Breeding greys with Lutino

[Nibbler]

Hi I'm new to breeding cockatiels but I was told by the shop I brought them off that if my normal grey male paired up with my Lutino female the eggs will not be sat on and also that any babies will die due to neglect. Has anybody paired these up successfully?
They sold me a split cinnamon/lutino to pair up with the Lutino female but I suspect the cinnamon/lutino is actually a hen.
The shop owner said I could bring them back if they don't pair up the way they said they should but I'm attached to them and do not want to "swap"

Any ideas?

I plan to hand raise the babies for indoor pets.

Thank you in advance

[Lady Kakata]

First of all, I'd find a new pet shop.

And a grey and a Lutino not being compatable? I'm a novice bird-keeper granted, and not an experianced breeder, but that's absolute nonsense. If the pet-shop means that the birds will not be fit parents due to their PERSONALITIES that's a different matter, but not being able to take care of a brood simply by colour mutation is the height of stupidity

I'm sorry, I'm angry that this shop is selling birds for the express purpose of breeding. Telling you you can return the birds if they don't pair up is absolute *LANGUAGE*

Birds do not pair up when placed together automatically, the same way a human wouldn't automatically pair up with another human of either sex sharing their house. If your pairs don't match up (and are both female as you suspect with your cinnamon/lutino) would you keep them anyway? Is breeding more important than having companion birds?

Other 'tiel owners, your views?

[Nibbler]

Originally Posted by Lady Kakata

A grey and a Lutino not being compatable? I'm a novice bird-keeper granted, and not an experianced breeder, but that's absolute nonsense. If the pet-shop means that the birds will not be fit parents due to their PERSONALITIES that's a different matter, but not being able to take care of a brood simply by colour mutation is the height of stupidity

Yeah well I'm feel pretty stupid right now
I would say it's somewhere in between. What they are saying is that it is due to the breeding habits of the two colour mutations. With one of them the male is more prone to do the sitting where with the other they like to share the job.

Originally Posted by Lady Kakata

sorry, I'm angry that this shop is selling birds for the express purpose of breeding. Telling you you can return the birds if they don't pair up is absolute *LANGUAGE*

The "pet shop" is actually a family who are lovers of birds and have a reputable business as Suppliers and Breeders of Australian Exotic Parrots and Finch. So I do actually think they probably do know a fair bit about birds in general but I have never heard of this so it's why I'm asking for help.

Originally Posted by Lady Kakata

do not pair up when placed together automatically, the same way a human wouldn't automatically pair up with another human of either sex sharing their house. If your pairs don't match up (and are both female as you suspect with your cinnamon/lutino) would you keep them anyway? Is breeding more important than having companion birds?

Other 'tiel owners, your views?

I have no intention of taking them back. You should re read what I wrote. I have had cockatiels as household pets/members of the family but I have never had "a pair" which is why I have NO idea about breeding habits.

Breeding is not more important... as I already said I'm attached to them. I just wondered if i should get another mate for the cinnamon/lutino with more hope of them breeding.

I would like to hand-raise some babies to give to a few members of my family and friends who adore "Nibbler" my cockatiel who lives inside and who was a baby from my mothers cockatiels.


I am sorry if i offended you or anybody here by my question but I searched the internet and had found nothing to prove the claim they made about the pairs. so thought here I would find out the truth.

My grey male and the female Lutino have paired up and they had a choice of birds thats why I'm not sure where to go from here. I have no intention of splitting them up. Never did!

Thank you

[Lori~D]

Stick around Nibbler - There are others here who can help you - I will move this into the breeders forum ...

[christie99]

Nibbler - The pair bonding and sucessfully breeding has more to do with maturity of the birds and their personalities. I don't breed my tiels any longer, but I have a friend who has sucessfully bred a lutino and a grey together.

Did the breeders tell you that you need to wait until the birds are two years old to allow them to attempt to breed? This is due to the maturity level of the birds. Young birds are more apt to abandon the nest, abuse the chicks, or not sit correctly. It may take several tries for them to get it right.

You stated that you want to handfeed. Will the breeders teach you how to do so properly? It is very nervewracking to handfeed a chick, due to all the things that can go wrong. Do you know that you will have to feed around the clock, and depending on how young you pull the chicks, it may be as often as every 2 hours!

From my expierence on boards, and with my three tiels when I did breed, the color mutation didn't change how the birds sit. They usually split the sitting into 12 hour shifts. The "off" parent may go in the box and help sit, but that depends more on temprature and the number of eggs than anything else.

I'm assuming that the birds you purchased are under 6 months old since you aren't sure of the sex yet. If you don't want to wait, you can go to the Avian Biotech site and get a DNA testing kit. It costs about $25 US to test the DNA of the bird and find out if it is male or female. If they are older than 6 months, you can post photos and we can help to visually sex the cinnimon. Lutinos are more difficult and I would opt to DNA test that one.

