# Is it true?



## sunshinebirdy (Apr 7, 2011)

I heard that cockatiels that have been used for breeding are not "good pets". The explanation was that once a cockatiel has mated or bonded with another, they're not as friendly to their human owners and are more likely to bite and be grumpy. What if your cockatiel is very attached to you--will they switch and be attached to another cockatiel and decide that you aren't their friend? I got my tiel from a breeder 9 months ago and think it'd be fun to get another...

I don't know if Sunshine is a boy or girl yet. Some signs tell me _it's a boy_, and others, _it's a girl_. I'm enjoying Sunshine so much that I think it'd be fun to have another cockatiel to play with and keep Sunshine company. But since I don't know if Sunshine is a boy or girl, I don't know whether or not there will be babies, or behavioral issues if there is another bird around...

I live by myself, and though I keep his cage close to a window and the radio on for him during the day, I'm afraid that he is lonely. Trust me, when I'm home, he gets attention! But don't know if another cockatiel would ruin our relationship... 
Do birds of the _same _gender get along or do they fight?

Any advise? (anything else I can do to keep Sunshine entertained and happy while I'm gone at work?)


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If you have a bond with Sunshine you won't lose that bond if you get another cockatiel. My Cinnamon loves me, she's even had babies and she still loves me. Getting Sunshine a friend would be good for the both of you. More to love. Birds of the same sex get on just fine, they can be housed together without the fear of babies! Have you checked out the wing-spot sexing sticky under mutations and genetics? That should help you figure out if Sunshine is a boy or girl.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

I think everybody asks that i know i did with my Lucky and now i have 6 and i would love more


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## sunshinebirdy (Apr 7, 2011)

Oh, that is exciting! I'll definitely start looking for a friend for my little Sunshine 

Sunshine is 14 months old. Mostly white, but has feathers with a bit of yellow still on them (most of the tail feathers that had the bars on them have fallen out and re-grown with scattered yellow markings. No more bars.) His head is yellow almost all the way down his neck. Orange cheeks. Pink beak and pink feet. And dark teal/gray eyes 
There are a few yellow spots on his white feathers, but not many. Occasionally I'll find one of his feathers that have completely round, yellow spots on them and those are from under his wings (armpit area  ). I need to get a good picture of him to post. He's just so squirmy! He doesn't like to get his picture taken...

Roxy thanks for the advise. I just went to that sticky and since Sunshine is a clear pied lutino, it is so difficult to tell. I also went to the mutations to see if that explained anything... I guess Sunshine is just going to be a special surprise when I figure out what the gender is. The avian vet I went to said that they had to do a scope thing, (they called it a surgery!) to determine the gender. And expensive. I was like, "WHAT!? There has got to be a simpler and less expensive way to find out." I'm afraid to get gender testing done anywhere that doesn't know about birds, ya know?


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

You can send a blood feather to Avian Biotech. It's $25 or so to get a sexing. http://www.avianbiotech.com/Pricing.htm


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## sunshinebirdy (Apr 7, 2011)




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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

It's hard to tell with a lutino, both males and females look the same. You'd be best off to see if you can see any wing spots on the underside of the wings and their position.


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## birdluv (Jul 31, 2007)

sunshinebirdy said:


>


I do not see any pictures


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## samantha Larsen (Apr 7, 2011)

i was wondering the same thing , im in the sme position.one tiel & were BONDED, both me & my husband to our tiel..........wanted to gt him a friend.hes a boy.........


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

These are the pictures. There was HTML in the BBC. It won't work that way


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

O wow your tiel is so gorgeous


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Does Sunshine sing or anything like that? Usually you can tell gender by how they act.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

lol roxy im still confused on taco as no signs at all from him


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

It took Jeep a while to sing when I got here, but now he's sitting on top of the monitor singing to Squiggles, I think he likes her since he's doing heart wings too! Silly boys! I think Taco is just shy...my Snowball rarely sings.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Just like buttercup bless ha ha don't know why lol


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## pknight1120 (Feb 9, 2011)

Pretty tiel!!! I so love lutinos and wf lutinos!!!


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

I have two females who are in the same cage, and sleep together and eat from the same bowls, but if one of them invades the other's personal space they start bickering. The other day Erin tried to sneak Arnie a scritch and she got told off by Arnie - but Arnie lets us cuddle her and Erin is always asking us for scritches. They are very much still "mama and dada's girls". Arnie is bonded to my boyfriend and Erin is bonded heavily to me. In fact they don't care if they are separated, and if one is flock calling for us the other one will often ignore the other. They appreciate having each other's company I think, but I don't think they realise they're both birds! haha. They tend to look at each other like "what the heck are you? get away from me!".
If you get another bird they may bond closely but I don't think you'll completely lose the bond you have with your current tiel - it may not change at all.


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