What does it mean when one of my budgies cere is soft and the other budgiehas a hard one?

Question

I have recently bought a new baby budgie and I can already tell he is male by his vibrant blue cere. My other budgie is 8 months old and i am not certain about her s*x althought i am almost positive she is female. My male budgie has a soft squeeshy cere and she has a hard one. Is this normal or should I get it checked out.

Oh and another thing :D they both sneeze alot and little liquid drops come from them... is this related in any way to the soft cere....? please help

Answer 1

Most importantly, healthy birds do sneeze occasionally, but  wet sneezes, any nasal discharge or frequent sneezing mean that your bird is sick.  A bird has a much more extensive sinus cavity than a human does, and most of those sinuses are located in the bottom half of the bird's skull (as opposed to a human's, which are located in your cheeks and forehead around your eyes).  This means that if your bird is having wet sneezes, or if there is any discharge from the nostrils, your bird's sinuses are full.  To check for discharge, take a close look at the feathers directly above the cere.  If they appear slightly darker, yellower, crusty, wet or matted, your little one has a runny nose.  Some other things to look for are if the birds rub their heads on the bars alot, scratch their noses and ears alot, yawn repeatedly, or yawn while scratching their head or neck.

I had the same symptoms in one of my birds,  and took her to the vet. My budgie was diagnosed with a sinus infection, and I had to administer an antibiotic twice a day for 4 weeks.  (The vet will teach you how to do this if it's needed.) It's important to remember that no bird will act sick until it is REALLY, REALLY sick. Noticing these small symptoms is important to keeping your birds from getting that sick.

In regards to their ceres, if your budgie has a white (especially around the nostrils), tan or brown cere, it should be a female.  Both your birds are still young, so their ceres may not have developed their full adult colour yet.

I know that a female may have a thickened, crusty, or flaky cere. This is perfectly normal.  Adult males should have a smooth, waxy texture to their ceres.  To be honest, I'm not sure about the squishy texture you describe... I'd like to think it's related to how young the bird is, but I suggest you ask an avian vet.