# Girl or boy?



## SweetTweet (Dec 10, 2013)

Well Gary is being very, umm..., manly towards the other cockatiels's cage. The two cockatiels have lived in the same cage since before I got them. I'm pretty sure at least one of the two Lutino cockatiels is a girl, but how can I be sure which one? They look almost Identical! 

:tiel4: :tiel4:


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

You can get them both DNA sexed and have them marked or go by behavior, which isn't very accurate. Lutinos have a 75% chance of being female, but I got the remaining percent, because mine is a cock


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## SweetTweet (Dec 10, 2013)

Lougirl said:


> You can get them both DNA some sexed and have them marked or go by behavior, which isn't very accurate. Lutinos have a 75% chance of being female, but I got the remaining percent, because mine is a cock


Well, at this moment a vet visit is a bit challenging. I just moved them into a huge cage, it can't fit in the car. Also, they can't be touched or they freak out. I'm still working on training them but it's slow. 


I searched about classifying by behavior but on the sites it said that it could be challenging to classify lutinos, and it is. 

Would a female nest differently or anything? I noticed one of them prefers to sleep in the food dish ^^'


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Behavior is just really tricky. Sometimes you can _assume_ from different styles of masturbation, bat birding or things like beak banging and heartwings. All are really iffy, so DNA is your best bet. Until then, you may just have to make a guess, no shame if you're wrong


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## SweetTweet (Dec 10, 2013)

Lougirl said:


> Behavior is just really tricky. Sometimes you can _assume_ from different styles of masturbation, bat birding or things like beak banging and heartwings. All are really iffy, so DNA is your best bet. Until then, you may just have to make a guess, no shame if you're wrong


Lol, no shame at all. 
I haven't noticed anything like that though.
The one I think is a girl holds her beak open to the other one as he eats from his Millet treat, although he just tells her to 'go away'.

Normally I wouldn't worry about it but I just do not want eggs to pop up in the food dish one day. Now that their environment is comfy and clean.

Thank you so much for all your helpful advice! I really appreciate it!


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I have moved your thread to this section of the forum (Cockatiel Talk) as your thread isn’t an introduction.  

Also, from here: http://www.justcockatiels.net/lutino.html



> *The lutino mutation is Sexually Diamorphic. This means that after the first molt with careful inspection, and good lighting you can look for changes in coloration. The female/hens will always retain the barring to the tail feathers, with the exception of lutino Pied. The male/cock will molt out the barring. Both sexes will have the wing spots when they are young. The females will molt out the spots from the lower feathers closest to the body, whereas the males will molt all the spots as they mature.*


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Wow, Renae, I didn't know that. Huh. Learn something new everyday on this forum


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## SweetTweet (Dec 10, 2013)

Oh! Thank you so much! I'm new here and still trying to figure this website out.

I tried to look for any spots but they didn't really hold the pose for me. 
I didn't see any right away.
But I noticed that one's tail is yellower than the other!


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