greetings from new ringneck enthusiast

[InTheAir]

Hi all,
We live in the sunshine coast in oz.
I bought a blue green lacewing/pallid ringneck for my boyfriends birthday in November (well s/he choose him actually) and she is the most delightful little munchkin! she was 12 weeks old when we got her, and the runt. She's still quite small. We had her dna tested and are hoping to get the results soon. She is flighted, partly because she flies up to the nearest curtainrail when she needs to go bathroom and then flies back to us. She's also friendly with new people and likes to be in the middle of a group. We got her an aviator harness so we can take her out and about. She's not very keen on it, and behaves pretty much the opposite of the bird in the video instvtructions. We have given up on the video technique and just hold her and put it on her. We have been taking her on fun outings in her harness so hopefully she will as associate the harness with fun opportunities. She seems abit less resistant to it already... But time will tell. We also get her to put her head through the straps for treats. I'd love to hear about other peoples harness training experiences. She also steps up, flies to my boyfriend when he calls her (and she's in the Mood to) turns around on command and hangs upside down from a finger. She does like to chew the cornices when she's on the curtain rails, which is her biggest vice...
I have read some of the posts on here and its great to hear about everyone elses ringneck antics.
Can anyone recommend any good books on ringnecks or parakeets in general? I'm especially interested in training and tricks.

Claire

[MissK]

Hey,

Check out the post called "Janey and Charlie in Sync".
-MissK

[InTheAir]

Thanks for sharing, missk, thats so cute! We'll have to make her a lil play stand perch so she can do trapeze tricks too! She's just got a mini swing set at the moment. She was keen to do something new this morning so i have been showing her how to take a wheel off my boyfriends remote control cars... She kept running away with the tyre iron though lol

[ellieelectrons]

Hi and welcome Claire (you left your name on another post)

Not sure how I missed this post before... but it's lovely to have a fellow Sunshine Coaster on here. Sounds like you are going great guns with your bird! I can't handle my guys like you can so things like aviator harness are going to be really hard. I do try but I'm only get as far as getting them to stick their head through the head loop - but not keep it there - they're too scared of it! Janey especially, once panicked when it got over her head and started going crazy trying to get it off. After much struggling, I eventually grabbed her to get it off... so that hasn't created much good will with the harness. However, after giving up on it for a bit, I'm trying to practice with it a little bit every day.. so maybe in 20 years, they'll feel comfortable with it on!

I'm glad your bird is comfortable with other people. Ours are not! When they are in a new environment, they completely freak out and you wouldn't know that they are tame birds. They'll still fly to me and land on me; but they won't step up for me and it gets really hard to get them in their cage!

Ellie.

[ellieelectrons]

P.S. My fav parrot training guide is Barbara Heideinreich's DVD "Parrot Behaviour and Training #1" (see www.goodbirdinc.com)

[InTheAir]

Hi Ellie,
I watched that video of your birds that missk recommended. The three of you are so clever! I'm inspired.
I'll definitely have to get that DVD.
It's great to have more ringneck lovers on the coast, most of our friends seem to think we've gone a bit mad since Nele moved in. Lol
We feel so l lucky Nele is such an easy going and accepting bird. We're so glad she chose us!

She's gotten reasonably accepting of the harness, as a condition of going for car rides and visiting people, but she certainly doesn't like it. Btw from our experience, if bird flies to the end of the bungy line it pings back to you... Not fun for bird... It might be because Nele is a bit of a runt (104g), so we are ordering the next size down for her.

Can you recommend a pet shop on the coast which has nice fresh seed? I've been going to the one at wises rd, because they gave me lots of good advice when I was researching what kind of bird would suit us best, but the seed i got from them has a very low sprouting success rate...

Regards,
Claire

[Redzone]

Hi guys! Dave here, the boyfriend mentioned in the above post. Yes, Claire DID actually get Nele for me, though sometimes I wonder

Nah all good there, Nele does seem to have quite an attachment to me, from the moment we went into the breeder's house she was straight up to me being as cute as possible so I picked her. She does turn it on for everyone though, I am very lucky to have her! (well we'll find out if she is a she soon)

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Claire & Dave

It's great to have more ringneck lovers on the coast, most of our friends seem to think we've gone a bit mad since Nele moved in. Lol

Yes, our friends are tolerant but a bit the same!

Can you recommend a pet shop on the coast which has nice fresh seed? I've been going to the one at wises rd, because they gave me lots of good advice when I was researching what kind of bird would suit us best, but the seed i got from them has a very low sprouting success rate...

I don't use a lot of seed, I mostly feed them pellets & fruit & veg. I was buying my sunflower seeds (that I used as rewards) from the store at Weis's road but the last lot I bought from there feel really dusty and I'm not happy with them at all.

