# Is this a real mutation?



## Coralys (Aug 21, 2013)

I have never seen tiels this color or heard of them.


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## dearblythe (Nov 15, 2012)

i'm 99.9% sure that is a photoshopped picture.


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## Seven11 (Feb 25, 2012)

dearblythe said:


> i'm 99.9% sure that is a photoshopped picture.


Which is upsetting because i would LOVE to have an orange 'tiel. 

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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

the reflection doesnt fully add up with the birds.... fake


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## Baby-Bird (Jul 16, 2013)

I am hoping that they aren't dyed..it reminded me of when I used to own an African Pygmy Hedgehog and there was a community like Talk Cockatiels which I went on a lot. There was a huge problem with some mysterious, abnormally coloured hedgehogs. Breeders were actually dying them. I don't know how, but they did it to sell them for more. The photos which I saw were quite horrifying


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Ugh, they better not be dyed. Animal abuse right there.


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## Oni (Feb 20, 2012)

Canary colouring anyone...?

Not just canaries they enhance with it sadly...

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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Oni said:


> Canary colouring anyone...?
> 
> Not just canaries they enhance with it sadly...
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That is what I thought.







I don’t understand why, or how even, they can do that to a perfectly nice mutation… just appreciate the mutations we have already.


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## Mezza (Feb 19, 2013)

Dodgey! They look like that have been dyed.


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## ollieandme (Mar 25, 2013)

i desperately hope it's photoshopped, not dyed  sad!
did you have a link to the photo, Coralys? if so, can you post it? we're not actually allowed to post photos without links that don't belong to us because of copyright issues.


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## Coralys (Aug 21, 2013)

I actually found this picture from a breeder on facebook. I was just randomly looking through his pictures & saw that.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

What ollieanme was saying is. If you do not provide a link for the photo then it will be deleted because of copyright issues. We cannot have photos displayed on the forum that the posting member does not own, does not have permission to post it, or does not provide a link to the photo.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Oni said:


> Canary colouring anyone...?
> 
> Not just canaries they enhance with it sadly...
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


i guess I'm really ignorant -- what is "canary coloring"? I thought there were normal canaries and red factors. Do they do anything unnatural to the red ones to make them red??

On another note, even if that were a real tiel mutation I seriously hope it wouldn't become prevalent. It's really....WRONG-looking somehow.


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## parrotparadise (May 5, 2013)

In other parrot breeds an orange suffusion like this usually means some sort of liver disease


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

In cockatiels, liver disease is indicated by a green/yellow hue on the feathers, plus a few other signs. Also i don't think it is possible for birds this young to display signs of liver malfunction.


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## Oni (Feb 20, 2012)

Just copied and pasted the first useful page I found 

http://www.haiths.com/Product-Departments/Colour-Food-department/

Seen it done with other small birds via fb pictures.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> i guess I'm really ignorant -- what is "canary coloring"? I thought there were normal canaries and red factors. Do they do anything unnatural to the red ones to make them red??


The color in canaries is heavily influenced by the amount of carotenoid they eat, so canary breeders have a practice called color feeding to maximize the color. It doesn't work this way with cockatiels; their coloring is controlled by genes, although a good diet will produce brighter feathers than a poor diet. Red factor canaries have a genetic element that gives them some red in their plumage if they eat the right foods; this was originally obtained by breeding canaries with a red siskin, which is a different species. 

Color feeding is best done with carotene-rich foods only. There are manufactured supplements containing carotene and canthaxathin (a substance that canaries produce in their bodies), but the safety of the artificial canthaxathin has been questioned. Based on brief research it looks like it might be possible to feed other artificial agents (like food coloring), but this is not healthy for the birds and good breeders don't do it. It's also possible for an unscrupulous breeder to simply apply some coloring to the feathers.


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