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It's a BOY

Yeah - it's a shocker alright! Even the vet thought girl, hips felt widely spaced.

Sooo, what can I expect with a boy? Lots of whistling What about adult plumage? He (sounds weird) has one white tail feather we reeeeeealy love and spots on top of his head - hence the name Stella (Star) And the most important question for me is - what about cuddliness? I heard the males become more independent as they mature Will I lose the cuddle-bug who loves to snuggle under my chin and fall asleep? I hope not.

Yes we still love the little stinker, now we are deciding on a new name

Jo

Stella should keep similar plumage with a pure white face mask. My cuddle bug tiels are my boys, so it is all in how you treat them.

Boys do seem more active, they pace more and will be more vocal.

I never trust the pelvic bone sexing since it is VERY unreliable in young birds and hens who have not laid eggs.

I hope your right about the cuddle- bug!! That's one of the best parts!! Are yours talkers or whistlers? Is it often? The other reason I like the idea of a female is the relative quietness of them.

Jo

My boys, being older, have a few times a day that they talk and whistle, but it isn't often. They are pretty quiet unless they are courting each other or the hen in the cage!! I can get them to whistle and talk by whistling to them, or in Tweety's case, holding up a sock or towel for him to talk to.

While they do make more noise than a hen, they aren't like Sam's Chirp and making noise all the time. You will get more of an idea what Stella will be like here in the next few weeks when he is feeling better. I would continue closing him in the day cage and walking away so he starts to explore the cage and self entertain.

Right now he is very spoiled and that will take some time to break him of the habit of wanting to be with you all the time. I can tell you, that my males are faster to learn a conditioned response to something. Tweety will pace at the cage door and then knock to be let out. They will squak at the sound of the microwave (popcorn), the sight of the pasta pot, and cheese. They will be more vocal about what they want, so now is the time to train.

My males are shredders! Make sure you get some shredding toys right away. Even though you won't get eggs, keep him away from boxes and bags since they will stimulate a hormonal response that is downright mean. Get a set of the olympic ring toys with a bell on the bottom, that is a huge hit with my boys, they will stick their head in one ring and bite the one below and shake it.

Remember, no mirrors for them too.

Congratulations! Just a suggestion for a name: How about Stellar? He is, after all, a stellar feller

Boys can be cuddle bugs too. One of my customers (male white faced teil) is a 'velcro bird". He loves to be with you all the time
I've actuallu tried to work with him to get him to be more interested in toys rather than humans because he is too attached!

Oh BTW it is hard to tell when they are young if they are going to be boys or girls. I thopught for sure "Eddie" was a boy (hence the name) until "she" laid an egg!

Well, if Stella is a boy, then Stella ought to look like this as an adult!



In my experience, females are more cuddly/friendly, but then again I've never had a handraised male cockatiel! And I know that some people feel that the males are more cuddly!

Stelino???

Congratulations on your lil Boy.. I bet you will experience cute new sounds, songs and a new little voice with him..

Congratulations... You'll find if you cuddle him, and he likes it, he'll continue to be a cuddle-bug. Gizmo is mine, and he's a sure enough cuddle bug, but on HIS terms. At times, he'll have nothing to do with me, especially if he's chasing Missy, but other times, he'll land on me, then crawl right down on my chest and I know then he wants to be cuddled. BTW, Missy and Gizmo are going to be parents! Missy laid her first egg for this clutch night before last, and Gizmo has taken over the incubation for the afternoon, but Missy will probably run him out tonight as she did last night. Just what I need... more chicks!

Sam

Sorry to put this on this thread Jo.

BTW, Missy and Gizmo are going to be parents! Missy laid her first egg for this clutch night before last, and Gizmo has taken over the incubation for the afternoon, but Missy will probably run him out tonight as she did last night. Just what I need... more chicks!

SAM - Why are you going to let Gizmo and Missy lay and hatch eggs when you are trying to reduce your flock? Especially when we know that Missy plucks and abuses the chicks?? Isn't that going against what you are trying to do? I think you may need the fake eggs this time since you really aren't in need of more birds since there isn't any demand for tiels with the economy the way it is. Fake Cockatiel Eggs from theeggshop.com Fake Cockatiel Eggs from Bird Supply of New Hampshire

Not trying to hijack this thread, but with Missy and Gizmo having paired off, that will increase the diversity of my flock, which I hope might elminate some of the problems of brothers and sisters pairing off. Realize also that Missy is the mom of all the other kids it still would be too close kin for any of the others to mate / produce offspring, but it will also cause Gizmo to become more mature. This has been an ongoing thing now for about 3-4 months with Missy/Gizmo, and now, Smokey has started mating with Pixie, which would be essentially the same as Gizmo/Missy. Unfortunately, the only "outsiders" of the flock don't have anything to do with the rest eg., Cappy and Shelly. I know it's kind of a convoluted mixture, but eventually, it will work out. Reducing the flock size will help, and create some diversity in the gene pool. I've also considered trading some of the flock with the local breeder, but not knowing Missy / Gizmo's genetic history, it could very easily backfire for both him and myself. I just don't want bros and sisters hatching offspring that could possibly be defective. Contrary to good common sense, I'm more after a flock that has enough diversity in the gene pool that won't create problems.

Sam

Wow Sam - talk about a handful! I have a hard enough time with one, I don't know how the rest of you handle more. Oh sure, after I had Luna for a couple of months I wanted MORE!!! But I waited to see how things would go and am glad I didn't have more. With only 24 hours in a day, that would be a lot of cuddling!

I'll stick with my one little birdie and love HIM only him (for now lol)

Jo

Awwww, congrats on your little boy! You will see, you'll really love having a male! Woody is just the sweetest, so gentle and such a little love! I love how he will sing for me on command, and his whisling and singing is such a happy sound and I just love having that in my home! (even though Ivy hates it!) When males get happy, they really show it, and it's so easy with the wings out and crest all flat and they dance back and forth.....it's just the cutest thing! You will love having a boy! you wait! I think they can be just as sweet as a female anyday!