# buying a female lutino



## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

i want to buy a lutino cockatiel and i want to know how faded are the horizontal lines under its tale can i see it and tell whether its male or female or do i have to grab the cockatiel and look at it closly thanx :tiel4:


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Hi there, I've heard you can sex Lutinos by looking at their tail feathers. According to that, Poppet is a boy. Just to be sure I had her DNA sexed too and it said she was a girl! And she's definitely a girl considering she's the mother to chicks now. I suggest just DNA sexing the bird. Avian Biotech does it and it's $20 for blood sexing (drop of blood from a clipped toe nail) or $25 for feather sexing (pluck out a few chest feathers). It's very easy to do and pretty quick too.


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## jusdeb (Sep 3, 2010)

My girl Lutino was purchased in the beleif it was a boy , she whistled and chatted away just like a boy then she laid an egg and is also the mother of some gawjus babies .
The fella that determined her sex was a very experienced breeder lol boy was he wrong.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

how do i buy a male lutino then cause i want a male and it might turn out to be female


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

*buying a male lutino*

i want to buy a male lutino but if i ask the petshop for a male most of the time there wrong and they dont know the difference betwen male and female so how do i buy a male lutino someone told me that looking under there tail for barrings isnt accurate in lutino cockatiels :tiel4:


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

What you do is have the breeder DNA sex the bird. You provide the breeder with the sample collection stuff (go to the Avian Biotech website) and pay for the DNA sexing. You'll know within a week.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If you can find a breeder with lutino chicks whose mother is not lutino, then these chicks will definitely be female. 

When the mother bird is lutino and the father is either lutino or split to it, then the chicks can be either male or female. There are some methods for guessing which is which, like the wing spot method, looking at the intensity of the orange on the cheek, or feeling the pubic bone. But these methods aren't 100% reliable. Mims has bright cheek spots and a narrow pubic bone like a male but she's definitely female - she's 3 years old and still has tail bars.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

what can i do to determine if its male or female without dna sexing it


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

To look at the barring in lutino's you have to shine a light on it because the barring is very light. Only thing is, if its an immature male, there will still be barring because immature males look like mature females so be very careful that you don't get them mixed up. You can also watch the way they act, males are more vocal and will do heart wings and such so see if you can observe them for a while before buying one.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

As the others have said, DNA sexing is the only real definite way to know, especially because immature males look like adult females before they moult.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> what can i do to determine if its male or female without dna sexing it


A lutino is definitely female if the bird's mother is NOT lutino. That's the only thing you can be sure of without a DNA test.


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## vimboy (Sep 4, 2010)

*Sexing Lutinos*

1. All young lutinos, male and female have their marks, barrings underneath the tail, spots underneath the wing before the first molt. After the first molt which starts to occur around the 6th month, the male loses the barrings and spots while the female tiel retains them.
2. Lutino is a sex-linked mutation. The male should at least be a split lutino to produce a female lutino. That means, it is indeed true in the previous post, if the mother is a normal gray hen, then you have a female baby lutino.
3. The Male sings, many beats and notes consecutively. Females do shout and screech long singular notes, but rarely if ever, sings.
3. DNA testing.









Some More: Visually Sexing Your Cockatiel


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

does anyone know how to tell the age of a cockatiel


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

*question*

if females have barrings under there wing and under ther tail does a male have barrings under there wings because they dont have barrings under there tail here are pictures this bird is not mine i just found it on google.com i just want to know to male have these barring


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

OK...first off...using and posting someone elses photos is copyright infringement. ALWAYS include a link back to where the photos came from. You can go to your posting and at the bottom of the screen click edit and change or add more info to a post.

Also PLEASE try to keep all your postings and questions into one thread rather than as many as you have done so far. After awhile it will be that Noone will even want to read of look at your thread/postings. Actually you can go back to all your unread/answered threads and click edit and delete them.

If you do not know the age of the bird in the pix's you posted it is hard to answer. ALL tiels when young have dots on their flight feathers, and some barring to the 2 outside tail feathers. What you have to do is know the age of the bird in question, and if under 6-8 months old it is hard to visually tell sex. It is best to work with a breeder that knows the mutations of their birds and understands genetics. If you are considering a bird from someone you can ask if they can have the birds sexed. Avian Biotech www.avianbiotech.com does feather sexing.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

how do i delete i clicked edit but i couldnt find delete


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I sent a PM to Solace, a forum moderator, to see if she can help delete the extra postings.

I was just checking the edit button, and see that there isn't a delete button. I always have to go back and use the edit button because I make so many typos 

Do you have many breeders where you live? You might talk to several and explain what you are looking for. If you do find some birds, and if it is the same breeder, make sure the birds are unrelated. Many times it is better to get each bird from a different breeder, and also make sure to ask that the bird is not related or from the other breeder. Another place you might be able to inquire about finding cockatiels is to phone and talk to the receptionist of an avian veterinarian. They could refer you to someone...and a vet will refer you to someone known to them with nice healthy birds.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

is there any way that i could tell the diference between young cockatiels and adult females


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Not visually, you're going to have to ask whoever has them either how old the birds are or how long they've had them. Males will sing so be on the look out for that. But if you're working with a breeder that wont be a problem, the breeder will know the age and be pretty good at guessing the sex of his birds.


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