[Cokati]

Hey everyone, so I'm buying a cockatiel and I'm preferring an albino. In the video shows a juvenile one about 7-9 weeks old (that's what the store told me) and I have questions :

1 - I've seen other cockatiels with similar age but from other mutations, pieds, whitefaces, etc... that have their crest feathers and body feathers much more grown than the albino here, why is that?

2 - Do albino cockatiels usually have small body shape? I saw 2 pieds that have a bigger body than the albino. They are like 1.5x bigger than the albino in the video.

3 - I don't know exactly but looks like the albino won't be having a bald spot just behind the crest, if anyone can help and confirm it because I really don't want a cockatiel with a bald spot behind the crest.

4 - I'm not seeing yellow dots from inside the wings and yellow bars/patterns from the tail, could it be a male already showing at that young age? I was told they all look females when juveniles. An employee told me the parents were lutino and whiteface but can't remember which one of them was the lutino hen or cock, whiteface hen or cock. I could ask again when I'll go see the bird next week.

However I can change the bird to another mutation if I want to but because I'm preferring an albino, I would appreciate if I could get solid answers from the community about the albino showing here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2RJnc5far8&feature=youtu.be

Please if you can, fill me all details about albinos before I make the final purchase.
I'm asking all this so I could be aware if the store is fooling me into buying the bird, please hope you bear with me!

EDIT : ignore the black dot on the face, this is something the store does when someone reserves a bird so they know which one is reserved. The black dot will disappear in a few days.

Thanks in advance!

 

[roxy culver]

1 - I've seen other cockatiels with similar age but from other mutations, pieds, whitefaces, etc... that have their crest feathers and body feathers much more grown than the albino here, why is that?

Lutino (because this bird is NOT a true albino, one doesn't exist in cockatiels. It's actually a whiteface lutino) tend to have MUCH smaller crests. The smaller crest and bald spot are two things that breeders try to breed out.

2 - Do albino cockatiels usually have small body shape? I saw 2 pieds that have a bigger body than the albino. They are like 1.5x bigger than the albino in the video.

On top of having bald spots and smaller crests, lutinos tend to be smaller in size as well. This isn't always true, I had one that weighed in at 100g, but it is another issue that has cropped up from breeding lutino to lutino.

3 - I don't know exactly but looks like the albino won't be having a bald spot just behind the crest, if anyone can help and confirm it because I really don't want a cockatiel with a bald spot behind the crest.

As previously stated, most lutinos have a bald spot. You're less likely to find this in pieds as they tend to have bigger, stronger crests.

4 - I'm not seeing yellow dots from inside the wings and yellow bars/patterns from the tail, could it be a male already showing at that young age? I was told they all look females when juveniles. An employee told me the parents were lutino and whiteface but can't remember which one of them was the lutino hen or cock, whiteface hen or cock. I could ask again when I'll go see the bird next week.

A whitefaced bird is not going to have yellow anywhere on it's body at all. That being said, about 75% of lutinos are hen, so you most likely have a hen.

 

[Vickitiel]

Such a beautiful baby!

I hope you choose her/him.

 

[Cokati]

Ok, that's good to know. There is one that looks like a lutino with bigger head, crest and body and looks like all feathers are grown. But on his back wings it has grey a little bit and yellowish tail so I guess that's a pied.

But back to the whiteface lutino and about the crest feathers, they are going to grow more right? At least will look something similar like in the picture? I'm pretty sure they are still short as of now at that age.
The bird has already shown affection towards me I guess. When in the cage with other tiels, it just stands looking at me or follows me however I'm moving around. It's like the bird chose me.

 

[Vickitiel]

But back to the whiteface lutino and about the crest feathers, they are going to grow more right? At least will look something similar like in the picture? I'm pretty sure they are still short as of now at that age.

I would say there is a good chance that the crest would grow taller and fill out more, yes. After the first molt the crest may thicken and grow longer. My lutino cinnamon pied Honey has a very thick and tall crest, but she also has a small bald spot. And my lutino pearl Sophie was my biggest 'tiel, with wonderful thick feathering. I think it depends a lot more on how they are bred rather than the actual mutation in regards to size and feathering.

 

[Rhendera]

I recently got a WF Lutino baby and I got lucky and got a boy However he has a small bald spot (it's currently filling in, he's 5months old) and in the 3 weeks that I've had him his crest has gotten more impressive.

Regarding size, my boy is 96 grams at 5months old. However seems like my boy definitely isn't the norm. Just follow your heart! I did. I wanted a male and everyone had me convinced he was a girl (didn't make any sound in the store, on top of that people telling me most WF lutinos are female) but I decided I didn't care about the gender because I liked him so much. Then I took him home and he started whistling, haha! Had a DNA test done to confirm and yup; he's a boy

just my 2cents.

 

[Cokati]

What color are his eyes? I want a male too.

 

[Haimovfids]

Actually, Susanne says it's acceptable to call a whiteface lutino an albino because it lacks all pigment.

The ‘term’ Albino is acceptable to describe the Whiteface Lutino.

I didn't bold it. Susanne did in her article which I got from here: http://www.justcockatiels.net/lutino.html