?? About the sex of my Bird

[angeleden353]

I Called the vet about getting test done to make sure the sex of my BF Amazon and they want to charge me 200.00 I said I don't think so.. Anyone have any suggestions to have it done cheaper.I read you could feel their pelvic bone but I don't know how accurate that is...any help would be appriciated THANKS!!!!

 

[IcyWolf]

That's insane! I would find another vet if they are going to charge you $200 do run a $20 test! Go to this website Avian Services Center: DNA sexing and disease testing for all species of birds. and you can order cards, they are free. they will send you the card in the mail, all you have to do is cut his/her nail a little short and apply a few drops of blood on the card. Use quickstop or flour on the birds nail and make sure to give him a treat You mail the card in and a check or money order, it's like $20 for one bird. And they will mail you the results.

 

[cockatielfan17]

200 dollars?????!!?!?!?! do u think they might have mistook what u said for a different test? or maybe they thought u said surgery dna test u might want to call and recheck anyway there are lots of websites where u could take a blood test where icy already explained and the feather testing where u pluck a couple chest feathers

 

[usamimi]

wow! My vet charged 60 and I thought that was outrageous! Granted we were already pulling blood so I just went ahead and did it to save Kevin the trouble, but 200$ is crazy!

 

[Mitchell]

$200!!! Holy Cow!!! I'd google avian vets in your area and call them all for a price quote, or do like I did and asked my local bird shop where they recommended going to and got it done for a 1/4 of that outrageous price. Hope you find someone cheaper, shouldn't be hard.

 

[roxynoodle]

I ordered cards from Avian Biotech as well, as IcyWolf did. Blood test is under $20 and feather test is like $25. I don't think I even need to do it now as Pete has done some decidedly male things the last few days.

 

[angeleden353]

Well my sister got her for me and the breeder told her that she was a girl but I got to reading so many people being surprised and as young as she is if she turns out to be a boy then it's early enough to change the name. I also read that if the pelvic bone is connected like a V shape that it could be a boy because a female won't be because they lay eggs. I will look into that avian biotech and check it out!

 

[roxynoodle]

If you go to Avian Biotech's website you will see where you can order the cards for testing. They send them to you for free. Then you can enclose the blood sample or feathers and mail them back with the fee. Blood testing is very accurate, whereas I've read the feather test results are sometimes not.

 

[angeleden353]

Well I ordered both the feather and blood test cards so will see which one will be easy for me to get. Hopefully the blood but i hate to hurt her to get the blood so it might be the feathers.

 

[cockatielfan17]

do they accept cash?

 

[IcyWolf]

do they accept cash?

They accept Check, Money Order, Visa, or Master Card. You don't really ever want to mail cash because if something happens to it you have no proof that you sent it. If you don't have a checking account or credit card you can either go to a gas station/walmart/etc and get a money order or you could buy one of those reloadable visa cards and do it that way. That's what we do everytime we order anything online.

 

[roxynoodle]

The post office sells money orders, too. Or give the cash to your parents and let them write a check for you. That's what I did when I was too young to have my own checking account.

 

[cockatielfan17]

ok thanks alot u guys helped alot I was confused about that lol
can the visa reloadabe cards be used by kids? or u have to be 18?

 

[roxynoodle]

ok thanks alot u guys helped alot I was confused about that lol
can the visa reloadabe cards be used by kids? or u have to be 18?

I think one of my friends gave her son one when he was only 8 to teach him how to use credit cards.

 

[angeleden353]

I'm not sure exactly how it works yet, Id say a CC or check or MO is what they accept!!

 

[woubette]

I just did my two green cheeks in November. I ordered the test kits from AvianBiotech and I did the feather test. The results weren't what I expected! Rio, who I thought was a male, was actually a female and Kai, who I thought was female, was actually a male! I was totally wrong about them both! It was quick and easy to pluck the feathers once I got over being squeamish about doing it and it bothered me more than it did them. The trest was $24.50 per bird. Good luck with testing your baby!!!

 

[IcyWolf]

ok thanks alot u guys helped alot I was confused about that lol
can the visa reloadabe cards be used by kids? or u have to be 18?

You don't have to be 18 to use them, I know a lot of people that give them as gifts instead of gift cards now. You just go to wal mart or a similar store and buy them at the register. It's between $2-4 loading fee and then you just have them put whatever amount you want on the card and they can be used anywhere visa is accepted.

 

[angeleden353]

Yes I should be getting the test this week and I'm gonna do the feather test! I just want to make sure while she is young if I have a girl or boy incase I need to change her name lol....

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, Pete has to go to the vet today since he caught Merlin's infection. I will take the test cards with me, discuss his behavior with the vet (I'm nearly certain he is a boy), and see if she wants to do the DNA test anyway.

 

[roxynoodle]

My vet told me today they don't use Avain Biotech because there have been too many mistakes! I thought I might share that with all of you. Don't know if that is true or not, or used to be true. I guess maybe see if you can find any research and make your own conclusion.