[Abby]

Ok colour means nothing. Could have been a way of getting an extra sale in by selling you the cinnamon/lutino ?cock bird. You're more likely to get some great mutation colours out of it wheras if your lutino hen pairs up with your grey male chances are (unless the grey boy has some splits in him) you'll get normal grey babes. I'm good mates with a couple of bird dealers but when it comes down to it they are making a living and on the odd occasion do something I just have to roll my eyes at.

In the mean time if you're wanting to breed the new pair and they are cock and hen then time to start doing research. ABK put out a great book on cockatiels which has heaps of information on breeding/handraising and an extensive section on mutations. I find it to be a great reference book and with so many photos I can show people what their babies may turn out like down the track.

[Nibbler]

Thank you Lori~D, christie99 and Abby. I guess a book might be helpful
I have pet long neck turtles and I brought two different books and the info wasn't really correct so I look on the internet now as well as the books.

They were charging $50 Aus for a small hardcover book. Seemed a really over priced silly purchase at the time. I have only had the new birds for 1 week and 2 days I have not put nesting boxes in yet because they told me to let them settle in first without the stress of having the boxes.

I was told they are of breeding age because there was another one I liked but she told me it was too young.

I am not sure of the birds age to be honest but all would be **definitely** over 6 months of age. I am absolutely positive the grey one is a male. He is noisy as anything loves to echo your whistle I named him Echo He has bright yellow face and very bright orange cheeks just like my bird Nibbler who is a crazy animal! LOL I know Nibbler is a male because he talks- He says his name "Nibbler" and says "Hello Nibbler" and "What you doin Nibbler" and copies the phone and the washing machine beep.
The latest noise though I'm not really happy about LOL he is making the sound of my dogs squeaky toy gives you shivers down your spine. He is so silly, he really makes me laugh so much!
He knows what the word "pats" mean- he will get a scratch and he knows what sweet baby means- don't be a cranky bird. (He gets cranky about going back in his cage and I don't blame him)
He also gives kisses!

Anyway back to the subject I should be on.....
The cinnamon/lutino has lighter cheeks- like the Lutino Hen He/she is VERY quiet but is more friendly than the others. I will post a picture to this message. I thank you for the offer.

As for hand raising them, I got Nibbler just before he had all his feathers my mums nesting box was too small and all the babies were out of the box and mum was worried about them but they all were healthy and it was spring going on summer I got him just as he was eating seed he refused to be hand feed and I gave him lots of choices to eat what he liked. He is the MOST tame bird. His photo is also attached- Nibbler is the one with alot of yellow and grey wings (excuse my Eeyore Pj's ) and the other pic is of him at the age he was when I raised him that is the age I hope to bring the new ones up from. It worked with Nibbler.

Hope that helps?

thank you so much guys

[Nibbler]

Here is Echo -Grey cock
Sunlight -Lutino hen
Donut - Cinnamon unknown Hen or cock??

[Nibbler]

I can't edit the posts and I didn't think I had added two of the same photos I'm real sorry about that.

[Monica]

I'm just now coming to this post. (sry for being late in coming!) I've fixed your second post with photos, too!

I agree with the others. It's BS what the people told you about the birds. I always like to use this example.... when I was about 14(?) years old, I told a Pet Psychic that all 3 of her budgies (two with blue ceres, one with a pink cere) were males. She didn't believe me. All the experts and a-vets told her the "odd ball" of the group was female. Who am I, some kid with barely any experience with birds, to disagree with the experts, after all? A couple years later, we crossed pathes again, and she had to come up to me and tell me I was right! She had attended a lecture about bird behavior, and it finally *clicked.* My point? Even those people, whom appear to be the experts, or are the experts, can be wrong. Which says, that even I could be wrong in something I say!

If it doesn't sound right, question it! Even if it sounds right, look it up yourself to make sure it *IS* right!


Now, as for your posts.... Looking at the pictures, Nibbler was plucked as a chick. He's a very cute pied! However, talking and singing isn't *NECESSARILY* a male trait. I've got a female who can make this whistle that sounds like "pretty bird." I've heard of breeding hens who are more vocal than males. Even a female on this forum who learned a few words. It's a male trait, no doubt, but it doesn't mean a female can't do these same things either.

And when speaking about pieds, the facial colors mean nothing. I have two pied hens, both of which have clear faces! I know both are hens due to behavior and eggs.

As for Donut, I'm not sure if she's a cinnamon lutino pied, or some pied cinnamon mutation. I'm easier identifying tiels in the USA where I'm more familiar with the mutations.... Although I haven't seen many cinnamon lutinos, I don't really think Donut is a lutino. At this point in time I'll say that Donut is a hen, unless Donut is under 6 months old/hasn't gone through first molt.

Echo and Sunlight, looks like you got the mutations right! Sunlight is probably a pastelface? as well which results in the lighter cheekpatch. I can't tell from pictures if Sunlight is male or female, so I'll take your word for it.



So.... regardless of all that... how are the birds?