# New here - Gender for bird!



## ArachnidsPlease (Oct 6, 2012)

Hey guys, new here. I used to have a cockatiel when I was 13, then about two years ago when I was 16 my grandma accidentally left the doors open in the house when she was getting rid of things, and unfortunately he flew outside. Best bird in the entire world. His name was Zander and I had him since he was only a few months old. 
We assumed he was a male since he was bright colors and loved to talk and sing. A good while after he flew away, my mom took in a bird from a friend that was allergic to her and gave her to me as a gift. Her name is Gracie, and she (so we assume) is about 10 years old. Her previous owner said she's always been allergic to them but loved her too much to find her a new home, but it was getting unbearable. 
To my point, I'm thinking of getting a new cockatiel as I enjoy everything about them. Gracie is a coocoo head but turns into a cuddle monster once she's running around the room. I want to make to get another female if Gracie truly is a female. I know her owner had her for 10 years but I want to be on the safe side and not have unexpected babies 
Can anyone tell me if she's a female? I know you can get blood tests but I haven't worked my way on that path yet lol. Gracie loves to sing, and says such a pretty bird and whatnot. In the mornings her whistling is at it's peak. She does knock on her perches and anything else randomly through out the day and enjoys when she hears someone knock on the wall back.
Any help would be grateful! Sorry for the earful


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Your bird is definitely a male, a handsome whiteface male


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Welcome to the forum!

I really hate to break it to you but Gracie is a boy. Only male tiels get the bright yellow (or in your case white because Gracie is a WF) face. But he's very pretty!!!


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## ArachnidsPlease (Oct 6, 2012)

Ah! So that explains his nips at fingers when he's in his own world, I've heard that males tend to bite more.
Well. This is a surprise haha. I guess his name is just Grace now!


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## rashid100 (Oct 3, 2012)

nice bird mate  he is a male as he has a solid white face:tiel3:


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

yes, a boy, and a very handsome one at that!


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## Jony N Me (Sep 20, 2012)

Lol about your "surprise" . Grace is a great name! I was in the same boat only the opposite. Our female bird is named Jony ( pronounced Johnny but my youngest son didn't know how to spell it lol) she doesn't mind her boy name a bit . Beautiful bird u have!


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

Grayson, you can call him that now He is sooo handsome


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## ArachnidsPlease (Oct 6, 2012)

Grayson is a great name! I didn't even think of that, thanks!  A few more questions guys, how would I go about introducing another cockatiel? Do they stay in the same cage together? Would a male be territorial about his cage towards another male? Should they stay in separate cages over night? I'm only used to one bird at a time!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

When you get a new bird you'll need to quarantine it (in another room away from Grace) for at least 30 days to make sure that it isn't carrying anything that can make your bird sick. After that period, you can then slowly introduce them to each other, let them have out of cage time together, get to know each other and see how they get along. If they don't get along well, you can cage them seperately but next to each other. If they do get along you can cage them in the same cage but make sure to rearrange it first so that its "seems" new to the both of them.


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## stevechurch2222 (Sep 25, 2011)

Grayson is a very handsome white face male cockaitel,my favorite.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Congrats, he is gorgeous!

Two males are just as likely to get along as a male and a female, actually.  I have two boys, and when I introduced them they were instantly very interested in each other. I had their cages side by side, but they wanted to be together right away. Juju, the one who was here first, was a little bit territorial (laying down the law and establishing that things were his), but in no way violent toward Moon (the newer bird). It's been a couple of months now and they're still kind of working things out but they are good buddies.

There's nothing wrong with getting a female tiel as Grayson's companion, but you will have to make sure to enact hormone control measures so that they don't get nesty unless you want eggs. Some birds are more hormonally driven than others. I personally like having two males because I never have to worry about this.

It's also worth mentioning that if you get another bird, there's no guarantee that they'll get along. It's unlikely that they would never learn to like -- or at least tolerate -- each other, but you always have to prepare for that possibility. If _you_ want other tiel, then go for it! But if the only reason you're doing it is that you feel bad for Gray, then you may want to wait and see if he's happy as a single bird. That is what he's used to, after all.


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