budgie from a breeder that ships the bird by air and then driving it home from the airport is feasible but may not be practical for you.
If this lutino baby is what you've always wanted, then I'd go ahead and take him. You indicate the bird is at a small pet store, have they told you from where they are sourcing their birds?

I, personally, prefer that budgies from breeders be "co-parented".
This means the breeder allows the budgies to be fed and cared for by the parent birds but hand socializes them to get them used to humans.
Doing this allows the babies to learn to "be budgies" and obtain the bird skills they need.

I drove over 8 hours one way when I got my budgies from their breeder and then they road in the car for that length of time on the way home.*


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

The pet store said they cannot give out that information. I don’t think I like the sound of that at all.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Then in that case I'd recommend paying the extra money to get a budgie from an ethical and reputable breeder. 
Does the breeder you have in mind have a website where they talk about how their birds are raised and with pictures of the budgies, etc.? 
I'd want to know specifically how they go about shipping their birds via air.

You might also want to consider taking in a budgie from a shelter or one that someone is looking to re-home as those obviously need to be "rescued". 

I'm going to be off-line for an hour or so and will check back when I return.*


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

Yes they have a dedicated page for their birds and the price of shipping includes an appropriate crate. I’m leaning that way too.


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## Miss_Lori (Jun 3, 2021)

The store replied and said they were from a supplier that deals with breeders and that they were listed as hand fed babies when they ordered them. So sounds like a birdie mill with babies likely separated from their parents and hand fed. As sweet as he is, I think I’ll pass and wait for my bird from the breeder. I will post pictures when he’s ready! Thank you so much for your advice. So glad I found this forum!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*You're welcome. I'll look forward to meeting your new little one when you have him home and all settled in.
In the meantime, I'm going to close this thread.*


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