Should I get a friend for my IRN?

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Kiwi123
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:36 pm

Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by Kiwi123 »

Hello everyone! I have a year old indian ringneck named kiwi who is very bold and spunky, you guys probably know how playful IRN can be! He is constantly attacking/playing with toys. Anyways, I work at a big parrot farm and I bring Kiwi along with me to work everyday and he gets to play with the tame birds that are there. He is absolutely obsessed with other birds, he loves being around them and playing with them. I am going back to school in September and I live in a loft which Kiwi can fly around in. I have been bouncing back and forth on the idea of getting him another IRN or another breed to keep him company since I see how happy he is when playing with the birds at my work. I am just wondering what the pros and cons are of owning 2 birds rather than one and if I should get him a play mate!
AJPeter
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Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by AJPeter »

Double the vet bills! Since being at school would mean your Kiwi was alone during the day l thnk a mate might be a good idea, unless you want to breed them you will have to get a another male, this can prove difficult until they settle down, if you do get one doit at the start of your holidays so you can supervise their relationship.
sanjays mummi
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Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by sanjays mummi »

Well, he won't be able to fly around to begin with, neither will the new one, birds are very territorial, and one could end up very badly injured, I'm not sure if two males would share, if they haven't been raised together. You will be buying twice as much food, and paying twice the medical bills, and you will definitely need two cages to keep them separate at first. When you take Kiwi to work, he is going into another territory, amongst socialised birds,
MissK
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Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by MissK »

Fine point, that Kiwi currently enjoys going into other birds' territory. From our experience, with well matured birds, Rocky enjoyed meeting other birds in general, but I recall one experience when he went to visit another IRN that didn't go so great. He loved the other bird from across the room, in the other bird's house, but became Mr. Invisible when we moved the cages closer together. I'm sure he was frightened.

On the other hand, when Sinbad came to our house, he and Rocky loved each other from the get go, but housing together took a bit longer, most of a year. They were housed side by side and spent that time both insisting that they wanted to be together, but being uncomfortable placed in the same cage, long after Sinbad could be said to really be at home here.

So, while my experience joining two adult male IRNs has been overall quite happy and successful, I do have a sample of just two birds.

While I was shopping for my second IRN I did run into someone who cautioned me that two IRNs are one too many. Maybe her birds were not as fabulous as mine. HOWEVER, you can be assured of twice the cleanup, twice the bills, twice as many cages, at least to start, and probably three times the noise, at least. If you house them together you'll still be running double food and water, in case one gets the idea he owns all the food and water exclusively. If you house them together and there is evidence one is sick, it's back to separate cages while you get things sorted. Just yesterday I watched Rocky drop his banana and travel three feet just to take Sinbad's banana from him. There was no conflict at all, but Sinbad was left with no banana. My point is that even friendly birds may hog the food.

I did expect my birds to learn from each other, and they have. Sinbad has taught Rocky more about being a parrot, and Rocky has taught Sinbad more about living with humans. So far so good. But Sinbad gets alarmed easily, and when he makes his distress call it really puts Rocky on edge. Completely understandable, but I'd class this in the "unfortunate" category. Also, while Sinbad has made a lot of progress in the last year, I don't expect him to become as flexible with humans as Rocky is. While he has a pal of his preferred type (IRN, naturally), I don't think he will place his greater effort in buddying up to me. I expected this, but I would be pleased to be proved wrong.

I think the best effect in pairing IRNs is, as you were thinking, improved social relations for a flock animal. For the good of the bird's social situation I would strongly recommend a COMPATIBLE IRN. However, if the human can't handle two, then both become in danger of losing their home or, at least, their buddy, and for this reason I advise caution.

Since you still work at the Parrot Farm, can you let Kiwi make productive use of the time he has left by pairing him with one of their male IRNs while he's there, and then get that one if it's a good fit? Seems to me you should take advantage of this resource while you can.
-MissK
Kiwi123
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:36 pm

Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by Kiwi123 »

Thanks for the comments everyone, I ended up getting a cockatiel as a friend for my IRN and everything is going great! They are best pals and they even sleep in the same cage together (they have two separate cages but they decided to go in one lol)!
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sanjays mummi
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Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by sanjays mummi »

Very wise, Kiwi was much less likely to resent another species, and don't they look great together?. :-bd
accardi
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Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by accardi »

I tried a IRN added to the cocktiel 2 months next to each other free time on floor irn younger 5 mo chased no stop hoged food so we pulled back apart felt bad for little guy.
Hippie
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Location: Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

Re: Should I get a friend for my IRN?

Post by Hippie »

Hi everyone, I didn't know you could put IRN with other birds :-) Awesome! I love the photo of them together :-)
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