Two One-Year-Old IRNs - Concerns with bonding

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Sweet4Emii
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:19 am

Two One-Year-Old IRNs - Concerns with bonding

Post by Sweet4Emii »

Hello!

I recently got bought two one year old IRNs from the same owner (who got them from the same breeder). From what he told me: they were hand-raised, he informed me they were tame but hadn't been handled a lot since he got busy with school (I'm assuming a few months of not being handled consistently). They were caged together for the 8 months he had them (and caged next to each other with the breeder). And he strongly insisted they be bought together.

When I got them, they did not seem accustomed to getting handled at all. It's been 4 weeks and they are now very reluctantly accepting 'stepping up' but will try to jump off instantly or start to bite if you don't let them down. They seem to really dislike being handled. On the upside, they now love getting hand fed fruits. They currently get 4-8 hours of supervised playtime outside together every day of their cage (their cage is on the smaller side so I make sure they get enough time outside) with 20 minute training sessions 2-3 times a day.

I've had conures, cockatiels, parakeets, and doves in the past but nothing as challenging as IRNs so I've been consulting in a lot of googling. Yesterday I went to my usual bird store and asked for tips from the IRN breeder. The breeder really insisted that I either put them in separate rooms or rehome one or they will bond turn wild once they reach sexual maturity. She seemed very adamant they will either turn wild or start showing aggression towards me it was starting to really scare me.

My question/need advice concerns:
I really don't have enough room in my home to give them separate rooms and I'm afraid they will start calling to each other non-stop. Do I need to start considering rehoming one of them? Right now, they don't seem to be that bonded. I have them in a cage (i think it's a breeding cage) with a middle divider. They bicker a lot over food and usually need at least 5 inches between them or will fight so I don't feel comfortable leaving them in the same cage (mostly since my home doesn't allow for an overly huge cage). But will everything change that much once they reach sexual maturity? I heard a lot about separate cages will help but is a cage with a divider separate enough? I also might start doing one-on-one trainings (the other tends to scream if they aren't let out together.. not sure if that can be fixed) but will they still be okay to be let out together? Will that much time out together (4-8 hours) that cause them to bond? Also, will having two make training them significantly harder/slower? Is only tolerant set-up stage in 4 weeks pretty slow progress?

Thank you so much in advance for you help. I'm getting so stressed and sad about this issue and really don't know enough about IRNs. Any help/advice/thoughts is extremely appreciated!
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Two One-Year-Old IRNs - Concerns with bonding

Post by sanjays mummi »

There is absolutely No reason to believe they will turn feral, yes, they need to be kept separate for now, and a divider should be ok, are they male?, female? Or a pair?, but letting them out separately is a very good idea, if they bicker over food, give them their own food in their separate compartments. It takes time to bond with a human caregiver, and equally with each other. They will sort out their heirarchy and differences in their own way.
Sweet4Emii
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:19 am

Re: Two One-Year-Old IRNs - Concerns with bonding

Post by Sweet4Emii »

Thank you so much for the reply! I was told they are a male and female and so far I don't notice one being overly dominate over the other. Will their genders affect how strong their bond will be? And I'm glad the divider will work! That's a great relief to hear!
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Two One-Year-Old IRNs - Concerns with bonding

Post by sanjays mummi »

They should become a bonded pair, and may eventually breed, I'm no expert, or breeder, so you will need to read threads on here when the time comes, I believe they share parental responsibility, I think it depends on environmental factors too, generally speaking, animals don't breed if their environment isn't right for it.
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