IndianRingNeck.com

We went to see a local breeder we met through the aviculture society here and checked out his new babies. We fell in love with all his birds, but we only reserved one. I will refer to him/her as Squidgy until it grows up and a name presents itself.
Squidgy is 5 weeks old, violet and squidgy. Squidgy is being parent raised. Squidgy is very chilled out with humans so far. Squidy mostly likes to snuggle up to anything soft and warm. It was hard to remove Squidgy from my coat when it was time for Squidgy to go back in the nest box.

I will try to visit Squidgy when I can until Squidgy is weaned and ready to move on.
I think Nila is going to love Squidgy! I forgot to take photos for Nila, but maybe when I visit Squidgy next I will remember to.

Do you think show Squidgy videos of Nila, or is Squidgy too young for Internet dating?

Squidgy will be dna sexed soonish, but we had decided a while ago that we would choose the bird that seemed most comfortable with us and not worry about what sex it is because we can't agree on which sex we want.
It's hard to tell at that age, but Squidgy seemed calm around us compared to the others.

The breeder has so many beautiful birds! I think every single colour is my favourite colour!

I'm kind of pleased your bird will be parent raised!

Of course you know, it's going to end up being Squidgy forever.

I think you should show Nila videos of the new one. Rocky likes videos of other birds. You can call it research. And how else are you going to explain to Nila that there's a baby around?

Did Nila run all over you checking you out after you came home smelling like squidgy?

You have to show him pictures otherwise he's going to think you're cheating

Missk, I do worry that Nila will be trying to feed the little one from the moment he meets it, considering how much he feeds the bathroom mirror already. I wonder how he will react to baby videos....
We decided we wanted a parent raised bird ages ago, but it does mean the vet check will be quite scary for squidgy.

Mel, luckily Nila isn't the jealous type. I just hope Squidgy turns out to be as laid back.

Btw baby birds feel gross, even with their little feathers. We got to peek into a nest box of younger ones and they looked like mini freezer chickens with parrot beaks. .. I can't believe they turn out so graceful and lovely.

Welcome little Squidgy to the wonderful world of being described, discussed and doted upon on the IRN Forum!

I agree that the name is a keeper He/she sounds lovely, congratulations.

Squidgy sounds like a spongebob character lol.

If your parent raised is anything like mine, he/she will be super laid back. Hamlet is as laid back as they come. I can put that bird on anyone's hand and he stays put. He will give anyone a kiss. Not afraid of dogs, loud noises, kids running around...he's bomb proof. He has never bitten me. Not once. He never bluffed. Parent raised in my opinion is definitely the way to go. I wish I could convince more people of that here in Hawaii. They all want hand reared birds.

Drat, my phone lost my epic reply. I had written you guys a whole novel.

We are only referring to Squidgy as that as we don't know the sex or name.... yet. Squidgy felt really Squidgy when I was trying to extract it from my coat! it was quite gross actually.... his little claws were holding on so tight, I think he was intending to nap in there until mummy bird turned up with dinner.

From what I have read about ringnecks, briefly discussed with my vet and other experienced bird keepers, it sounds like the bird needn't be hand raised to adapt into a household when it is young. It sounds like they are more prepared for life than a hand reared bird. If Squidgy still doesn't like us after quarantine, I'm sure Nila will show Squidgy how to be a human friend.
We are lucky that Nila realises he is a bird and prioritises birds above humans, as he is a very humanised bird. We really don't want to find ourselves the object of his sexual attention ever! We aren't insecure enough to need those advances from our birds lol

I do hope squidgy will settle in as well as hamlet. It's hard choosing a bird for your bird! Squidgys nest box seemed to have the calmest reaction to us, the one in the next flight sounded like it was full of little dinosaurs! It would be nice if Nila could pick his own friend, but hopefully we have made the right choice on his behalf.

