I'm brand new here. I've actually spent the last few days reading and reading and then reading some more.

Our parakeet Huck recently passed away. We didn't even have him for that long (over a year). We kind of rescued him. This lady said her children had left him and the mom to him at her house and they didn't want them anymore. He wasn't getting any attention. She had come home one day and the mother bird had beaten him up pretty badly (he was an adult already at that point). He was a bloody mess and missing lots of feathers. I think he was neglected badly, he was such a skittish little guy. I got him to the point after a lot of patience (on both of our parts) where he didn't flip out when I put my hand in the cage but he wouldn't go any farther with hand training, and it actually seemed to stress him out. So I just spent a lot of time talking to him. I woke up one morning and he had died in the night.

I decided that I wanted a new parakeet because I missed talking to him, I missed the sound of his chirps and songs. Even with 4 kids, my house seemed really quiet without him.

So we went and picked out Lemon. Then my husband, who had never taken an interest in our other parakeet read the papers that came with Lemon and started pointing out that a friend was needed.

So, we went and got Blueberry Pie and Angel Cakes - I think Blueberry Pie was supposed to be Blueberry Muffin, but when we voted, my son was sick of Strawberry Shortcake names. Here they are -



He had gotten a bigger cage on Craig's list. And learned the fun way that the bars are too far apart. We put screen around it tightly until we decide on a cage that is big enough for the 3 of them with bars the right space apart. (I'm home almost 24/7, so I'm right here if they were to escape.)

Since I did no research on my first one that we had other than do's and don'ts with parakeets and a bit on hand taming, I am curious. I think, think, but am not 100% positive, that they are 2 males and a female? And I think they are still young. No idea about anything else. I just know that I adore them.

I thought Lemon was a female, until under brighter light, he (or she) has a little blue running through the cere. Blueberry has a lot of dark blue in it, and Angel, they told me she was a female. I don't see any blue in her's at all under the light here.

ETA - I'm really confused on Lemon. Her beak in this picture looks lighter than it does in real life. What is Lemon?

How's that for a rambling first post? I look forward to chatting with you all!

Welcome to the forum! They're all really really beautiful! I love the names!

can you post a photo with a better shot of their cere's? Its tough to tell from that pic. They are gorgeous though, love the names

Kathy

I will definitely in the morning. I just came back out because Angel was going a little crazy in the cage after I turned off the light and covered it. As soon as I turned the light on and uncovered it she calmed down. I'm leaving the lights off and the cage uncovered for a bit to get her used to the dark right now and then try covering it back up again. I'm afraid if I use the flash on her right now she'll get all hyped back up. Silly little bird.

Thanks for the compliments on their names! My girls love Strawberry Shortcake and that's where we get names from I guess. My 11 year old son on the other hand wanted to name Angel the destroyer. LOL

Girls so sweet and boys well you just gotta love'em! Sounds just like my son....

You might try leaving a nightlight on for your keets. You're quite right to stay away from the flash for awhile. Flash distorts the colors so try to take the photo in natural light.

Kathy

At night I cover my bird's cage on two sides and leave our computer monitors on, and she's never had a problem. Very cute birds, though I think Blueberry may be older than you think. I don't see the lines on his forehead to indicate youth, and his cere has turned very dark. Angel looks like she's still young, with the very light cere and the stripes still pretty low on her forehead. Not sure about Lemon, try to get a more portrait-style photo, instead of the profile.

Thanks Belesaria! I'm going to get them a nightlight today. She was fine once I only partially covered the cage and left the kitchen light on. I wasn't sure how far back the stripes needed to go to show they were older. I'm going to learn so much from you all!

Ok, I got more pictures. I don't think they will ever be parakeet models. No pictures please. They turn their heads no matter what angle I am taking the picture from. So, these are kind of blurry, I had to snap fast when they'd turn towards me as I talked.



Lemon and Angel - Lemon's a female isn't she? Will I need to add another male if she is so they don't fight? They are ok right now. No fights breaking out, they all sit on perches in the cage next to each other. If one moves, the other 2 follow.



Lemon and Angel again


Blueberry - He seems the most interested in me right now. When I talk to him he looks at me and cocks his head and just seems to pay attention more than the other 2.

I think Blueberry's the oldest (and that's why he's paying more attention to you, he's more used to humans), then Lemon, then Angel. I don't think Lemon or Angel's gender can be determined by the cere yet, you could have them DNA tested, or just wait until they're older. If I were to guess by your latest pictures I would say that Lemon's a girl, and I'm not really sure about Angel, could go either way.

They're cute! I like Lemon's white cheeks.

Thanks! I'll just wait until they get older. The only reason I was concerned about it was reading that two males generally don't fight over 1 female but that 2 females will fight over 1 male. If they aren't fighting at all, I think I'm good with waiting. My 3 year old picked out Lemon. She looked at all the yellow parakeets and she wanted the one with no black on it. Lemon's markings are really really faint. For some reason that one drew Alyce in. I thought Angel was really young. There were some in there that looked even younger than Angel. Just the way their feathers looked.

I forgot to mention that while we were there, it looked like there was a bonded pair in one of the cages. They were preening each other, where the one flew, the other flew. I sat and watched them for 10 minutes with each other. I wanted to buy them together because I didn't want to see them get separated out later by someone else, but when I went to point at them, they separated and then wouldn't come back together for me to show the person which ones I wanted and the lady didn't seem patient enough to stand there with me for another 10 minutes and wait for the birds to calm down. It makes me sad thinking that someone might buy one and not the other.

I would have to say that Angel Cake is definitely female, since her cere is brown and she looks like she is in breeding mode (the cere gets dark and dry and wrinkly). She looks to be the oldest of the three. The other two, I would agree that it is too soon to tell, although Lemon could potentially be female. I would say they have matured when they have their first major molt (where it looks like a bird exploded) there will be feathers everywhere! Usually about 6 months I think. We're waiting for Lamont to reach sexual maturity so we can tell if it is a boy or girl. Good luck, they are most definitely beautiful!!