Importan Question

mafa_loureiro · Post by **mafa_loureiro** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:09 am

Hello

I came cross an Indian Ring Neck for adoption. He (or she) is 1 year old, the reason for the adoption (sale) is, according to the current owner, the constant screaming (it seems to be impossible to live with), he is affectionate with the male owner but not with female one. He has been hand raised. In my country, Portugal, the general assumption is that ring necks do no make good pets (especially females), they always become agressive as they grow up. That is why I have decided to make an online research and came across this website. Here I found out that apparently these are all myths and actually, all ring necks have this period of agressiveness that disappear if well handled. My question is: is it too late to change the screaming and bitting behaviour? Should I risk an adoption? He seems to have also a trauma, he has fled sometime ago and have been in a tree top for over a week. That has been when the sreaming all day long, began. I have two other birds: an Ara Nobilis and a Weddell's Conure, both loving birds and very gentle. I would like to know your opinions.

Thanks for the help!

Bella · Post by **Bella** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:22 am

It is possible that the owner promotes the screaming from this bird like shouting at him/her telling him/her to be quiet all interaction and attention would make the bird scream more because it probably likes it. If you were to adopt this bird you would have to ignore the screaming no talking to him/her and treats when its quiet. It may be alot of work getting the bird used to you and alot of patience. If you are prepared for the noise and have done alot of research and know what your getting into i think you should go for it but you have to bare in mind that this could take months to stop the screaming. Good luck on your choice and he/she looks beautiful. Hope this helped

ryelle · Post by **ryelle** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:18 am

heh, i made the mistake of shouting at my fid every time he screamed. we just ignore him now, not even making eye contact and hes getting there, he stops screaming after a while. i think he was "wild" when we got him, but hes getting better. havent curved his biting habit yet, but he will talk to us and come to the front of the cage when we call him. hes very sly, and if you dont watch him then he will bite. hes getting good though, has come a VERY long way since we got him 9 months ago. its taken a lot from us both, because weve had to learn every sign of his behaviour and his personality to know how hes going to be that day and how to stop him being bad.

i think its more rewarding this way though, because we and our friends and family, can see how much he has changed. its a lot of hard work though, you cant hide that.

and your an experienced bird owner... which im not

mafa_loureiro · Post by **mafa_loureiro** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:56 pm

Thank you for your kind replies. Could this behaviour be caused by lack of atention from the current owners? Can a change of environment and the company of other birds (very tamed ones) influence a change in the behaviour? Though I have other birds, they are tamed and gentle, though the macaw can bite sometimes, I know he wants to test the limits. But I have no experience with IRN's, and as I mentionned before, in Portugal they do not have good reputation as pets. I feel sorry for this bird and would like to help him for I sense that part of the problem maybe the fact of being alone most part of the day, I have a flexible working schedule which allow me to be able to give enough atention to my pets, even so, I bought the conure to keep company to the macaw. And the fact is that they are very weel balanced birds. My problem is that bringing the IRN home may affect this balance, that is why I asked the opinion of experienced owners/breeders.

freaky · Post by **freaky** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:47 pm

mafa_loureiro, I'd heard the same stories here in the UK. i found one being sold cheaply as the owners didn't have time to look after him properly.

when we got him, he would scream, bite, try to escape and was nasty. the previous owners were scared of him

that was 6 months ago. now he steps up on command, flies to me and my wife, doesn't scream other then when trying to talk to the neighbors aviary birds. he bites if you scare him, but thats with most animals.

he doesn't speak, but we know what he means with the noises he does make.

he is my first bird*. all i can say is i would gladly take on another IRN, if you've got birds and are used to them he shouldn't be any real hassle.

*I've found a blue/gold macaw thats unwanted, as its practically being given away I'm trying to talk mt wife in to it. :twisted:

ryelle · Post by **ryelle** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:23 pm

mafa_loureiro wrote: Can a change of environment and the company of other birds (very tamed ones) influence a change in the behaviour?

i have been wondering the same question, if i got a tame hand reared bird would it influence mine to be more friendly and show theres nothing to be scared of?

it might do, maybe someone else can answer that one. i think the bird is probably screaming and scared because of lack of attention. my fid started getting better when me and my partner got back into the roll of university and work and he was getting enough attention (at first we had trouble with time). i had heard the same as in the UK as Freaky had, that females were bad trouble. a lot of websites give misleading information like that.

i spose it would depend on wether your other birds would be willing to allow another bird into the home and to share your attention with them. although, i think from what ive heard in this post, that any bird would benefit from having you as an owner.

