# Help, my budgie's cere has changed colour (and other symptoms)



## Duckina (Feb 26, 2017)

My female budgie's cere is now a very pale blue colour on her right side. Here are photos showing what I mean. It was a crusty dark pink/brown colour originally and the left side is still like this. Although there is a little blue spot on the left side of her cere too, it is not very visible in photos.

Her health has always been a concern. She is generally kind of weak, her wings are small and my other budgie flies much better than she does. She also has a damaged (?) left eye, I'm not sure if she has always has this as my baby sister bought her from a pet store when she was only a few weeks old.

Her diet is mainly seeds and she has been eating a lot if millet recently too. She tries raspberries and dried greens but not often enough. Both budgie's are picky eaters and mainly go for seed mixes. She has been regurgitating seeds often and makes a new squeaky noise when she does that.

Generally she is very lazy and plays with her toys and explores the room while my sister tames her. She naps quite often and rests her head in her back feathers, this is normal for her.

What could be causing her cere to change colour on only one side? Could this be a serious problem, considering how she has always been more fragile than my other budgie? Thank you for reading, I hope someone can help us out


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## HappiBudgie (Jan 17, 2017)

:welcome: to TB!
I'm not sure what to say about the cere, but about the seed diet, what brand do you feed her? You need to feed a good quality seed mix ( This may be helpful: http://talkbudgies.com/articles-diet-nutrition/309849-quality-seed-mix.html ) or yu need to convert your budgies to a pellet diet. Zupreem is a good pellet brand to introduce to your budgies if you are converting them to a pellet diet. (https://www.amazon.com/ZUPREEM-2303...88141551&sr=1-13&keywords=zupreem+parrot+food)
You can also take a look at the stickies in the Forum Home for more help: (http://talkbudgies.com/forum.php)

Also, it is not good to feed your budgie too much millet. It should be offered as a treat. 
Oh, and your budgie is very cute!


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Welcome to the forums! 

There is no reason for concern about your budgie's cere. 
She is simply in the process of coming out of breeding condition, that's why half of her cere is now mainly whitish in colour and has some faint blue tint around the edges as well as a smoother appearance. Soon the other half will also show the out of condition colours.
Once she comes back into breeding condition again, you will notice that her cere will progressively tan till getting a dark brown colour and having more of a crusty appearance.

As for the squeaking, overall condition of her plumage and the potential problem on her eye, it would be best to have your budgie properly examined by an avian vet specialist.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi there and :welcome: to Talk Budgies!

You've been given great advice with regards to your little girl. Her cere is perfectly normal, but her other health issues should be evaluated by an avian vet so that you can best find out if there is anything you can do to help her be a more healthy budgie!

You couldn't have come to a better place to learn even more about the very best of budgie care 

Be sure to read through all the links provided to stay updated on the very best of budgie care as well as to familiarize yourself with the forums. If you have any questions after reading through everything, be sure to ask as we'd love to help! :thumbsup:

We hope to see you around the forums! :flowers: 

Best wishes :wave:


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

Your little girl is adorable and you've received excellent advice. :thumbsup:

Avian Vets have special training to determine the cause of symptoms resulting from illness or trauma. 
This is important as "regular" vets will often overlook symptoms that are quickly obvious to an Avian Vet.
When you rely on anyone who has not had training in Avian diagnosis and care, you may be delaying effective treatment. 
This can prolong suffering that may be avoidable.
The bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.

Distinction between an Avian Vet and a Vet that "Will See Birds"

Having your budgie examined by an Avian Vet allows you to develop a good relationship with the vet in case your bird needs care for an injury or illness in the future. Additionally, it is always helpful for the vet to have a baseline for your bird to refer to should it need future treatment.

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

You'll find most basic questions about budgies and caring for them will have been answered after you've read through all of them.

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Glad you decided to join us and looking forward to seeing you around the forums.

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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

My girl Mink used to have the same thing when she first came into condition. Her cere would only turn brown on one side. The left, just like your girl. I have no idea what causes that, but finally Mink's cere went full brown this most recent time. It took her to be near 2 years old before it evened out. I thought she'd be half-sided forever.

EDIT: I re-read. Your girl had a full brown cere at one time, and now it's peeling off. I thought it only turned brown on one side like Mink. Sorry, disregard


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## Duckina (Feb 26, 2017)

Hi everyone, thanks for the friendly welcome! I have been reading about breeding conditions and cere changes, and I think this most likely what is happening. I'll keep an eye on her to see if the whole cere changes. It's kind of weird how evenly the colour is split lol

I mainly feed both budgie's Trill brand seed mix which is fortified with vitamins. I think I have been feeding her too much millet, it's the only way she steps up when I tame her. I'll change her diet and try to feed her more fruits/veg for vitamins. How do we get her to eat more greens? She is afraid of them, maybe because of the size of leafy greens...I could shred them up and mix them with her seed mix?

At the moment, I wouldn't be able to afford a vet visit but I know it's important and we will save up money to see a avian specialist. The other problems I talked about are concerning so knowing where my budgie's health is at would be great.

She is so adorable! Thanks for all the compliments, I'll let her know  Here's a picture of her exploring with her budgie buddy:


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## JoTaMi (Jan 25, 2017)

Duckina said:


> How do we get her to eat more greens? She is afraid of them, maybe because of the size of leafy greens...I could shred them up and mix them with her seed mix?


Hi, Duckina! What cuties you have! :loveeyes:

My budgies loved greens from the start. I recommend you put the leaves they are afraid of in their cage, eventually curiosity will overcome the fear, and they will start nibbling. 
With the food they are unfamiliar with (introducing for a first time, or after long time) I just spray a little millet over and with millet they get a piece of other food, after that, they continue to eat given food. I am giving them that in the morning or in the evening, but not when they are very hungry (eg right after waking up) because they don/t have patience for trying new things.

I strongly recommend you to go through forum stikies, you can find priceless information there , for example:

http://talkbudgies.com/diet-nutrition/338978-how-i-get-them-eat-their-veggies.html
http://talkbudgies.com/diet-nutrition/94607-how-i-got-my-budgies-eat-their-veggies.html
http://talkbudgies.com/diet-nutriti...k-behavior-get-your-budgie-try-new-foods.html


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## bparakeets (Dec 17, 2016)

Your budgies are ADORABLE! :w00t: Don't give up on the greens, I'm still trying to get my bird to eat veggies, too.


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## HappiBudgie (Jan 17, 2017)

Duckina said:


> I mainly feed both budgie's Trill brand seed mix which is fortified with vitamins. I think I have been feeding her too much millet, it's the only way she steps up when I tame her. I'll change her diet and try to feed her more fruits/veg for vitamins. How do we get her to eat more greens? She is afraid of them, maybe because of the size of leafy greens...I could shred them up and mix them with her seed mix?


You can wet the greens and put them in a seperate dish with some millet sprinkled on top (like JoTaMi said)
Cilantro and parsley are good starter greens. You can wet them and hang them from the top of the cage. My budgies love love love cilantro!


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