# Changing Mates...



## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

I have been trying to find my 2 year old male cockatiel a mate. I found a one year old lutino female that a lady was trying to sell. There is one down fall... lutino female has had babies once with a 12-13 year old male. Will she be ok if i take her away from her mate, even thoughhe is so old? Will she be willing to bond with another younger bird? I would feel bad taking her away if it will create a problem.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

She may be sad for a bit but she will adjust. For males, 12-13 really isn't that old to be honest. I had a breeder in Cali tell me his best breeding male was a 19yr old normal grey. Hens don't normally breed past their 12th or 13th yr but its not the same for males (kind of how its not the same for humans.) But yes, you can take her home and help her to bond with your male. BUT, what mutation is your male? If he's a lutino too, I would not recommend this pairing.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

BUT, what mutation is your male? If he's a lutino too, I would not recommend this pairing.[/QUOTE]

He is a cinnamon. He looks like he carries a little bit of pearl because he has rows of yellow spots under his wings.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

OK then that would be fine...just make sure to give them lots of time to bond before setting them up to breed.


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Are you sure hes a male? Spots on the underside of flight feathers are called wing spots, males lose their wing spots during the first molt and females keep them..... wing spot sexing thread, http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=18307


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

I had a dna test done. Suppose to get it back next week.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

*johnny's wings*

The spots that you see at the bottom of the gray before the white are the spots under his wings. Tell me what you think. I figured those spots represented a little bit of a pearl trait.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Those spots don't have anything to do with pearl, they're related to pied I believe. But he also doesn't have any spots close to his body which I think indicates male.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

Thanks roxy  i also read that another sign of pied is white/clear toenails. Is that true? He has that as well


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No that's a sign of being split to pied, not being a visual. A visual pied has clear tail feathers or flight feathers.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

So that makes him a split to pied cinnamon? Still trying to figure this out. These mutations seem to have a language of their own... lol


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If he's not a visual pied, then yes he's split. As to cinnamon, didn't you say he WAS a visual cinnamon? If he's visual he's not split to it.


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## vinay (Oct 11, 2012)

doesn't he look like a visual pied ? 
Theres a huge patch of clear feathers on his chest .


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

He also has several clear primaries. He's visual pied.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

*Pics of Johnny*

I assume he's just based on what have seen on this website and on other website when comparing him to other cockatiels. When I got him, the owners didnt tell me what color he was. I knew little about cockatiels at the time. Didnt think to ask what color he was. I just knew I wanted him. They had previously gotten him about 2 years ago from a breeder in their area. As you can see in these pics, he has a yellow head and orange cheeks, the color of his body is a brownish light gray. The main area that he shows any white is under part of his wings. He has a tiny patch of white on his back at the bottom of his head/neck region. When I said that I thought he is a visual cinnamon, I am basing that on my lack of knowledge and on numerous websites that I have looked at to try to gain as much info as I can. Im so confused.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

He looks like a cinnamon pied or a pied split cinnamon.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

Well, its official. I got the DNA test results for Johnny. Johnny is actually a girl. It makes sense in a way considerring she doesnt whistle, sing, or talk. Also, I felt her private area about two weeks ago and didnt feel anything "mushy" between her pelvis bones.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> Also, I felt her private area about two weeks ago and didnt feel anything "mushy" between her pelvis bones.


Why would you feel anything "mushy" between her pelvic bones? Birds don't have gentialia the way humans do so there wouldn't be anything there to feel. When a vet is feeling the pelvic area, he's feeling for how wide a pelvis is. Wider pelvises are supposed to be females but not all females have a wide pelvis.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

I felt another cockatiel at a pet store about a week ago after i felt johnny amd thata what i felt. If they dont have genitalia, how do they mate?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

They're vents touch each other and the males secretes seman into the hen's vent. There is no penetration involved. If you felt something squishy in a bird's pelvis it was probably some poop in the digestive tract.


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## animalover (Jan 26, 2013)

I looked at some pics of cockatiel reproductive system. The vent may have been what i felt. It felt like bald loose skin.


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