I used to buy all my seed from the Mooloolaba store on Brisbane road but that unfortunately shut down several years ago. The prior owner of that store now buys his seed for his birds Best Friends pet store at Kawana/Minyama on Nicklin Way so I'd try them.

I am planning to make a trip down to The Parrot Society's store in Logan (http://www.parrotsociety.org.au/index.p ... amic&id=69) at some time in the next month, so I could pick some stuff up from there for you when I go if you want. They have great parrot toys there too at reasonable prices, and you get a discount if you are a member.

We feel so l lucky Nele is such an easy going and accepting bird. We're so glad she chose us!

That's great! How old is she now? We haven't socialised our birds with people enough and they get terribly scared around other people... I really need to do something about it! At their last boarding experience, the man who bred Charlie looked after them and he would let them out of the cage with his other birds - but he generally had to net them to get them back to their cage - not a pleasant experience for him or them!

Ellie.

[ellieelectrons]

P.S. I joined Sunshine Coast Avicultural Society this year (see http://scas.org.au/). They also have someone who supplies members with seed and anything else. I haven't bought anything from him myself but I would have to imagine it would be of good quality - the members are mostly breeders and they tend to be really fanatical (impressively so!) about giving their bird's a good diet! I didn't know before I joined that some people breed maggots to feed their birds (thankfully, those people don't own IRNs or I might have to consider it too! lol. yuck!).

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Thanks for the info Ellie.
Ewww Our previous flatmate was really good at growing maggots... But not on purpose (or at least not for pets) lol
We actually grow mosquito larvae for treats for our fighter fish...
We are a bit short on seed, so I'll check out best friends next week.
The parrot society store looks great. Thanks for the offer. I'd like to get her some kind of parrot puzzle. Though so far Nele has hated or been scared of all the toys we've got her from pet stores, and loved anything intended for children!
The aviculture society sounds really interesting. We have so much to learn especially about diet. I might have to join too.

We haven't tried pellets because I couldn't find any without soy in them. We haven't shopped around though. We have been giving her mixed seed -minus the sunflower seed- lots of fruit and vege and what ever we have for lunch or dinner if it is suitable.

Nele is about 5 months old, we've had her since the beginning of November. The breeder said to make sure we handle her a lot and expose her to lots of new people and experiences while she's young, it seems to be working. She's a good first bird as she is pretty forgiving and doesn't hold grudges if she gets manhandled. She's even getting more snugly and likes scratches, which she didn't want a bar of when we first got her.
How old are your birds? How long have you had ringnecks? It must be do nice for them to have each other for company. We have been worrying that Nele is missing out on important birdy social time, I'm not even sure that she's convinced she's a bird.
Isnt it funny how different each ringneck is? When ever someone new comes over Nele likes to land on them and check them out. If they don't like birds much she likes to hang out on them even more, like a cat.

[MissK]

It's just not fair!

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Missk,
That's interesting, and makes sense. I've always found that works with horses.
Nele is more inclined to fly down to their shoulder to and make angry noises and threaten them if they try to remove her lol... probably not pleasant for the victim, but so cute and funny for us... ;p possibly a dominance thing, she never tries that kind of thing when people who are confident with her remove her from their shoulders.

[MissK]

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Claire

I'd like to get her some kind of parrot puzzle.

Do you have in mind what you'd like? Have a look at
http://www.myparrotshop.com.au/
Let me know if there is anything on there that you like. I can't guarantee the Parrot Society will have the same thing but until they get their online store happening (which they've been promising for years), there isn't much else we can do.

The aviculture society sounds really interesting. We have so much to learn especially about diet. I might have to join too.

They love to have new members. Ideally I'd like to try to build a critical mass of companion parrot people so that it can be a little more relevant. Here is their website http://scas.org.au/ The first meeting for the year is in February. I think it will be on 21 Feb at 7:30 pm at the Beerwah CWA Hall.

How old are your birds? How long have you had ringnecks? It must be do nice for them to have each other for company.

Janey is 4.5 years old. Charlie is 3 years old. They are the first two that I've ever had although I did breed peachfaces when I was at high school and uni. We bought Charlie particularly to be a birdy companion for Janey and we were worried that they wouldn't get along. They get along quite well though... so I'm really happy with it. Despite being handraised he took a little while to not be scared of us after we brought him home... but he's good now. If we hadn't got Charlie, I think Janey would have thought she was a person and we may have had some additional problems with her around breeding season - although we have had problems any way! She has really strong nesting instincts!

