Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(ie, lutino, lutino pearl, lutino pied, etc)Hi everyone! I just joined. I am on a couple yahoo groups also. I live in Phoenix, AZ. I have 1 female whiteface cinnamon pearl cockatiel that is about 7-8 months old. I got her (from me) for my birthday!! I have had her for about 2 1/2 months now. She is the SWEETEST thing EVER!! She LOVES head scratches and being with people. I am trying to find her a mate though to no avail. I had a lutino that the breeder swore was a male but I had "him" DNA sexed and "he" turned out to be a "she"!! So I had to get rid of her because her and Anya (my tiel) fought ALL THE TIME and it was getting worse (that's what gave me the idea they were both female). The lutino was the bully so I had to get rid of her. There is an expo coming up on Nov. 7 by me so I will be going to try to find a lutino mix (ie lutino, lutino pearl, lutino pied, whiteface lutino, etc) tame male for my Anya. She hates being alone now but she was miserable with the lutino. So I have been looking in the classifieds but no one seems to have the color Im looking for. I look forward to learning from this forum and hoping to share experiences when I get more experienced lol. Also if anyone in/close to Phoenix has some tame males of the colors Im looking for (there is more than I mentioned above) and the male is under 1 year old then email me because I might be interested. Just wanted to introduce myself. Sorry for being so long. Thanks
Meghan

Hi Meghan,

Welcome to the board!! and congrats on your new friend.

SO she is about 8 to 10 months old?

I understand you want to breed her. Okay a couple of things right off the bat.

1.) she's too young to raise babies right now. Emotionally they are not ready until they are at least 2 years old. You have a better chance of her raising chicks at that age.

2.) It takes a lot of knowledge to raise these guys right. If you've been doing a lot of research that's great. If not it would be a good idea to start. Learning things about food and nutrition and what happens if the parents reject the babies etc?

One other thing. Be careful on introducing your baby to other birds. This is the fastest way for them to contract illnesses. Usually a vet will recommend that a new bird be quarantined from other birds for at least a month but ideally 3 months before they are introduced. This is so you can watch for illnes in the new bird. They tend to become ill from stress. (Like moving to a new home.)

Sorry to be so serious,

Welcome

Ruth

Hi Ruth,
Yes she is about 7-8 months old. I know she's not ready. I am planning on waiting AT LEAST 1 year maybe even 1 1/2 years before I even think of trying to breed her. I just want a mate for her now so they can bond and be ready for when the time comes. I have been researching cockatiels for about 3 months at least before I got my first tiel, Buffy. But my dogs got her about 6 days after I got her. She was very sweet and I miss her SO much. My dogs definately know better now and run away if the bird is out or flutters to the ground. I have been looking for a mate for her to no avail though. But there is a huge bird mart coming in 2 weeks that I will definately find a mate for her. I also know about quarentining her because I have tortoises that you also have to do this with because there are very bad consequences if you dont. Thanks for the welcome
Meghan

Hi Meghan,

Welcome to the board!! and congrats on your new friend.

SO she is about 8 to 10 months old?

I understand you want to breed her. Okay a couple of things right off the bat.

1.) she's too young to raise babies right now. Emotionally they are not ready until they are at least 2 years old. You have a better chance of her raising chicks at that age.

2.) It takes a lot of knowledge to raise these guys right. If you've been doing a lot of research that's great. If not it would be a good idea to start. Learning things about food and nutrition and what happens if the parents reject the babies etc?

One other thing. Be careful on introducing your baby to other birds. This is the fastest way for them to contract illnesses. Usually a vet will recommend that a new bird be quarantined from other birds for at least a month but ideally 3 months before they are introduced. This is so you can watch for illnes in the new bird. They tend to become ill from stress. (Like moving to a new home.)

Sorry to be so serious,

Welcome

Ruth

Welcome to the board!

One other concern if you were planning on breeding: lutino-cinnamon is not a good mix. It`s just a sorta dirty white color. I had a lutino cinnamon, and he was a great bird, but as a general rule the coloring is not desired.

If you`re not thinking of breeding, then don`t worry about sex. Two female birds can bond closely and have a real good relationship. I`ve had more experience with groups of male `tiels, but I`ve had friends with groups of females and they got along fine. Following some basic rules for introducing the two birds helps a lot too.

I also have to warn you, in continuence of Ruth`s warning about not introducing disease, that bird shows are not the best places to get birds. There is an extremely high risk of disease transmission at those shows. I highly recommend getting a bird from a quality pet store, private breeder or bird rescue. Ask a lot of questions before you purchase (or adopt) to judge the quality of this particular business/individual/organization. And if you`re lucky, they`ll ask you a lot of questions right back. It`s a good sign if your source seems to be screening you, it shows that they care about their birds.

Welcome to the site!

Hi,
Thanks for the tip. I didnt know about the cinnamon lutino. I am thinking of breeding and even if I wasnt Ive had 2 females that DID NOT get along with Anya AT ALL. They picked on her and chased her and knocked her off the perches all the time. They wouldn't let her eat most of the time (even though I had several food dishes) and she was just miserable because she would try to bond with them but they wouldn't let her. I had the 2 other females at seperate times. I had Willow and Anya together and Willow would chase and bite Anya. I gave Willow to my friend where she is very happy. Then I had Zander (a lutino) who I thought was a male but got it DNA sexed and turned out to be a female. So I gave her to a really nice guy where she can be out with him almost all the time and she is also very happy there. That is why even if I wasnt planning on breeding I would have to get a male because females dont seem to like Anya. Thanks for the welcome
Meghan

Welcome to the board!

One other concern if you were planning on breeding: lutino-cinnamon is not a good mix. It`s just a sorta dirty white color. I had a lutino cinnamon, and he was a great bird, but as a general rule the coloring is not desired.

If you`re not thinking of breeding, then don`t worry about sex. Two female birds can bond closely and have a real good relationship. I`ve had more experience with groups of male `tiels, but I`ve had friends with groups of females and they got along fine. Following some basic rules for introducing the two birds helps a lot too.

I also have to warn you, in continuence of Ruth`s warning about not introducing disease, that bird shows are not the best places to get birds. There is an extremely high risk of disease transmission at those shows. I highly recommend getting a bird from a quality pet store, private breeder or bird rescue. Ask a lot of questions before you purchase (or adopt) to judge the quality of this particular business/individual/organization. And if you`re lucky, they`ll ask you a lot of questions right back. It`s a good sign if your source seems to be screening you, it shows that they care about their birds.

Welcome to the site!