# What kind of cockatiel should I breed mine with to make the prettiest babies?



## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Hi guys I'm not very educated in this field but I'm very interested in 
Learning all about it so please help educate me!  ok so I bought a cockatiel and im not positive if it's male or female but Im pretty sure it's female. One of her parents where Lutino and the other was a normal grey but she looks more like a normal grey. I'm thinking of getting a mate for her and breeding them just for the experience. Of course I want to make the prettiest babies possible though! So basically my question is what kind of cockatiel should I preferably get to breed her with? & what are the possible combinations of babies I could possibly get out of it? Thank you in advance for any help or advice! :grey tiel:


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## Peetenomax (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi Courtney, 
You know the prettiest bird is the one that lives with you. Breeding pets can be quite exciting. Have you taken a look through the sticky posts in the breeding section? Lots of information on breeding. Nutrition both for the hen & offspring. Hand feeding/handling (for taming them)
What are you planning on doing with the 5 or 6 chicks they could have?


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

You want a male mutt with as many sex linked mutation splits as possible. Be it pearl, cinnamon, or lutino.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I mean no disrespect, but why exactly do you want to breed? Just to make pretty babies? There are already thousands of pet cockatiels in the world, many of whom are abandoned in shelters and rescues because of the overpopulation issue. There is a place for breeders, of course, but i personally think we should closely examine our reasons before deciding to breed. It's also risky business -- a lot can go wrong with the mother's health and the babies. You have to be prepared to rush to a vet at any moment, should anything go wrong, and possibly to hand-feed the babies if the parents aren't doing a good job. Breeding isn't something to be taken lightly.

Why not enjoy your cockatiels as pets for a while first, before making that kind of decision?


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

I agree with moonchild. You should enjoy the company of your tiel as a pet before going into breeding. I accidentally got started breeding, when the eggs my birds laid actually hatched (I had a previous pair whose eggs never hatched so I was expecting the same with Fred and Iris). This was after 2 years with my guys as pets. However, I will say that breeding is an immensely rewarding and enriching experience, despite the incredible amount of work and stress involved.

If your decision is concrete then here's my advice on breeding:

Breed for healthy babies. If you could post a picture of your bird it would help us help you better.

Make sure your bird is old enough

Make sure you do your research (A LOT of work goes into breeding).

Be prepared for the worst (especially for 1st time parents).


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Not just to make pretty babies! I didn't mean it in that way at all. I simply want to breed them because I've breed finches before and I think it's just an amazing process. I really like watching them grow up. I have basic breeding knowledge from my finches but I barely know anything about the genetics that go into it, that's why I was asking for advice on what mate would be best for my cockatiel.


moonchild said:


> I mean no disrespect, but why exactly do you want to breed? Just to make pretty babies? There are already thousands of pet cockatiels in the world, many of whom are abandoned in shelters and rescues because of the overpopulation issue. There is a place for breeders, of course, but i personally think we should closely examine our reasons before deciding to breed. It's also risky business -- a lot can go wrong with the mother's health and the babies. You have to be prepared to rush to a vet at any moment, should anything go wrong, and possibly to hand-feed the babies if the parents aren't doing a good job. Breeding isn't something to be taken lightly.
> 
> Why not enjoy your cockatiels as pets for a while first, before making that kind of decision?


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Oh yes, I definitely will enjoy them as pets for a while but I know in the future that I might want cockatiel babies  the cockatiel I have now is way to young to breed but I love her/him so much I definitely want a second! I already bought a huge cage so they can be comfortable. And now that I'm looking for my second cockatiel I want to investigate what would be the best (future) mate. Of course loving them as pets the whole time as well.


Fredandiris said:


> I agree with moonchild. You should enjoy the company of your tiel as a pet before going into breeding. I accidentally got started breeding, when the eggs my birds laid actually hatched (I had a previous pair whose eggs never hatched so I was expecting the same with Fred and Iris). This was after 2 years with my guys as pets. However, I will say that breeding is an immensely rewarding and enriching experience, despite the incredible amount of work and stress involved.
> 
> If your decision is concrete then here's my advice on breeding:
> 
> ...


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Can you post pictures of your bird from different angles? Of her back, wings, and face? Preferably natural light, no flash. We could help you answer your question better that way.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Can you please post a picture of your bird so that we can identify the splits and his/her exact sex 








to the forum!


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Of course! Now how exactly do I do that? Lol this is my first time ever on this sight.


Fredandiris said:


> Can you post pictures of your bird from different angles? Of her back, wings, and face? Preferably natural light, no flash. We could help you answer your question better that way.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

To be honest, breeding is not for the faint of heart. Its not as easy as it looks and sometimes its more heartbreaking then enjoyable. I'd recommend a vet fund set aside just for breeding, in case of emergencies and you'll want to get in touch with a local cockatiel breeder and see if they'll mentor you, that's the best way to learn things. And there's no guarantee that the bird you get as a mate for your current bird will even bond to the current bird. They could end up hating each other. And tiels aren't like dogs where you can just set them up and expect them to stud, to have a successful pair you need a bonded pair. Definitely go through the breeding sticky and post pictures of your baby so we can help you out.

If the lutino parent of your baby was the father, the baby is a boy. If it was the mother, your baby could be either sex.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> Of course! Now how exactly do I do that? Lol this is my first time ever on this sight.


Photobucket is the easiest way to load up pictures.


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

I'm trying my best ! By the way he/she is only about 4 or five months old


Haimovfids said:


> Can you please post a picture of your bird so that we can identify the splits and his/her exact sex
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Beautiful baby!!! But since we don't know the parents, right now it could be either or.


