Is DNA testing 100% What's happening here?

[archil]

I bought a lovely young indian ringneck parrot a few weeks ago. He came with the name Garry.

I was told he was DNA tested as a male, But I notice some things he does that my female ringneck used to do.

Often he scratches little "nests" into the bottom corner of his cage in the wood shavings,
and occasionally when I put my hand over the top of Him he crouches like a female will.

Do young ringnecks sometimes do this? Is it just something else all together.
He has no ring yet because he's only a few months old I think.

We got him from a very trustworthy place, from people we are quite friendly with So I'm sure they didnt lie about his sex.

We purposely got a male this time because we had a lot of trouble with our other female crouching and clucking every time we went near her, which kind of made her less enjoyable as a companion pet.

 

[Lophura]

I believe in it. Perhaps wait a few more weeks to see if he changes the behavior or perhaps it is one that is unique to this species. The Ringneck Parakeets I worked with were in a flight at a zoo and didn't have have access to wood shavings, so to be honest, I can't say that I've ever seen them do this. Others?

Dan

 

[ParrotLover]

We had our young umbrella cockatoo DNA sexed when he was just barely weaned. Yes, we could have waited to see if he developed the characteristic brown/red eyes of a female, but we really didn't want to wait the rather long time for eye color to develop. The DNA test was correct... the result said "Male" and yes, he is definitely a boy.

He'll be 16 in August.

 

[sarbee42]

Did the breeder give you the DNA results as well when you got him? If not, you could always ask them for the results of his testing.
If they don't have it you could always get it done yourself. Here's a website to a place I've used and know of a lot of breeders out near where I am use as well. :
http://www.accu-metrics.com/avian.php

You can give them a call too and they're awesome on the phone! Usually takes about 2 weeks to get results back from them. Cost me $13.95 CAD (taxes included) per bird to do it. They'll even send you a kit in the mail. They say on their main page that they have testing centres all over North American so they should be able to tell you where the closest one is for you. And no I'm not advertising for them.. LOL. Just really had a good experience with them!

 

[archil]

Did the breeder give you the DNA results as well when you got him? If not, you could always ask them for the results of his testing.
If they don't have it you could always get it done yourself. Here's a website to a place I've used and know of a lot of breeders out near where I am use as well. :
http://www.accu-metrics.com/avian.php

You can give them a call too and they're awesome on the phone! Usually takes about 2 weeks to get results back from them. Cost me $13.95 CAD (taxes included) per bird to do it. They'll even send you a kit in the mail. They say on their main page that they have testing centres all over North American so they should be able to tell you where the closest one is for you. And no I'm not advertising for them.. LOL. Just really had a good experience with them!

I live in New Zealand so there probably wont be any of those in my area, hah. I don't think we'll get Garry dna tested again, he's either going to be a boy or a girl, if he's a girl, we can sell him for more when he's older than if we sell him now anyway.

We bought him from a pet store, so we didn't have any contact with the breeder, but it's a well known respected store, and the people there know us well and are friendly, so the only reason would be a mistake with the breeders information, like a mix up or something, we saw on the file on the computer that they had written him down as a male.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway

We had our young umbrella cockatoo DNA sexed when he was just barely weaned. Yes, we could have waited to see if he developed the characteristic brown/red eyes of a female, but we really didn't want to wait the rather long time for eye color to develop. The DNA test was correct... the result said "Male" and yes, he is definitely a boy.

He'll be 16 in August.

wow you must be so attached to that bird If you've had him that long, We've had ours for probably just over a year and I can't imagine having to give them up or losing them. Actually that's why we got a new ringneck, because our other one got spooked and flew away. That was horrible, but you'll have your bird for most of the rest of your life won't you?
I've wanted an umbrella cockatoo for a long time but we're still only full comfortable with small/medium birds at the moment. What are they like, I've heard that they're very affectionate and cuddly, I think I even read one place that they're like very large lovebirds. They always seem so sweet and full of character when i've seen them.

 

[ParrotLover]

I live in New Zealand so there probably wont be any of those in my area, hah. I don't think we'll get Garry dna tested again, he's either going to be a boy or a girl, if he's a girl, we can sell him for more when he's older than if we sell him now anyway.

We bought him from a pet store, so we didn't have any contact with the breeder, but it's a well known respected store, and the people there know us well and are friendly, so the only reason would be a mistake with the breeders information, like a mix up or something, we saw on the file on the computer that they had written him down as a male.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway
wow you must be so attached to that bird If you've had him that long, We've had ours for probably just over a year and I can't imagine having to give them up or losing them. Actually that's why we got a new ringneck, because our other one got spooked and flew away. That was horrible, but you'll have your bird for most of the rest of your life won't you?
I've wanted an umbrella cockatoo for a long time but we're still only full comfortable with small/medium birds at the moment. What are they like, I've heard that they're very affectionate and cuddly, I think I even read one place that they're like very large lovebirds. They always seem so sweet and full of character when i've seen them.

