What to pair my female with?

[Hopie]

Hello! I have been doing research and would like to get a male to breed to my blue female Kailani. She’s been obsessed with my female Dusky conure and tries to get her to mount her and preens her whenever she gets the chance. I’ve hand fed babies before and know the responsibility that comes with it! I don’t know if she’s split to anything or not. I’m in Washington and don’t know of any fancy colored male ringnecks around me but what color could I breed her with to get a variety of colors in the chicks?
Also, what specific testing should I do on them before I even think about letting them breed? Are there any good articles for me to read before I commit to this? Thank you all in advance!
(The red is from berries, not blood!)

 

[Destiny]

If you pair her with another blue, you will get blue babies. Otherwise, you will probably get all green babies.

Since you are not aware of any splits, it is very unlikely that any pairing would produce a variety of different colors. Just all blue or all green.

 

[Hopie]

If you pair her with another blue, you will get blue babies. Otherwise, you will probably get all green babies.

Since you are not aware of any splits, it is very unlikely that any pairing would produce a variety of different colors. Just all blue or all green.

Is there any way to know if she’s split without knowing her parents? I doubt it but I want to ask anyways!

 

[Destiny]

Short answer, no.

Long answer, if you have reason to believe a bird is split for a particular recessive mutation, you could pair them up with a bird that is visual for that mutation. Based on breeding results, you should be able to confirm the split, if it is present.

For example, if you have a green parrot and you think it might be split to blue, pairing them off with a blue parrot would result in only green offspring if they are not split to blue. But if they are able to produce visibly blue off-spring, then that confirms that the green parent must have one copy of the mutated blue gene (split to blue).

But if you have no idea what the parents of your bird looked like, you won't be able to make an educated guess regarding possible splits. You only have the visible evidence, which just tells you that your bird is carrying two copies of blue.

 

[fashionfobie]

(The red is from berries, not blood!)

My parrot does the same thing! Smudges berries everywhere and it looks like a crime scene!


In terms of breeding my best advice is to get in contact with your local Asiatic parrot society. If you know the person who bred your bird you could also ask them for more information about your bird and her parents. It is important to know your bird is a good candidate for breeding, as example make sure you can find a mate that isn't a sibling of hers. Depending on where you live many of the parrots at the local shop may be from the same breeder or the same family of parrots, you don't what to get genetic mutations/disease from incest. Breeding is a serious undertaking and it is a lifestyle choice. You need to know you can support your bird if anything goes wrong, or if the chicks are rejected, or if the nest is abandoned, or a whole range of other complications the list goes on. Your relationship with your bird will also change when she becomes a mum, she could reject you completely during breeding season and focus all of her fierce motherly love on her babies. Keep in mind that IRN are not colony breeders, she will put her family first, especially when she has chicks. If I were you I would get some more direct experience through a society and learn the process thoroughly before taking it on yourself. You need a support network.

 

[Hopie]

My parrot does the same thing! Smudges berries everywhere and it looks like a crime scene!


In terms of breeding my best advice is to get in contact with your local Asiatic parrot society. If you know the person who bred your bird you could also ask them for more information about your bird and her parents. It is important to know your bird is a good candidate for breeding, as example make sure you can find a mate that isn't a sibling of hers. Depending on where you live many of the parrots at the local shop may be from the same breeder or the same family of parrots, you don't what to get genetic mutations/disease from incest. Breeding is a serious undertaking and it is a lifestyle choice. You need to know you can support your bird if anything goes wrong, or if the chicks are rejected, or if the nest is abandoned, or a whole range of other complications the list goes on. Your relationship with your bird will also change when she becomes a mum, she could reject you completely during breeding season and focus all of her fierce motherly love on her babies. Keep in mind that IRN are not colony breeders, she will put her family first, especially when she has chicks. If I were you I would get some more direct experience through a society and learn the process thoroughly before taking it on yourself. You need a support network.

For sure! I’m already in contact with someone who’s a local breeder for conures and love birds and I’m reaching out to another that breeds ringnecks. Still totally just thinking about it as well!

 

[expressmailtome]

Other than using a blue male, the only way to be able to guarantee another color of offspring other than green is to get a male that has a sex-linked mutation. For ringnecks the options are are lutino, cinnamon, opaline and pallid.

 

[Joe786]

Other than using a blue male, the only way to be able to guarantee another color of offspring other than green is to get a male that has a sex-linked mutation. For ringnecks the options are are lutino, cinnamon, opaline and pallid.

Dear if he buys a lution, cinnamon, opline and pallid male then what would be color of offspring. Means female is pure blue as it seems then pairing it with lution would give yellow females and blue males.

 

[expressmailtome]

Dear if he buys a lution, cinnamon, opline and pallid male then what would be color of offspring. Means female is pure blue as it seems then pairing it with lution would give yellow females and blue males.

That is not correct. If the male is visually lutino, then all females would be lutinos, however no males would be blue unless the male is split to blue or was an albino (visual blue an lutino). Without the male having the blue gene, all males would be the normal wild form while being split to lutino. Of course if the male was an albino, all of the females would be albino and all of the males would be blue split to lutino. You would have no lutino offspring. Your only way to obtain visually blue, albino and lutino offspring would be if the female was visually blue as this one is, and the male is visually lutino and split to blue.

 

[Joe786]

That is not correct. If the male is visually lutino, then all females would be lutinos, however no males would be blue unless the male is split to blue or was an albino (visual blue an lutino). Without the male having the blue gene, all males would be the normal wild form while being split to lutino. Of course if the male was an albino, all of the females would be albino and all of the males would be blue split to lutino. You would have no lutino offspring. Your only way to obtain visually blue, albino and lutino offspring would be if the female was visually blue as this one is, and the male is visually lutino and split to blue.

Thanks dear for your guidance. I am new to this lovebird hobby, so do not know much.