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Hi Ellie,

I really like this style of toy myparrotshop . com/bolt-on-toys/mastermind-heart/prod_1083.html and this myparrotshop . com/hanging-toys/birdy-plunk-forager-small/prod_784.html . Sorry about the weird format, I keep getting the 'your post looks too spammy' error

There are so many awesome forage toys in there! I want them all! Lucky our local petstore doesn't have a range like that, or Neles cage would be overflowing and I'd be broke! lol

Ideally I'd like to try to build a critical mass of companion parrot people so that it can be a little more relevant.

Yeah, that would be great. I'll sign Dave and myself up for the sunshine coast companion parrot club when it gets off the ground
I'll come along to the next scas meeting, if I can make it too. I read some of the articles on the website, I particularly like the one on wing clipping.

I'd like to get Nele a friend at some stage, but one ringneck is a pretty full time pet at present. Even while I've been trying to make this reply Nele has been making me play fetch.
We have been trying to convince one of our friends who wants a bird that ringnecks are the best and then we could have play dates for the birdies

Did your birds take to each other from the start, or did they grow on each other?
I take it that your going to let them breed at some stage?

Breaking news! I just talked to the vet, and Neles dna test came back as a boy!!! I wonder if we need to change his name now?



Claire

[ellieelectrons]

Did your birds take to each other from the start, or did they grow on each other?
I take it that your going to let them breed at some stage?

I read up on how to introduce birds to each other and I tried to follow that. Ideally, you quarantine them from each other (for a month I think) just in case one of them has a disease. I didn't do that but I did start with them in separate rooms and gradually moved the cages close together. When we first brought Charlie home, we were looking after a friends IRN whilst they were away... and they were in the same room but at opposite ends of the room. I gave them all separate out of cage time... but for whatever reason, Charlie was infatuated with the bird we were baby-sitting - it probably reminded him of his siblings as it was the same colour as him.... and even though his wings were clipped, he was FOREVER flying onto her cage whenver we'd let him out and running away from us!

After our friend's bird went home, I started moving their cages closer and closer together and having the occasional, extremely well-supervised, out of cage play time together.

In this transition period, Charlie fell in love with Janey's cage - granted it was way huger than his was, so I can understand that.... and he would fly onto it all the time when he was out of the cage, which would freak Janey out. One day, they both went into the cage at the same time... so then I decided that the next weekend when I was going to be home most of the time, I'd trial letting them cohabitate. So I spent the whole weekend checking on them, and they were fine... I was scared to leave them alone when I went for work on Monday but they were completely fine... and they've been cohabitating ever since!

I take it that your going to let them breed at some stage?

I don't particularly want to breed them... and my husband definitely doesn't want to breed them... if Janey had been a male, I would have bought a second male (all the advice I received was that two males will get along but two females rarely will and in fact may kill each other during breeding season). We had some problems with Janey last year during breeding season (trying to nest in inappropriate places, chewing through electrical cables, flying at us and attacking us when we were near places that had nesting interest for her, she was a completely different bird) so we succumbed and gave her a nesting box. She laid eggs but they didn't hatch. Our vet has told us to alter her diet so that (hopefully) her breeding hormones won't kick in this year - we will see!

Breaking news! I just talked to the vet, and Neles dna test came back as a boy!!! I wonder if we need to change his name now?

Congratulations! That's exciting news! I have a German friend who's sone is named Nils... that's not too different to Neles (how do you pronounce that any way?).

I'll come along to the next scas meeting, if I can make it too. I read some of the articles on the website, I particularly like the one on wing clipping.

That would be great!

Ellie.

[MissK]

You could also go with Nelson, and keep Neles on as a nickname.

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Thanks guys... It's comforting to know that boys are a bit more easy going. Dave is quite stoked his baby will grow a pretty ring and look even more beautiful. Nele is pronounced like Neil-ah (please excuse my bad phonetic spelling... That's the best I can come up with ) according to bablefish it's the Hindi word for blue.

Ellie, Charlie sounds like he was a most endearing little one. I guess it must be a bit harder to get the second bird as tame as they aren't dependent on humans for company. quarantining would also help on that front... I was just reading up on beak and feather disease and freaked myself out completely!
We have been worrying about whether Nele will want a bird friend by the time we are ready to get one... Now we are just worrying about whether we can find one that is as cool as him lol
Drat, we will have to stop eyeing up Janey and Charlie as potential parents to Nele's future companion ;p
Sorry to bombard you with questions, but here's another. What vet do you recommend?
Regards Claire

[ellieelectrons]

We get yearly checkups at Brisbane Bird Vet (see http://www.brisbanebirdvet.com.au/). Unfortunately my jaw drops every time I get the bill... but he is knowledgeable.. at least it's only once a year! They also have a facebook page which is reasonably active. We used to go to an avian vet here on the Sunshine Coast but he left and was not replaced.

