Sexing a GCC?

[MrSebastior]

From my understanding you can't do this visually, BUT, is there a way to do it by their behaviour?

What do males do that females do and vice verca? Can't you tell that way?
Are there other ways? I'd rather not do the DNA testing due to the cost, might be able to in the future though, but as of right now, I couldn't afford it.

If the guy has had them DNA tested and knows the gender of all his GCCs, I totally forgot what he said in the phone, which are easier to handle? Male or female?

 

[SilverSage]

Both are fantastic pets, I have 2 females as my main pets and they are very sweet, as is a male I am working with. DNA sexing costs about $20 through Avian BIoTech. Give them a google

 

[weco]

From my understanding you can't do this visually, BUT, is there a way to do it by their behaviour?

What do males do that females do and vice verca? Can't you tell that way?
Are there other ways? I'd rather not do the DNA testing due to the cost, might be able to in the future though, but as of right now, I couldn't afford it.

If the guy has had them DNA tested and knows the gender of all his GCCs, I totally forgot what he said in the phone, which are easier to handle? Male or female?

The only thing that I'm aware of that one gender can do the other can't, is to lay eggs...either with the assistance of a male or without, but that doesn't help someone trying to sex a male, as hens can/do mount other hens and go through the motions of mating also.....

There is another way birds can be sexed, though it is an invasive procedure, where an abdominal slit is made and the veterinarian physically views the ovaries or testes and normally uses a medical tissue glue or takes a stitch or two to close up the wound.....with the perfection of DNA testing via blood sample or feather sample, very few veterinarians perform the invasive procedure any longer.....

SS is right about how relatively inexpensive DNA testing has gotten and the major testing labs will send you either a feather collection kit or a blood drop collection kit for free and they even pay for the collected samples to be sent back for testing.....

Like SS mentioned, do an internet search for avian DNA testing and you'll find all of the labs doing the testing along with all their information & pricing.....you do not have to go through a veterinarian to have the test samples collected.....

Good luck.....

 

[SilverSage]

Correct. I do all of my sexing and disease testing from home using a clipped nail. You can also use plucked feathers but that seems more traumatic to me. I use avian biotech. You go to the website and request the kind of test kits you want, in my case, blood cards. The. They send it to you, you collect either blood or feathers, fill out the form and send it in with your payment. They email you the results within a few days, and snail-mail the actual certificates. It is $20-$25 per test, but cheaper if you do multiple tests using the same sample. Couldn't be easier.

 

[MrSebastior]

We don't avian birds here though, just reg. pets, none for birds specifically. But honestly, does it really matter?
I'll just have to come up with a unisex name. Like a some sorta fruit or something.

 

[MrSebastior]

I was just thinking, do female birds masturbate too?
I remember my male cockatiel did a lot, but that's a cockatiel. growing up, my male budgies did too. I don't think I've ever owned a female bird coming to think of it ...

 

[weco]

We don't avian birds here though, just reg. pets, none for birds specifically. But honestly, does it really matter?
I'll just have to come up with a unisex name. Like a some sorta fruit or something.

You are right MrSebastior, too often we make erroneous assumptions and/or cannot or do not understand that "avian veterinarians, veterinarians who see avian patients, let alone avian certified veterinarians" are in the extreme minority and all of us cannot simply run right down to their office to have our bird(s) examined.....in some cases, some of us may not even find a veterinarian within a thousand miles (1610 Km) of our homes.....