# Can someone help with my new adopted budgie age?



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

Greetings to all, 

I am new to this forum, hi to everyone here. My budgie name Kes, we are from Scotland UK. I adopted him from SPCA yesterday. I hope someone here can help me with his age(approximate). SPCA has no record of how old he is. He got no ring on his legs. He look like a young bird around 5 months of age? because he don't have the iris ring by looking close to his eyes(I got this info through online search). Hope someone can help. 

Here is a picture of Kes. 












Kind regards
Vincent


----------



## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

It is not possible to know the exact age but if there are no iris rings yet he is probably under 9 months, he has been through the first molt as he has no baby bars on his head and his cere is completely blue as it would be in an adult male. Can you post a close up of his face from the front, I see something along the bottom of the cere and I cannot tell from this picture if it is just dry skin or the beginning of scaly face mites.


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

Cody said:


> It is not possible to know the exact age but if there are no iris rings yet he is probably under 9 months, he has been through the first molt as he has no baby bars on his head and his cere is completely blue as it would be in an adult male. Can you post a close up of his face from the front, I see something along the bottom of the cere and I cannot tell from this picture if it is just dry skin or the beginning of scaly face mites.


Hello Cody, thanks a lot for your reply. Here is the picture of the front of his face. He is new and wont let me go close with the phone camera. Hope you can see it clear. Many many thanks.


----------



## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Kes is a very handsome fellow and is obviously molting at the moment.

Have you owned budgies in the past?

Here are some facts regarding molting that you may find helpful:
Budgies generally have a first light molt at around 3 - 4 months old and another at 6 -7 months old.
When a budgie reaches at 1 year old their molts adjust to the Seasons., After the adjustment the budgie will have its big molts in the Spring and Fall. Budgies may also have lighter molts throughout the year; triggered by stress, change in diet or change in environment.

You can supplement your budgie’s diet with egg food during a molt.
This helps your budgies replenish the energy lost during the time they lose and grow in the new feathers.
Additionally, egg food promotes good and healthy feather growth.
It is possible to buy ready-made egg food at any specialized pet store but just as easy to make your own by hard boiling an egg and mashing it up.
If you wish you can mix it with a bit of cooked quinoa and flax seed.
You can also finely chop some veggies and add it to the egg food mix.
If your give your budgie cooked quinoa, be sure you rinse it well several times before cooking.

Budgies get itchy during their molt, so they'll preen and scratch more often. Additionally, they may be sleepier and quieter as molting takes a lot of energy, and their poop could be a little runnier. To make them more comfortable, you can offer them baths either in a shallow dish of water (or Lix-It bath) or by hanging wet greens (romaine lettuce or kale works best) in their cage so they can nibble on it and rub against them.
*
*Molting FAQs*

*Miserable Molting*


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

FaeryBee said:


> *Kes is a very handsome fellow and is obviously molting at the moment.
> 
> Have you owned budgies in the past?
> 
> ...


Thank you so much FaeryBee for the information. I owned budgies before but never adopt them from rescue centre, can't help by wanting to know their age and their history.


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

@Cody I added the picture of his face facing front. Do you think his cere is just dry skin and not scaly face mites? sorry for trouble you and big thanks.


----------



## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

From the picture it looks dry, but if in person, it has a honeycomb appearance, then it would be mites.


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

Cody said:


> From the picture it looks dry, but if in person, it has a honeycomb appearance, then it would be mites.


Hello Cody, thanks a lot again for your help. I will keep an close eye on him.


----------



## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forums!

He is a beautiful boy. Does he have a name yet?
He’s absolutely adorable! Congratulations on bringing him home.

Great advice above by FaeryBee and Cody.

Meanwhile, it’s great to have you on the forums. You’ve come to a great place to learn even more about the best of budgie care practices. Please be sure to read through the forums’ many budgie articles and links, many of which have been provided in your introductory thread, to ensure you’re up to date on everything. If you have any questions after doing so, please do ask as we’d love to help!

Best wishes! 👋🏻


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

StarlingWings said:


> Hello and welcome to the forums!
> 
> She is a beautiful little girl. Does she have a name yet?
> He’s absolutely adorable! Congratulations on bringing him home.
> ...


Hello StarlingWings, yes his name is Kes. He is super vocal right now in his room.


----------



## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

iguanaking10 said:


> Hello StarlingWings, yes his name is Kes. He is super vocal right now in his room.


Haha, not sure why I wrote girl in the first part of my post 😂 Fixed now. Kes is gorgeous 🤩


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

StarlingWings said:


> Haha, not sure why I wrote girl in the first part of my post 😂 Fixed now. Kes is gorgeous 🤩


No problem at all. 😊


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

buchasur said:


> As budgies mature, their irises develop and lighten. Mature budgies have light irises that are fully developed. If the bird has a light gray or brown iris, the budgie is probably older then 8-12 months.


Thank you for the information. I cannot see the iris on his eyes, its very dark colour as you can see in the picture I uploaded.


----------



## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

buchasur said:


> As budgies mature, their irises develop and lighten. Mature budgies have light irises that are fully developed. If the bird has a light gray or brown iris, the budgie is probably older then 8-12 months.


*Not all budgies develop irises. Some budgies (dependent on the mutation) retain fully dark eyes for their entire lives.*


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

FaeryBee said:


> *Not all budgies develop irises. Some budgies (dependent on the mutation) retain fully dark eyes for their entire lives.*


Hello FaeryBee. I believed Kes is a regular English budgie(he is big boy)? I did some research on budgie's iris. Correct me if I am wrong 

The mutation don't change their iris are:
Lutino/Albino, Lacewing, Fallow – At all ages these red-eyed varieties always have a light coloured (pink) iris.
Recessive Pied, Dark-Eyed Clear – These varieties always have dark plum eyes which do not change with age.


----------



## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Yes, you are correct and Kes is definitely a beautiful (handsome!) English budgie!*


----------



## iguanaking10 (8 mo ago)

FaeryBee said:


> *Yes, you are correct and Kes is definitely a beautiful (handsome!) English budgie!*


Thank you for letting me know. He is super chatter.


----------

