Budgies are oviparous animals, meaning they lay eggs for reproduction. So, budgies do not get pregnant like humans, they lay eggs. Besides, some signs of pregnancy in budgies are slightly similar to humans and other animals.
Signs of pregnancy (egg carrying) in budgies can be listed as follows: bump on the vent, weight gain, less frequent and bigger droppings, protecting the nest box, eating more food, appearance changes, escalating aggressive behavior, change in cere color, swollen abdomen, and brooding patch.
Weight gain
Female budgies gain weight when they are pregnant. But, it would be good to keep in mind that you can’t understand the difference easily.
Budgies weigh between 1.1–1.4 oz. (30–40 gr.) Besides, A budgie’s weight is around 3 grams. So, it is hard to understand without weighing the budgie, even if your budgie gained weight.
Appearance (what does a pregnant budgie look like?)
The physical appearance of female budgies changes during the breeding season.
Swelling vent
Pregnant (gravid) budgies usually have a swelling vent. When a female budgie has an egg on the way, a bump appears on her vent area. The vent area bump is also called “egg bum”.
The budgie owners can check the egg bump for pregnancy and pregnancy progression.
The egg bum gets bigger until the egg-laying.
Slightly swelling belly
Pregnant female budgies may have a slight swelling belly area when they are gravid.
The egg inside the pregnant budgie may push the abdominal organs. Therefore, the belly area may have slight swelling. But even if that’s the case, it’s hard to see the swelling with the naked eye.
Cere color
The change of the cere color is one of the most known visual proofs that female budgies are in the breeding season.
Female budgies have brown-colored cere with a crusty surface during breeding seasons.
Of course, even if a female budgie has a brown-colored cere, that doesn’t mean the female budgie is pregnant. However, a brown cere indicates the female budgie is most probably carrying an egg.
Brood patch
When budgies enter the breeding season, a piece of hairless skin appears in the budgerigar’s vent area called the brood patch. The brood patch most probably indicates the female budgie is pregnant and carrying an egg.
Aggressive behavior
Female budgies are pretty aggressive during the breeding seasons. Moreover, female budgies begin to show more aggressive behaviors after successful mating.
Hormones often control behaviors such as aggression.
Besides, It is quite possible to see excessive aggression when the minimum requirements are not met for laying eggs.
In conclusion, female budgies show aggressive behaviors because of hormones and lack of minimum requirements.
Larger poop (less frequent and bigger droppings)
Pregnant (gravid) female budgies begin to poop less frequently. Besides, she poops larger droppings than usual.
The egg inside the female budgie grows until the time of egg-laying. The egg also approaches the cloacae, where it will emerge from the body. Bigger eggs mean less room for internal organs such as intestines, gizzards, and liver; the egg pushes them. So while these happen, the droppings become larger and less frequent.
Protecting the nesting box
Pregnant (gravid) female budgies are aggressive when it comes to protecting the nest box and territory.
Generally, a typical female budgie shows aggressive behavior to protect its territory. But when it’s come to the breeding season and egg-laying time, the aggression level increases. As a result, pregnant (gravid) female budgies protect the nest box from all threats, no matter what it costs.
Cleaning nesting area, collecting, scattering, and rearranging nesting materials
Pregnant (gravid) female budgies are obsessed with nest boxes during their breeding season. They are always in the way of cleaning up, distributing, and rearranging things.
Gravid budgies collect the nesting materials. They also collect their feathers for this purpose. But, the collecting behavior gets less frequently when it comes close to egg-laying time. Nevertheless, it never stops.
After collecting materials, the gravid budgie always scatters and rearranges the materials. They want the best for the egg-laying process and baby budgies.
In addition, keep in mind that every other female budgie has unique tastes and opinions on decorating the nest box.
She comes out of the nesting box less frequently
After collecting the nesting materials, the pregnant (gravid) female budgie begins to scatter and rearrange the materials over and over. She also begins to come out of the next box less frequently.
If she doesn’t have to leave the cage, she stays inside. The male budgie helps to pregnant (gravid) budgie during the nesting period.
Staying at the bottom of the cage
Female budgies may stay at the bottom of the cages for different reasons.
A female budgie may spend its time at the bottom of the cage collecting nesting material, such as paper.
In some conditions, female budgies may have difficulty laying eggs. So, they may spend their time trying to lay eggs at the bottom of the cage if there is no nest box.
Eat more food
Pregnant (gravid) budgies begin to eat more food after they start to develop an egg inside them.
Budgie owners can see the excessive eating behavior easily. The female budgies begin to eat more food and cuttlebone.
It would be good to keep in mind that pregnant (gravid) budgies need more minerals during the breeding season. So, they consume mineral blocks and cuttlebones more than usual.
Interest in the nest box (breeding box)
Female budgies begin to gain interest in the nest box during the breeding season. As time progress, the interest increases. Observative budgie owners can easily see this interest change.
Mating (affectionate to male budgie)
Mating is not directly a pregnancy sign in budgies. But, the female budgie most probably going to lay eggs after between 8-10 days.
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