# Pearl cockatiel it's going to lose its pearling!



## BirdsLover (Nov 20, 2013)

Hi so as the title says my pearl cockatiel is changing its body color and i don't know if this means that it is male or female cockatiel, they in the Pet Shop told me that it is a female but it sings so much and it pulls their wings back to form the shape of a heart when whistling, it also tap on cage bars, food dishes and toys, so please tell me if it's going to be like this: http://www.justanswer.com/uploads/Skydanzer/2006-11-15_195217_Alex_0078.jpg

Pics of my pearl cockatiel:

http://i44.tinypic.com/6qheex.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2cojzgg.jpg


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

All of those sound like male behaviors. A pearl cock will lose his pearls as he matures


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## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Yup, LouGirl is right.

Whether your bird will lose all of his coloring is up to whether he is pied or not. By your pictures, it would seem that he is. Pied is defined as having at least one yellow flight or tail feather, and it looks like your bird has several yellow tail feathers.

My cockatiel is also a pearl-pied, and because of this, he may not lose his pearls at all, or it could take years for him to; pieds don't play by the rules  This may be the same case for you.

He's beautiful by the way  I adore his pearl pattern and his chest colors.


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

gorgeous bird! definitely sounds like male behavior


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

My Pearl Pied male is only 5, and didn't have any pearls at 2 years old when I got him. I never saw him with pearls, but I'm assuming that he only had them on a small portion of his shoulders and that's why they left so quickly.

My Lutino Pearl Pied male will be 3 in April and he still has pearling on his chest and a small bit on his shoulders too.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

No, your cockatiel won't end up looking like a normal grey since he is a pearl pied and not a regular pearl. The pied gene should somewhat slow down the rate at which he loses his pearl patterning. He may end up looking like a regular pied, but he won't become grey all over.


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## BirdsLover (Nov 20, 2013)

Thank you so much for the replies, I wanted my pearl to go grey but since it's a pearl pied it won't go, so i have one just another question for you...as you can see my pearl is male and i have an pied female but i like to buy also an grey cockatiel because i love so much the color, so can i have 3 cockatiels together in the same cage without fighting ?


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

That depends on what the birds decide of each other.


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## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

It depends on the individuals, but you have to have a big enough cage. It should be twice the wingspan of each bird, so for three birds it should be the length of 6 wingspans combined.

If it's a flight cage, perhaps a little bit smaller is okay. But make sure that they aren't crowded, especially if they don't spend much time out of it.

Also, make sure to have another cage (it doesn't have to be huge) to provide for your new bird in case he or she doesn't get along with your other ones. But of course, you need to quarantine for at least 30 days before attempting to introduce them, unless you get your new bird from a 100% surely reputable breeder. This is so any illness that the new bird might potentially have isn't spread.


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## BirdsLover (Nov 20, 2013)

Amz said:


> It depends on the individuals, but you have to have a big enough cage. It should be twice the wingspan of each bird, so for three birds it should be the length of 6 wingspans combined.
> 
> If it's a flight cage, perhaps a little bit smaller is okay. But make sure that they aren't crowded, especially if they don't spend much time out of it.
> 
> Also, make sure to have another cage (it doesn't have to be huge) to provide for your new bird in case he or she doesn't get along with your other ones. But of course, you need to quarantine for at least 30 days before attempting to introduce them, unless you get your new bird from a 100% surely reputable breeder. This is so any illness that the new bird might potentially have isn't spread.


Thaks a lot, that was very informative and good answer


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