Bella · Post by **Bella** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:33 pm

Well as many people will tell you on here you would have to quarantine the new bird because of passing thing onto your other birds like illnesses and stuff so that would give you good bonding time.

mafa_loureiro · Post by **mafa_loureiro** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:15 pm

Thanks again for your replies. I am really divided in this. The biting problem does not bother me much, being the noise the major issue. My macaw bites me sometimes, so I got immune :lol:

. I love my birds and they are very spoiled. I have the conure only a month ago and they are already best friends, I don't think that there would be a problem there. Of course they sleep in separate "bedrooms" as I usually say, but just because I want to keep the bonding with each one. So they have time together, time alone and time with me. I know, it may seem selfish of me, but I love them so much that I do not want to lose the connection I have with them. My problem is if the IRN gets even more nervous for having other birds around or if he will calm down at all. In Portugal, we do not have adoption centers for birds, people when are not happy with them either re-sell them or return them to the breeders/shops. About the quarantine, in Europe it is only possible to trade birds that were born in the continent, so there is little risk of the birds having major viruses or diseases like some years ago when they were caught in the wild and brought in the EU. In Portugal, fortunately, there aren't any cases of the most deadly diseases to birds, so the quarantine may only be a few days. Nevertheless my birds take exams and analysis every year just to make sure everything is ok.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:17 am

About the quarantine, in Europe it is only possible to trade birds that were born in the continent, so there is little risk of the birds having major viruses or diseases like some years ago when they were caught in the wild and brought in the EU. In Portugal, fortunately, there aren't any cases of the most deadly diseases to birds, so the quarantine may only be a few days.

I'm sorry I don't agree with your comment and I'm not here to cause an argument. But Just because your country and ours (USA) does not allow imports of parrots does not mean that these deadly diseases do not exist in the pet trade. Parrots live a long time and we still have imported birds here in breeding programs and as pets and there is still illegal trading going on that most don't know about and I'm sure it goes on every where. Please do more research on parrot diseases in your country and you may be surprised what you find.

Donna

mafa_loureiro · Post by **mafa_loureiro** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:59 am

You are free to disagree. However, as I live here, have done many research, own birds and have major avian breeders as friends, I can be confident that major deadly diseases to large parrots, at this moment do not exist here. I have done research, if I was someone less concerned about these kind of issues, surely I would not have signed up in this forum. It is extremely difficult to illegally import birds from outside the E.U. and the consequences of doing this kind of crime are far worse in some aspects, than to carry drugs. Of course most of breeders still have birds that have been caught in the wild prior to these restrictive laws. However thay have been here for a few years, to say the least, so any major disease would have appeared by now. If it is impossible to appear at anytime? No, but we can be confident that if the breeder is trustworthy and if the bird looks ok from an expert point of view, it is pretty safe. Of course, a few days alone in the cage, is necessary, not only for any disease but to give the bird sometime to get used to the new environment. But far from the 40 days or 6 months. Regards.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:19 am

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:18077933

Donna

Poochletty · Post by **Poochletty** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:43 am

Hi mafa_loureiro. You sound pretty experienced with birds. And I'm sure you'll make the choice that you feel works best for you on length of quarantine. I'd like to get back to the advice you were seeking:

I am not sure whether a tame bird would positively influence an untame one or not. However, I am trying the same thing with my budgy. I bought 1 hand tame budgie to put in a large cage with 2 untame ones. It has been about 6 weeks and the untame budgies are starting to display more curiousity than fear of my hand now. No miracles yet, but slow progress. So, I think it will depend more on the bird's personality.
As for the screaming. My IRN, Blue, seems to be very quiet. However, he does bark, chatter, screech and growl a lot when he gets into his moods. I think you have to decide that if everything stays the same, can you live with it? If your answer is yes, great... it can only get more livable from there. Kind of a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" situation. From all I see and hear, IRNs are loud birds. They have quiet times, but tend to be very "vocal" A lot of people don't like the unhappy type of loud an IRN can be. But, if the happy type of loud is fine with you... all the better. I actually love the noise. When all 4 birds get going, it sounds like a jungle in my house.

I think it's wonderful that you are researching so well before making your decision.

Good luck.

ryelle · Post by **ryelle** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:11 pm

Right, i might sound stupid here, but you were only talking about avoiding deadly diseases by quarantining your bird... what about non -deadly ones that can be passed on to other birds?

i cant imagine its cheap to take an IRN, a Macaw, and the other birds you have for treatment for the same illness if they all catch one

have you decided any more about taking the bird on?

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:44 pm

what about non -deadly ones that can be passed on to other birds?

They can all be deadly if not treated :cry:

There is not a country in the world that can say they don't have cases of PBFD or Poyoma virus, Pacheco virus,proventricular dilation also know as Macaw wasting disease, Some birds with these diseases are only carriers and never show signs of having the disease.

Donna

Lila_ · Post by **Lila_** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:41 am

[quote="mafa_loureiro"]You are free to disagree. However, as I live here, have done many research, own birds and have major avian breeders as friends, I can be confident that major deadly diseases to large parrots, at this moment do not exist here. I have done research, if I was someone less concerned about these kind of issues, surely I would not have signed up in this forum. "

Hey Mafa

I know what you mean. In NZ we dont have a lot of the really bad diseases because we no longer allow ANY birds into the country from ANYWHERE. Be careful though because its very likely the birds in europe will have less well-known diseases like Chlamydia (psittacosis), so get him checked out before you bring him home. especailly if he was out in that tree for a while where he might have come into contact with other birds or their poop. When I bought my cockatiel I brought her straight home because I knew she couldn't have something like Beak and Feather, and it took me about 4 months to get all the rest of my birds free of psittacosis. real pain in the bum (and the wallet). A $40 vet check would have found the problem in like 3 minutes.

If you take him I hope you're both really happy. Take care not to let him interact with your other birds if you aren't watching them - my IRN thinks shes a hawk and tries to hunt and kill all of my other birds.

They aren't at all like conures or macaws but they're awesome friends. He'll surprise you every day how smart he is.