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Well if they don't bond that's ok to... I'm not using them only to make babies lol they are also very close pets of mine so I won't be upset if they wind up not breeding! I'm attaching different pictures to different posts 


roxy culver said:


> To be honest, breeding is not for the faint of heart. Its not as easy as it looks and sometimes its more heartbreaking then enjoyable. I'd recommend a vet fund set aside just for breeding, in case of emergencies and you'll want to get in touch with a local cockatiel breeder and see if they'll mentor you, that's the best way to learn things. And there's no guarantee that the bird you get as a mate for your current bird will even bond to the current bird. They could end up hating each other. And tiels aren't like dogs where you can just set them up and expect them to stud, to have a successful pair you need a bonded pair. Definitely go through the breeding sticky and post pictures of your baby so we can help you out.
> 
> If the lutino parent of your baby was the father, the baby is a boy. If it was the mother, your baby could be either sex.


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Thank you! Here is a picture of the parents 


roxy culver said:


> Beautiful baby!!! But since we don't know the parents, right now it could be either or.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

OK going by the picture of the parents...your baby is a boy. Mom is a normal grey and dad is a lutino, which is a sex-linked mutation. This means that any girls would be lutino and any non-lutino birds would be boys.


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Oh ok! I swore it was a girl because he is soooo very quiet! Lol so does this mean my best bet would be to find a Lutino female for him to mate with, or? What would happen if I got a cinnamon or pied ect ?


roxy culver said:


> OK going by the picture of the parents...your baby is a boy. Mom is a normal grey and dad is a lutino, which is a sex-linked mutation. This means that any girls would be lutino and any non-lutino birds would be boys.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Gorgeous 'tiels!


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

> I'm trying my best ! By the way he/she is only about 4 or five months old


He is adorable! The reccomened age to breed males is 14 months and for females it's 18 months, your boy will start to molt into a yellow mask at 6 months old. But right now, you have plenty of time to do research on breeding


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well he's split to lutino so you would automatically get some lutino girls from him. But unless he is split to other mutations then getting a cinnamon or pearl hen really wont matter, because you wont get any visual babies from them. The boys would be split to those mutations but none would be visual.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Here is a simple cockatiel genetic calculator, all you need to do is fill in the parents mutation and splits and it will tell you the breeding outcomes 
http://www.kirstenmunson.com/cockatiels/blue.html
As of now, I'm not aware of any splits but maybe someone more expirenced can shed some light


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Awe ok ! You guys are amazing thanks for all the help!


Haimovfids said:


> He is adorable! The reccomened age to breed males is 14 months and for females it's 18 months, your boy will start to molt into a yellow mask at 6 months old. But right now, you have plenty of time to do research on breeding


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

wow that's awesome !! Thank you for this !


Haimovfids said:


> Here is a simple cockatiel genetic calculator, all you need to do is fill in the parents mutation and splits and it will tell you the breeding outcomes
> http://www.kirstenmunson.com/cockatiels/blue.html
> As of now, I'm not aware of any splits but maybe someone more expirenced can shed some light


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

thank you!  <3


CharVicki said:


> Gorgeous 'tiels!


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

oh ok that makes much more sense. thank you so much!


roxy culver said:


> Well he's split to lutino so you would automatically get some lutino girls from him. But unless he is split to other mutations then getting a cinnamon or pearl hen really wont matter, because you wont get any visual babies from them. The boys would be split to those mutations but none would be visual.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Awwwww he's adorable!! I'm really jealous. I'm not gonna see my fids for another month, maybe more since I'm going off to school again


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## CourtneyKay (Dec 26, 2013)

Omg tell me about it. I'm a senior in high school looking at colleges and I literally refuse to live on campus cause I don't want to leave my pets at home it's horrible how bonded I am to all of them I physically can't leave them ! LOL & thank you 


Fredandiris said:


> Awwwww he's adorable!! I'm really jealous. I'm not gonna see my fids for another month, maybe more since I'm going off to school again


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

^^That's something else to take into consideration. Breeding is also time consuming if you do it correctly so if you don't have a whole lot of time, its best not to do it. Anything could happen, I had two days where I was up every two hours feeding a newly hatched baby. And I was in college and it was a lot of work with little sleep.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Yeah I had that same problem...but then it became a question of whether or not I wanted to get my dream education. I love my fids but we'll be back together soon! Haha once I move out into the apartments I'll bring them with me, but for now, I'm going to get my education so that I can spoil them with fabulous gifts down the road!


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

roxy culver said:


> ^^That's something else to take into consideration. Breeding is also time consuming if you do it correctly so if you don't have a whole lot of time, its best not to do it. Anything could happen, I had two days where I was up every two hours feeding a newly hatched baby. And I was in college and it was a lot of work with little sleep.


Agree agree agree. and then you have to either deal with 1) putting the weaned babies up for adoption (it is not always easy to find homes for birds), or 2) new adult birds in the mix who may change the social order of your flock.

My BF let our tiels breed because he thought there was nothing that could be done to prevent it (not true!), and didn't have the kind of time to assist them in the process -- so 2 or 3 babies died, and then the one that survived ended up totally changing the dynamic in the cage, and not for the better (though I like to think it wasn't her fault!)

Pleeeeeeease consider the time commitment and everything else, and also know well in advance what you plan to do if they breed successfully...especially if they have a really successful clutch that produces 4 or 5 viable eggs. If you want to keep them you'd probably have to get at least one additional cage... and if you want to put them up for adoption that's A LOT of birds to find good homes for.

And as someone who has an absolutely beautiful male bird who's also capable of pretty cruel behavior on a regular basis, I hope you know there are much more important things than "prettiest!"

Good luck!


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