I'm very sorry to hear about your ringneck flying away. We keep the primary flight feathers of our Umbrella trimmed. He cannot sustain flight, but he does have enough lift left to prevent him from getting hurt if he should get startled and attempt to fly.

Oh yes, we'll have him forever. He's a member of our family, and is treated that way. Umbrellas are *extremely* affectionate birds. They will literally snuggle you to death. But they are also loud, demanding, moody, intelligent, and very messy. Owning one is not easy. It's much like having a two year old child that never grows up. Many cockatoos end up being abused. An abused bird will start plucking it's own feathers out. The saddest part is that the owners typically don't even know that they're abusing their bird. Umbrellas are extremely social and intelligent. Buying a cockatoo and leaving it by itself in a cage with no interaction *is* abuse. They literally must be treated like a child. If you wouldn't consider doing something to a 2 year old child, you shouldn't do it to a cockatoo. No one in their right mind would lock up a 2 year old child in a cage with no toys and no interaction. Unless a person is ready to care for a 2 year old child that never grows up for the rest of their lives they should not consider getting a cockatoo.

Not only do cockatoos demand daily snuggle sessions, they also need meaningful play time with their human families, a ton of toys and wood to chew, and daily noise time as well. In the wild, cockatoos scream a lot. And they're no different in captivity. Each day, we'll let our bird make noise without interrupting him for an hour. Once he's got it out of his system, he'll only make noise if he needs something.

As long as you know what you're getting in to and are prepared for it, they are wonderful family members.




In the above picture you can see that his primary flight feathers are trimmed. Every parrot owner should do this. He doesn't mind the process at all. Every time he sees me getting out the feather trimming scissors, he holds his wings out for me.




Umbrellas will soak up every bit of affection they can get.

 

[ladybirdb12]

Please, do your homework on getting a cockatoo, and really check out the down side!!! They need lots of time from you, or you could be abusing them without knowing it,
I have one for 17 years (she is NOT A PET!!! SHE IS PART OF THE FAMILY.) My cockatoo Lady is very loving,and very loving to everyone, but it tooklots of time training her that everyone is a flock (human) even strangers.
lol I wanted a two year old for life, I had the time for her, and I did my homework before I got her.
upside, she is the most loving best friend, she is funny, witty, and She OWNS ME lol.
please read the downside, about cockatoos and have a open mind.
cockateils are very fun birds and very loving, but not demanding like a cockatoo.
good luck in finding what is right for you and making the right chose.
here's a site that might help you
birdchannel.com
Many bird owners, that can point you in the right place.

 

[archil]

Thanks guys,

I know they're hard work, I know all birds are, that's mainly why we can't get any more right now we already have a few birds that need our attention, four cockatiels, a lovebird, a ringneck of course, and three little duckies at the moment. We also have two cat's, It takes a couple of hours when we get home each day just to sort out everyone's food, water and houses, obviously not counting all of the loving they need.

And We probably would never end up getting one because of the cost too.
They do seem like lovely birds and of course I would do a lot of research before I'd get one, I enjoy researching about pets, so you don't have to worry about that.

Maybe in the future when my circumstances are right I would seriously consider getting one. I wasn't actually going to get one I was just thinking about it, like, how it would be to have one in the house.


We do usually have all of our birds' wings clipped, but see they were all due to get them re-done just before she flew away, I think the fact that it was a slightly windy day helped her get a little lift. Yes but now we will be getting them clipped much more often. that's very handy that he holds out his wings for you. I've clipped my lovebird's wings a few times, because she is the most placid and easy to handle [she so easy to handle that its actually difficult to not handle her] and even that was a bit of a mission, probably only for me though, I'm always super scared of hurting them or squishing them.

 

[BirdLadyToo]

I bought a lovely young indian ringneck parrot a few weeks ago. He came with the name Garry.


I was told he was DNA tested as a male, But I notice some things he does that my female ringneck used to do.


Often he scratches little "nests" into the bottom corner of his cage in the wood shavings,

and occasionally when I put my hand over the top of Him he crouches like a female will.

Do young ringnecks sometimes do this? Is it just something else all together.

He has no ring yet because he's only a few months old I think.

We got him from a very trustworthy place, from people we are quite friendly with So I'm sure they didnt lie about his sex.


We purposely got a male this time because we had a lot of trouble with our other female crouching and clucking every time we went near her, which kind of made her less enjoyable as a companion pet.

The place you bought him from should of provided you with the DNA certificate. Is he banded? All of my results via avian biotech are available for at least a year I believe....online. Any surgical sexing I have done are tattooed and although those don't come with an individual cert I do make copies.
I would think he is way to young to be exhibiting breeding behavior let alone being weaned at 2 months.. I haven't raised that many ring necks but most of my babies 'root' greys are especially are bad.. They dig and dig. I don't think they know where their going either.

 

[Magic Birdie]

I read this book once that had tests on the accuracy of DNA testing on birds. They are extremely accurate according to the tests they did.

Maybe what your bird is doing has something to do with how two birds of the same gender will "mate" and if they are female they will lay eggs on their own. I don't really know