# Does eye size of babies mean anything?



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

While I was feeding "roo", "pooh" and "piglet" tonight (a few minutes ago actually , I noticed "piglet" has Smaller eyes then the other 2 "piglet" is normal grey Split to pied (and if turns out to be male Also Lutino), "roo" is Lutino brother/ sister to "piglet", and "pooh" isn't related to either one and is cinnamon Pearl split white face, 

they're all close to the same age around a month old 

and it made me curious to rather the eye size meant anything or not


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## Flappy (Aug 28, 2008)

I wonder if it could be related to gender? My female has huge eyes. Can you notice any gender differences in your flock?


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

the one who has the smallest eyes should be a girl, and the Cinnamon Pearl split white face should be a girl - but that one has big eyes, along with the Lutino who has big eyes


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## huskymom (Jan 17, 2008)

not sure... hmm... perhaps just like when hatching... a day apart is a huge difference... maybe it´s just like it... not sure...

piglet and roo are siblings?... is dad the lutino or is it mom?... if dad is then roo is female but if mom is then dad has also have to be split lutino for roo to be one... and could be he/she and piglet is split to it and most likely male....


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

I have never heard of smaller eyes meaning anything in tiels. I have seen human babies that have smaller eyes aswell


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

huskymom said:


> not sure... hmm... perhaps just like when hatching... a day apart is a huge difference... maybe it´s just like it... not sure...
> 
> piglet and roo are siblings?... is dad the lutino or is it mom?... if dad is then roo is female but if mom is then dad has also have to be split lutino for roo to be one... and could be he/she and piglet is split to it and most likely male....


after Roo was born we found out Bart is Split to Lutino not just Split to pied, and god only knows what else he's hiding in them genes of his lol

and yep Piglet and roo are siblings and the 2 older Pieds I hand fed are thier siblings as well

So sitting in my living room right now I have 4 siblings and one not related lol 

as far as i know Roo and Piglets mom is just Pied 

But I've paired Bart with a Cinnamon Pearl now and if the eggs hatch, I'll see what else bart is hiding from me lol


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

There are natural variations in eye size among cockatiels, just like the variations in all their other traits. Some of my tiels have big round eyes and others look a little more ******-eyed.


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## huskymom (Jan 17, 2008)

if you so far know mom is just pied.. then she si just pied... lutino can be split in females so they are either visual or they are not... which leaves roo (lutino) being a female and piglet (gray) a male and just split to it... and both being at least split pied but I think they are fully pied as mom is pied and dad is split.. maybe just so lightly... 

Maui in my sig is a cinnamon pied female which looks normal other than the yellow crest, a couple yellow flight feathers and a lil small splotch near the rump... if your grey baby has even one dark toenail he´s pied...

the new pairing with the cinnamon pearl... interesting... lets´s see

dad: grey split pied and lutino
mom: cinnamon pearl

female babies: lutino split pied
male baies: grey split lutino, pied, pearl and cinnamon


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> lutino can be split in females so they are either visual or they are not...


Correction... lutino can NOT be split in females. Neither can the other sex-linked colors like cinnamon and pearl. If a female has the gene she has the color, although if you have a combination like cinnamon lutino you won't be able to see the cinnamon because the lutino masks it. A female with a sex-linked color got it from her father, and can pass it to her sons but not her daughters. The sex-linked colors CAN be split in males, and they can get the gene from either parent and can give it to any of their chicks. 

Ordinary recessive colors like pied and whiteface don't have special gender rules. Any bird can have a split, and can pass it to any of their chicks.

There's a great cockatiel genetics calculator at http://www.kirstenmunson.com/cockatiels/blue.html


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

i already use that website  so i know what the outcome of all my pairs will be

I just wish that there was one as simple as that one for Budgies , then I'd be made 

and i know females can't be split to any thing that is sex linked 

the only difference i've noticed with nibbles compared to other pieds (and I know pieds come in a variety of different patterns/shades) but she's more yellow then white 

the oldest two are Pieds - their Marking that isnt Grey is white , most of the pictures i've seen on line they're white where she has white with a yellow over wash or it may all be yellow she doesn't cooperate when i want to look closer

But I won't know for sure until I pair her with a different male next season


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

In the Barrons book "The Cockatiel Handbook" they have a pic of an almost solid yellow bird with just a saddle of gray feathers on it's wings. They called it a Lutino Pied but that can't be correct as a Lutino cannot produce melanin.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I agree with you. That bird was heavy pied. I've also heard of "clear pied" birds where there's no grey at all - the bird looks like a lutino except for having dark eyes.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

[/ATTACH]My "Lutino" male looks as if he has dark eyes except for when I take his pic. To look at him with your eyes you would swear they were dark eyes.He has found the love of his life so I guess I'll see when they go to nest what he really is.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

My Mims also looks like she has dark eyes, but they turn into "demon eyes" every time I take a flash picture so I know she's a true lutino. My dark-eyed birds don't have glowing red eyes in photographs.










The appearance of the eyes varies from bird to bird. Buster and Shodu made ten babies this year including two regular lutinos and a whiteface lutino, and the redness of their eyes is much easier to see.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

My Cinnamon WF hen (Buddys' Girl) is pictured next to him in the second pic of my previous post. She has no trace of red eye in the pic either. Obviously it was taken at the same time in the same light.


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