I've tried to photo the changes in Rio's colouring & pattern since his molt. His blue seems much darker & he has a darker band around his neck & you can see the blue feathers creating stripes on his head.

Old photos
April:

May:


Around molt time - July:


Today- August 29th:



Hope you can see the differences - darn primitive camera & poor lighting!

His color is really looking good. His necklace also nearly here.

He is a lot darker! I didn't realize they change color so much as they age!

~ Yes all 4 beads are there - just really light - i hope they darken as well as he matures. Do you know? - or is it a crap-shoot?

~ me either!

Ahh, I've been looking forward to Rio pictures as he grows up! I also wonder if his necklace will be darker later - it's nearly invisible now.

I love the way the head shape changes from a nice rounded look to more robust - Rio is nearly there with that, I can definitely see a difference in comparison to his baby pics.

Wow, that is quite a difference, Jac. Lord don't I love that first pic though, what a cute baby he was! He's really growing up into a distinguished Budgie.

he's gorgeous and surely growing up.... i also didn't realize that they can change color that much.... aawww, the baby is becoming a teen

Thats neat to see, I noticed that his wing markings got darker and the blue intensified as he grew! What a beautiful budgie!

My little boy sprite is going through some mating problems. Not sure if he understands that my cockatiel hen (shadow) is not his mate and does not want to be either, now he moved onto a 9 1/2 week old GCC we are watching, and it only took him 3 days to attempt to mate.....*shakes head* poor guy not sure what to do about this one..lol

It should darken but by how much is a guess, he does have recessive genes in his make up I don't think it will get as dark as Laker.

Psst ~ I think he's hoping for a Budgie girlfriend.
He sure is courageous tho - such a little guy risking it all for the big girls.