Do reptiles keep growing throughout their entire lives? What about birds?

[Mangetout]

Sexing budgies is fairly straightforward once they’re a couple of months old - the cere (the hard patch of tissue surrounding the nostrils is smooth, waxy bright blue in males, pinkish red and often roughish and flaky in females (assuming otherwise healthy, normal birds).

[Sapo]

is it just coincidence that they have blue for males and pink for females or is there any biological basis for our colouring standards on baby shoes?

[Mangetout]

Well, certainly budgies were using the blue/boy pink/girl colour scheme before humans and since they’re natives of Australia, I think it will be the case that the same colour scheme was already established in Northern hemisphere cultures long before they came into contact with us, so yes - coincidence.

[FRDE]

@Mangetout

Well, certainly budgies were using the blue/boy pink/girl colour scheme before humans and since they’re natives of Australia, I think it will be the case that the same colour scheme was already established in Northern hemisphere cultures long before they came into contact with us, so yes - coincidence.

Fascinating.
I wonder whether it is coincidence. There might be some mechanism there.

[Eleusis]

@Mangetout

It’s possible that it is just a combination of weight gain and a few more feathers, or thicker ones. I thought I had detected an increase in height too though, but this isn’t as easy to accurately measure as is weight and general size. He’s only just over a year old - I’m not even sure whether that means he’s outside the age range for normal juvenile growth.

Of course, it’s also possible that there is some kind of disorder such as an overactive gland…

Well, throughout my life I’ve had a few budgies (parakeets, right? I prefer the blue ones), but I never once scientifically charted their weight vs length vs feather thickness.

You, sir, are a true scholar!

@Sapo

if you get a pet turtle, be mean to them. That way they won’t miss you so much when you die before they do.

You don’t have to be “mean” to them per se…

Eventually they will just crawl under the water heater and die.

[Mangetout]

@FRDE

Fascinating.
I wonder whether it is coincidence. There might be some mechanism there.

Are you talking about some kind of supernatural mechanism? What else could it possibly be, except that or coincidence?

[Mangetout]

@Eleusis

Well, throughout my life I’ve had a few budgies (parakeets, right? I prefer the blue ones), but I never once scientifically charted their weight vs length vs feather thickness.

Budgies are all parakeets, but not all parakeets are budgies (although I understand they are just called parakeets in the USA). Mine is purple.

[Eleusis]

@Mangetout

Mine is purple.

Nice.

Just because I’m lazy, what’s the lifespan?

[Mangetout]

Quite variable - we’ve never managed to keep one beyond about five years, but they can easily live to be as old as twelve or fifteen and occasionally twenty or more. The oldest confirmed age of a budgie was 29 I think.

[Sapo]

@FRDE

Fascinating.
I wonder whether it is coincidence. There might be some mechanism there.

let’s not go crazy here. I was just kidding when I proposed this. Think of how many species do NOT have blue for males and pink for females.

If anything, it would be brown for females and red (or some other bright colours) for males.

[Mangetout]

So yes, there’s a mechanism - it’s called Confirmation Bias.

[Sal_Ammoniac]

@Mangetout

Budgies are all parakeets, but not all parakeets are budgies…

This feels like a riddle, but when is a parakeet not a budgie?

[Mangetout]

@Sal Ammoniac

This feels like a riddle, but when is a parakeet not a budgie?

When it’s some other species of parakeet, such as the Ring Necked Parakeet or the Red Crowned Parakeet, or the Santa Marta Parakeet (which is just a little darling)