5 yr old male budgie- cere turning reddish brown

[Rindy]

hi everyone, i just signed up here to see about any info out there about why my 5 year old male budgie's cere is turning reddish brown. it's been gradual for a few months and i didn't think it was anything to be concerned about, but in the past few days it's gotten darker and spreading to the other side. i read a post on here from 2007 where someone had a similar incident but there wasn't any follow up on it, so i was hoping that maybe someone else could let me know what may be going on. he's acting fine (except yesterday he didn't do his 'finger dance' if you know what i mean). he's eating, talking, etc. we're going to the avian vet tomorrow, but i'm impatient. thanks for any advice or ideas on what could be causing this. -Rindy

[birdlover912]

What color was his cere before? If it wasn't dark fushia or blue, and was lighter in color, he could be a female budgie coming into season. Some female budgies don't come into season very often--one of my budgies, Sydney, never has (so far). It is possible that your guy is a girl.

You may want to look at this site--it has some helpful information reguarding budgie cere colorations under the "determining gender section."

http://www.budgietalk.com/

Please let us know what the vet has to say--I hope it isn't anything serious!

[Monica]

Another possibility is the male has a tumor or something that is causing issues, thus making the cere change color.