# Male vs female cockatiels



## Sparky04 (Oct 21, 2011)

So.... I fell in love with a tiel, but when "she" was DNA sexed, turns out "she" was a "he". Now I don't know what to do... I know there's no guarantee they'll even like each other, let alone breed, but I worry that if I get a male, he and Sparky (my female tiel) might breed. Now while I'm trying to figure out what I want to do about that, I'd greatly appreciate it if you guys would tell me the general personality differences between males and females. From what I've read, females tend to be sweeter and cuddlier, while males tend to be louder, more talkative, but not as cuddly. Also I heard males tend to become uncuddly when they're adults. I know that each tiel has it's own personality and they differ (hey, Sparky is nothing like the "typical" female tiel), but in general, what's the difference between males and females persoanlity wise? How common is it that a male will "change" when he reaches adulthood? To tell the truth a female sounds more appealing to me and then I'd have no worries about baby tiels...I like the idea of a calm, cuddly bird. The male I really like now is a nice bird, but I'm just not sure... I'd very much so appreciate some advice. Thank you.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

theyre all different personalities. i find some males dont go through the teen stage and some do, i think that depends on the tiel. i know a lot of people who have and im one of them lol and males can be just as cuddly when adults, that doesnt really change, its more they can be nippier and more moody

as for breeding, the long nights treatment is pretty effective to prevent breeding. also never give them a nest box or anything like a nest box. long nights treatment, you cover their cage 12-14 hours a night. it tricks them into thinking its winter and they wont want to raise young. mind you, there is the odd pair who doesnt seem to understand that... lol 


the long nights treatment and no nest box works for my tiels


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

It all depends on the bird. None of my females are as cuddly as two of my males. They are both hand fed though and have been paid attention too more than the others. I only have 1 cuddly female, I think she is because I hand fed her myself. Most of my females are very standoffish the males tend to be more interested in what I'm doing. I also think whichever bird you spend more time with is going to be the more enjoyable. Animals can pick up on favoritism, if you have a favorite then you will more than likely be it's favorite.


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## LucyKemp (Jul 26, 2011)

I have a female, she lets me stroke her completely on her back , head, will snuggle to my face. really cute.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I have an older rehomed male tiel. I don't know what he was like when he was younger, but he is a complete love bug now. All he wants is to be scritched and cuddled.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

LucyKemp said:


> I have a female, she lets me stroke her completely on her back , head, will snuggle to my face. really cute.


Don't stroke her back unless you want a hormonal cockatiel.


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## AMSD (Nov 2, 2010)

I am posting from my phone so please forgive any errors that I can't correct! 

They all have their unique personalities (as you know ) but I can share a little picture of my life with a male and female...

We chose them (or they chose us!) as hand raised babies at a wonderful hobby breeders house and their yet undetermined genders were never a factor in adopting them. They were 8 and 11 weeks old when they came home and are now almost 2 and a half (ish) and came to live with us based purely on the instant affection they shared with us <3

Dexter is the man of the house and he likes everyone to know it  he is a fairly accomplished musician (he takes bits and pieces of other songs and creates his own. I call that Dex's mash up) he can be quite hormonal at times and loves to strut around singing, flashing his heart wings and trying to convince Scout that they should be lovers. He succeeds occasionally but it never lasts long and they have never been nesty or had eggs. Long night treatments do work quite well.
Dexter has a huge personality jammed in his little body and as adventurous, hormonal, independant and cranky as he can be sometimes, he is still a mummys boy and would follow me to Siberia for head scratches!

Scout on the other hand is a cuddle monster. She would live on my shoulder, muzzled into my hair if she could! She is a lot more cautious than Dexter and doesn't rush into new things and likes to watch things from a safe distance before testing things out slowly (she was born that way and named to suit!)
She can get 'in the mood' at times but her moods are much more manageable than Dexters. Scout also has a very soft 'bite' (more like a gentle warning scratch) where as Dexter goes go the kill when trying to voice his disgust at a particular request.

They really are great company for each other (even if they do fight a lot!) and I would not change anything about the whole boy/girl situation if I were to do it all over again  they are perfect to me, even if it does get crazy here sometimes LOL


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I have found that males can be just as cuddly as females, especially in Snowball's case. He is one of those few rare males that didn't go through the hormonal stage. He always asks for scritches and loves to be with us. Jeep is another like him, no hormonal stage and loves people. Fuzzy went through the hormonal stage but has gotten over it and is cuddly again. So it just depends on how much time you put into them. If this baby has picked you then I don't see why you wouldn't want him...


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## Sparky04 (Oct 21, 2011)

Thank you everyone. I decided to get him.


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