Jen; brace yourself for the influx of awesomeness posts about Nila and Squidgy that will follow. When I visit squidgy and squidgy is less squidgy I'll post a picture, if squidgy likes cameras. Imagine the tricks (and mischief) 2 Nilas can do!

InTheAir wrote:Drat, my phone lost my epic reply. I had written you guys a whole novel.

We are only referring to Squidgy as that as we don't know the sex or name.... yet. Squidgy felt really Squidgy when I was trying to extract it from my coat! it was quite gross actually.... his little claws were holding on so tight, I think he was intending to nap in there until mummy bird turned up with dinner.

From what I have read about ringnecks, briefly discussed with my vet and other experienced bird keepers, it sounds like the bird needn't be hand raised to adapt into a household when it is young. It sounds like they are more prepared for life than a hand reared bird. If Squidgy still doesn't like us after quarantine, I'm sure Nila will show Squidgy how to be a human friend.
We are lucky that Nila realises he is a bird and prioritises birds above humans, as he is a very humanised bird. We really don't want to find ourselves the object of his sexual attention ever! We aren't insecure enough to need those advances from our birds lol

I do hope squidgy will settle in as well as hamlet. It's hard choosing a bird for your bird! Squidgys nest box seemed to have the calmest reaction to us, the one in the next flight sounded like it was full of little dinosaurs! It would be nice if Nila could pick his own friend, but hopefully we have made the right choice on his behalf.

Jen; brace yourself for the influx of awesomeness posts about Nila and Squidgy that will follow. When I visit squidgy and squidgy is less squidgy I'll post a picture, if squidgy likes cameras. Imagine the tricks (and mischief) 2 Nilas can do!

It's at that point that you get your own website and have a daily Internet hour long show called the squidgy and Nila show

Haha! Dave thinks I should start a squidgy taming blog, when squidgy moves in. I'm probably too lazy though.

I think you should just post on your Squidgy thread. I am sure a lot of others with new birds would enjoy. I would be very interested, too, since I have that interest in parent raised birds.

I'll try.
I've been busy reading up on taming and training birds in preparation, hopefully the theoretical knowledge will override the lack of practical experience!

Don't sell yourself short, Super Trainer Claire!

We're all here for you, anyway.

MissK wrote:Don't sell yourself short, Super Trainer Claire!

Agreed! I can't wait to meet the new addition

Ellie.

Some people just naturally have a way with animals. You are definitely one of them!

Super Trainer Claire...has a nice ring to it

Aww, thanks girls. I'm a bit nervous.

ringneck boot camp with super trainer Claire lol

I am personally a fan of the name Squidgy. I'm glad he's parent raised too. If they get enough human attention they turn out just as tame, and as was pointed out, seem to deal with things better.

I'm so excited, it's going to feel like a very long month!
I've just noticed the handles on the wardrobe doors in the bedroom Squidgy will have at first can be unscrewed and replaced with perches, for when Squidgy feels confident enough to perch at seated person level!
I'm sure Squidgy will suggest a new name when Squidgy is older, I think ringnecks are far too elegant for a permanent name like that.

We'll see...Bug's original name was Jali, after a handsome Indian prince in a book I was reading, but he got nicknamed "Bug" (because he was cute as a bug) and it stuck. It actually suits his personality much better than an elegant name!

Hilarious that you're going as far as replacing door handles with perches...must be love

That's cute, jen. Nila is also known as mr snuggles, just quietly.

............ Did I mention one of my dogs answers to "Boo Boo".......

Since we're admitting to nicknames here...hamlet doesn't even know his name He thinks his name is ham

Piglet --> Pig

Hamlet --> Ham

It works.

Yeah, but it shows a laziness on my part that I can't even call my bird by his given name lol. Oh well...ham it is

Btw...I'm starting to think maybe I have a subconscious addiction to pork. Skyes nickname is porkchop

Oh dear, all the nicknames are coming out now... I can't wait for Ellie to join this thread and admit whatever nicknames she has for her two.
Missk, please tell me boo boo is a rottweiler!