If you are wanting a friend for your bird, I can recommend a sibling of Charlies. His parents are still breeding - they had four this year. I don't know if they are still there but they were at the Best Friends pet store. The man who breeds them is a member of the Sunshine Coast Avicultural Society. Charlie's father will allow you to cradle him in your hand on his back and tickle his tummy. A number of Charlie's siblings will do this too - although Charlie doesn't.

Ellie.

[fionalouise1989]

Hey Ellie & Claire,

I was just thinking about vets, the one that you go into Chermside (Brisbane Vet) has trained a vet that works in Macgregor which is a bit further than Chermside but also cheaper!! So I dont know how that works being on the sunshine coast with fuel whether it would be cheaper to go to one or the other. But Ive heard many good things about the one in Macgregor but Im not sure how much cheaper they are though. Just thought Id let you know anyway haha I went to one closer to me but regret it as I dont think he was that knowledgable, so thinking perhaps will try the Macgregor one later in the year.

Fi

[ellieelectrons]

Yes, I've heard that the McGregor one is good too.

Ellie.

[fionalouise1989]

and then i realised youd probably want to go to the same one anyway since your birdies probably have some repore with that vet haha

Fi

[ellieelectrons]

My guys freak out at the vet anyway. It's more that it's closer to home and I use the bird boarding service next door run by his daughter and it gives me an excuse to go shopping at Chermside once a year and he's got all of their health records.

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Thanks for the info. That's quite a hike, you wouldn't want to have to go there often, but it's definitely worth having a good vet. The one we went to for DNA test wasn't super forthcoming with info or advice and I didn't feel very comfortable talking to him and asking dumb, new bird owner questions.

I would love a bird that rolls over and likes tummy tickles, I've seen some cute conure vids on youtube. I thought ringnecks were to dignified to put up with that... Watch out Nele, you've got a new trick to learn...
We aren't ready for another bird yet, and Nele seems pretty content with humans for now, but if that bird has new babies next season I'd love to check them out.

[skibum]

Breaking news! I just talked to the vet, and Neles dna test came back as a boy!!! I wonder if we need to change his name now?

Yes, after reading your description of Nele's behaviour I am not surprised. Females are generally much more one-person birds. I have previously two males and they were great with everybody, adn one in particular ran or flew to the most interesting thing he could see. However I have now ended up with a female (Spud) - and probably the boss of her clutch - and she is a nightmare with other people. Females in particular. She just screams when they come around. She also bites females - humans that is.
However......she does love cuddles and will be cuddled by my wife as well. She would be cuddled all day if she could.
If only I could stop the screeching

Anyway, we have bought what we think is a boy to keep her company. Dave. Hopefully he will make her a little more sociable, so long as he doesn't learn her screeching!!

[ellieelectrons]

The one we went to for DNA test wasn't super forthcoming with info or advice and I didn't feel very comfortable talking to him and asking dumb, new bird owner questions.

Adrian spends half the visit talking to you about how best to care for your bird and he encourages questions.

Ellie.

[Redzone]

Cool he sounds like the kind of vet you want! But after discovering he only opens monday to friday that could make it difficult to see him, maybe nambour show holiday for a yearly checkup! (lol)

Nele's latest development, he seems to poop when you say the word TOILET!

[ellieelectrons]

That's cool! Sound like he can be toilet trained!

I try to remember to say the words, "bombs away!" when they go, hoping that they'll try to mimic me and say it when they go - it hasn't worked yet though! lol. I saw a parrot doing that on youtube somewhere and thought that might be cute.

Ellie

[InTheAir]

Hahaha bombs away would have been a good choice of words as the don't frequently come up in conversation... It's a bit unfortunate when i mention the toilet while Nele is on Daves shoulder lol

[MissK]

O.M.G.

That is so funny, but I guess Dave doesn't think so.

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Hey Ellie and Fi. How did you guys fare in the storms on the weekend?

[InTheAir]

MissK, i think he's so proud of his baby he can overlook it lol.

[MissK]

My dogs are trained to do their business on command - I WAIT for the day this becomes a social tool for me.

-MissK

[fionalouise1989]

Hey Claire,
Thankfully we only lost power for a day. No flooding near us normally doesnt flood where we are. A few relatives got very close to getting flooded in eagleby the water came up to their drive way but it peaked then receded so all good here. Thoughts are with the people at Bundaberg and Gladstone at the moment they have a big job ahead of them How about you? All safe?
Fi

[ellieelectrons]

We were fine, although plenty of tree branches down and trees uprooted in our area. The winds were a bit on the scary side for us. I know others haven't fared as well. I hope you are okay Claire.

Here is the YouTube of the bombs away parrot.
http://youtu.be/nSaXk_x2ATs

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

I'm glad you guys stayed dry. We were fine, just had a couple branches come down on the lawn. New perches for Nele