You must be wondering what does this lutino budgie mean? What are the differences in this parakeet and if you can own one or not? Let us help you in understanding this cute little yellow parakeet.
What Does Lutino Mean In Budgies?
“LUTINO” denotes a condition in which Budgie possesses a yellow pigmentation and this yellow color in birds and other animals is known as “xanthochromism”
Lutino is a mutated specie of a green series budgie with a redeye because of the presence of the Ino gene which causes the pigmentation of the body and resulting it into a yellow mono color.
Lutino budgies have a distinctive yellow color and redeye with pink cere and legs.
What is the INO Gene?
let’s discuss the very interesting Ino gene. This gene in birds is responsible for removing all other colors from the body of the bird and making it white, vanilla, and yellow color.
In the blue series budgie, the Ino removes all the colors of the body and makes it a beautiful white bird that is called “ALBINO” with a redeye, pink cere, and legs.
In the green series budgie, the Ino removes all the colors of the body and makes it yellow like a mango including redeye, pink cere, and legs.
What is The Difference Between Albino and Lutino Budgie?
People are always confused about albino and lutino because both budgies have redeye and one color, but there are many key differences between both.
Both are redeye birds carrying Ino gene and the major difference between them is albino comes from Blue series budgies and will always be in white.
Lutino is a green series budgie and it will always be in yellow. So it is very easy to tell the difference between them. Other features remain the same such as markings, cere color, legs, and feet.
Can you breed lutino budgies?
Lutino budgies are very easygoing like normal budgies and they don’t need any special treatment, environment or feed.
Because lutino budgies are the same in size as normal budgies and eat the same seed mix as normal budgies, many people think that they are very sensitive and they need special handling because of the redeye, however, this is not the case.
If you are planning to make a pair of lutino budgies and wish to breed them then here are some suggestions that you need to take care of:
- Identify male and female because in normal budgies it’s very easy to identify male and female by cere, male budgies have dark blue cere whereas female budgies have light blue cere.
it is difficult to distinguish the gender in lutino parakeets lutino as lutino males will have pink cere and lutino females will have light or dark brown cere, so always be careful in pairing to identify male and female.
If you still need help then you can pluck their feather as a sample for a DNA test.
- If you want to get healthy offspring from lutino budgies then make sure their age should be always more than a year otherwise you will face some problems like early deaths of chicks or unhealthy offspring.
- Keep in mind to not make a pair of siblings budgies.
How Much Does a Lutino Budgie Cost?
In comparison to normal budgies, lutino are uncommon and costly, if you are planning to adopt lutino parakeets you have to pay more money than normal budgies.
Normal budgies will cost you $25 to $30 while lutino budgies will cost you $150 to $300.
Are lutino budgies rare?
Lutino budgies are green series budgies and have to carry the Ino gene from the parents which normal budgies do not carry. This is why lutino budgies are relatively rare than other budgies.
Breeders mutate their budgies to breed Lutinos and this process takes a time of two or three generations to increase their population
Are Lutino Budgies Healthy?
Yes, lutino budgies are healthy same as normal budgies and no specific disease is associated with this cute mutation of parakeets.
They are prone to the same diseases which other normal budgies can catch like fractures, mites, diarrhea, and bronchitis however we advise all pet owners to let them mature before mating as their bloodline is weak before they reach the age of 1 year.
