My boy budgie who is almost who is almost two yrs old id say, lately his beak has turned brown and a lil crusty. He is also loosing alot of feathers, every time i pet him feathers start flying of . so i stoppe touching him. Im worried . could he be sick ?

Are you 100% sure that your budgie is a male? When you mentioned that his beak has turned brown in color and had a crusty appearance, did you mean that his cere had changed in color and texture? The cere is the "bump" located just above the beak, and it assists with breathing and a budgies capability to smell. The cere can also be used to tell a male and female budgie apart.

The cere color on an adult male budgie is usually always blue. Depending on the bird's variety and genetic makeup, the cere can also range from pink to purple shades. When a male is in breeding condition, his cere will become more noticeable by brightening or darkening in tone. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

It is quite common for an adult female budgie to have a white cere, though other colors, such as a faint, light blue can also be present. When in breeding condition, a female's cere will slightly inflate, changing in color (usually to a dark or burnt shade of brown) and texture. Many people describe the texture as looking crusty or wrinkly. Like the males', the variety and genetic makeup of a female can also determine the color of her cere. Other colors include tan or pink.

So, if the cere is brown and crusty, your male budgie could actually be a female. If you want, you can take a picture of your bird and send it to my e-mail. chelsie0722@yahoo.com.



If it is the beak (and not the cere) changing color and texture, I'd first clean out the entire cage. Disinfect all the toys, perches, food and water dished, and anything else inside the cage. Try to wipe his beak off with water, just incase it isn't just food stuck to it. Take your bird in to see a vet.


As for the feathers, your bird is most likely molting. I have 5 budgies, and when molting, they loose feathers when I handle them. You can help by buying molting and conditioning supplements at petsmart or petco. It's not expensive, and it looks like a budgies regular seed-based foods.

I am an experienced budgie owner and "birdsitter". I am also creating a website that also includes information on budgie gender.

better to be safe than sorry, so take him to a specialist. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
however, birds molt there beak and feathers. if its beak has a new looking coat growing down over the crusty part, it's probably just shedding.
If the feathers that fly off are down feathers (the poofy white ones...not the onese with the stem) he's probably just molting that too.
don't ignore him...that'll stress him out.

I would take him to the vet, just to be safe, but it also sounds like he may be molting. I hope he feels better!