Skyes_crew wrote:
Btw...I'm starting to think maybe I have a subconscious addiction to pork. Skyes nickname is porkchop

Are you getting enough fat in your diet, Mel?

Ummmmm....I dreamz of cheezburger

Porkchop - I love it! There's an expression in Australian English "carrying on like a pork chop", for when someone is being silly (don't ask me where it came from, I wasn't born here!) Do you guys say that in the US as well? I'm thinking it might explain the origin of the nickname.

Claire, I think we've well and truly busted the myth of ringnecks needing elegant names

Jen, nope, that one's not ours.... at least not in my area. I could see it as a term of endearment, though.

Skyes_Crew, I eat pork Each And Every Day. I can't have beef and I'm ticked off with the entire chicken industry, so it's pork. Not Complaining!

InTheAir, Boo Boo is actually a sweet little 32 pound mutt. The vet says her Granny was a Pit Bull, though we'll never really know. She has some German Shepherd in her (you can see it), and something bringing down the size, and something that fetches naturally out of water. Heinz 57! (See Wiki explanation of Heinz 57 here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_57) "Heinz Hound", my grandmother would have said. Here's a link to another dog who looks almost exactly like Boo Boo's sister (um.... Baby .....) http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/27178242 Baby's ears are smaller, and Boo Boo's ears flop down and her head is broader, but that's basically them. Of course, they're old now, and most of the black has gone grey or white.

I also like door handles becoming perches. And I think those little "gotta call 'em something" names tend to stick. Trying to get a friend of mine to stop calling his wee daughter "Peanut" for that very reason, poor child! Riff Raff was going to become Magenta if she turned out to be a girl, but when she showed her true colours, it was too late. And Rocky, well, he knew his name so I never got the chance to change it.

Welcome Squidgy. Change it now or let it lie.

Lol, Missk. Your dogs look tough enough to get away with being called baby and boo boo. I met a little fluffy called Buster this morning, it was a sweet dog.


I'm sure there's some tribes that youngsters get an adult name as a coming of age thing. .. earn it through great deeds of bravery or something. .. I was thinking that would be squidgy's way. That's how Nila escaped being known as snuggles.
I'm going to see him/her tomorrow so I will reassess the name. I'm sure squidgy will have more feathers and bones by now so won't be quite as squidgy.
I'm worried that squidgy will develop an inferiority complex with that name, especially since Nila Sa has a nice (albeit female) name.

We have the porkchop phrase in nz too.

Carrying on like a pork chop, eh. Well, I try to remember to give it a spin at work and see how folks like it. Not promising anything, though.

Haha if it goes down well there are plenty more weird phrases here we can share with you.

I just recorded Nila talking and vocalizing with my phone so I can play it for squidgy tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure carrying on like a porkchop would be an insult here in the good ole US of A lol.

I don't think I give my birds nicknames. Nothing really interesting any way. Let's see... Janey gets "Janey" or "Janey Elinor"... after babysitting them for a bit, my mother-in-law nicknamed her the "Queen of Sheba". Charlie gets "Charlie", "Charles", "Charlie Parker" (I think he was a jazz musician?)... so nothing too exciting. My mother-in-law thought it was funny that we called Charlie, Charles because she thought it coupled well with her nickname of "Queen of Sheba" for Janey - the "Queen" and "Charles".

Janey, however, I think is a narcissist at heart - which may explain her behaviour. For the longest time, I think she thought "Janey" just meant "come here". When she wanted us to come, she'd start calling "Janey, Janey" at the top of her lungs. It actually was rather cute

Ellie.

I do think the queen rather suits Janey as a nickname!

Squidgy has heaps of feathers now and doesn't feel so squishy! S/he is turning into a beautiful little bird. The name squidgy is no longer suitable if s/he had gone toilet on me I would've kept the name though!
I'm sure it will get a new name when it comes home, unless it does something memorable when it starts coming out of the box and gets a name from the breeder.

