# Well it's got me stumped....:/



## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Well, I have been hand rearing 2 beautiful babies which at first, judging by there 1 inch long tail feathers, I thought were both girls, but now( a week or 2 later), the older ones tail has grown to be plain with no stripes, so now she has a tail which is half plain( as if to be male) and half striped( like a female).
I would post pics but my computer is not currently working, but when it's fixed I'll post some straight away,

Anyone got any ideas ?because I'm really confused.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

all baby tiels have stripes on their tails regardless of gender. males lose the bars with their first molt... you cant tell what the gender is when theyre babies


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Well first...they will both have female markings until their first molt, regardless of sex. So i don't see how you could even judge anything at this point. The only way you'd know their genders now is by knowing the parents and knowing the babies mutations (and that's only if they are supposed to produce gender-specific mutations). Or you can dna test them.. $20 per bird using avianbiotech (u.s.) or healthgene (canada).

I know some people on here know better than i do and there are ways to judge by wing spots, but i don't think tail feathers tell you anything this young. Maybe your baby is pied since some were barred and some weren't. A normal tiel would have all tail feathers with bars.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If the bird has some solid tail feathers it might be pied...then telling gender visually is pretty hard to do.


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

bjknight93 said:


> Well first...they will both have female markings until their first molt, regardless of sex. So i don't see how you could even judge anything at this point. .


Sorry, I didn't know that.

Now, I got the babies from a breeder, but I'm pretty sure the dad was pied,
And the mum was white with grey pearling,

I think the babies are pearl/pied, it's fairly hard to explain what they look like so I'll post some pics,


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

A pearl baby will molt its pearls out if it is male, it will keep the pearls if female. However, if they are pearl pied they will molt the pearls out more slowly if male and can also keep a few pearls throughout life. A pied baby is difficult to sex even after their molt. It would be easiest to sex these by paying attention to their behavior or by dna testing them ($20 per bird).


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Both of there wings look like this


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

This is the older one


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

older one is a pied. the top one, if it has any solid yellow wing or tail feathers it would be a pied as well.


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

This is the younger one


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

both are pieds


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

What about the spots on there wings?


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Here's a better pic of the older ones tail


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

you can try telling their gender with wingspots depending on how many grey feathers they have on their wings....http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=18307

They are gorgeous pied babies by the way


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

spots are normal, theyre too young to sex. we need a photo of under the wing, and the full wing spread for us to even attempt wingspot sexing. but theyre too young to tell gender just by the spots on all the flights and stripes on the tail. all babies have those regardless of gender. wing spot sexing on babies, we need to see a certain spot on the wings to tell you and because theyre pieds, they may be a bit trickier to sex than other mutations


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Is this what u need?this is the older one







This is the younger one


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Here's a better pic







This is the older chic







And this is the younger chic


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Thankyou xoxsarahxox for that link, it really helped, I'm starting to think now that they are both male


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