Photos coming soon, when my technical team sort it out


Ps I want a whole massive aviary full of different colored irns now!

Skyes_Crew, I eat pork Each And Every Day.

Missk!

Ash

Can't wait to see squidgy! But truly I don't like to see baby birds

Ash

Here you go. Behold, not squidgy anymore!

When I showed Nila the photos he started boy dancing and tried to feed my phone. When I showed him the black screen he only tried to feed the phone... When I showed him a picture of him he licked it. I'm taking that to mean he is excited about the little bird and they will be best friends.


Edit; btw little birdy only looks slightly green because we were under a shade cloth that is green.

That is the sweetest thing ever I love baby ringies

I think they are cute when they get to this age! Pretty gross before they get their feathers!

Awwww...... That is really cute! I thought you will be posting a pic of a gross baby. Hehehehe

Ash

The whole naked baby bird thing isn't really my cup of tea either. But little SOFTIE is looking great!

Softie is pretty sweet, possibly because it's still to young to be anymore than dazed and confused when it's out of the box.
It's amazing how quick they turn from gross to cute! S/he was half bald when I saw him/her just over a week ago.

Softie is adorable...takes me back to when Bug was still sweet and innocent-looking...little did we know what was in store for us...

Lol, Jen! I have a feeling that Nila is far too laidback to give us an accurate idea of living with a ringneck. He is so easy, politey screams human words when he wants attention and hardly ever destroys anything (he hasn't even eaten a power bill or a cornice for months)! I just hope he rubs off on little Softie.

This quarantine thing is going to be very hard on the whole family, but my main worry is that Softie will have to be alone for 3 mornings a week. Nila will go to work with Dave, so he will have company but be stuck in a cage. Dave will be able to go talk to Softie for short periods 2 of those days, but on Wednesdays poor Lil Softie will be completely alone until midday! I really want him/her to feel safe in our house.
Any suggestions?

Softie will be ok alone a couple of mornings a week. It'll be good for him and build his character. Leave a radio on for him... Classical music--soothing. My birds particularly like piano music.

Hmm, nicknames.... Boo Boo Birdie is Fats. (Fats hasn't even tried to say his own name... just everything else.) But Camo is Shampoopoo for the time he landed on my boyfriends head in the shower while he was shampooing. He is also Snuggles because his fluffy ring where he sleeps is his snuggly.
I have been thinking about trying to teach Fats that his name is Tom, since I recently found out that that is the real name of Fats Waller... Thomas (Fats) Waller. I don't know if he'd be able to say that either.

Softie sound like a good name... rolls off the tounge...

So.... I thought I'd better update this since I've had a little change of heart.
Dave and I agreed to go for a bird whos sex was unknown. When we first saw what was in the nest box I immediately wanted the lavender one, but then the breeder pointed out it was a hen so I decided to take the violet instead....
Now they are out of the box and flying around I still want the lavender one, especially as little violet is a cock.
If we had taken the violet without knowing the sex, I'm sure I'd have got attached to it and not minded that is a boy. But since I know it's a boy now, Dave and I did some more soul searching and came to the conclusion we really do want Nila to have a girl friend... I did instantly like the lavender one best, so I should have gone with that straight away.
Luckily the lavender hasn't been sold. I feel like I've let wee squidgy down, but Nila will like squidgette better.

I guess Ellie and I will be able to compare notes on how to cope with hormonal girls for the next 20 years

Feel free to tell me I'm silly!

Congrats on Squidgette? I don't think Squidgy will be harmed by your rejection. ;) It will be interesting having long-term owners of females here on the forum, to help those with similar problems.

Thanks, Melika.

See Claire...not silly at all. Always go with your heart

Thanks Mel!
Only a week or so to go before the little one is ready to leave her parents! I'm so excited.

I wouldn't be able to sit still lol. Have you and dave started work on the little ones enclosure?