Hello everyone

[Invisinak]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share a little about myself and my new Indian Ringneck.

I'll start with myself. My name is Charles and I live in the midwest. I've had a few birds in the past including an African Grey and a couple of Cockatiels. I had them for roughly 6 or so years and adored them. However I had to give them up when I went into the military about 5 years ago to a family member and they've bonded with them so well that I couldn't see myself taking them away from their new homes. Recently I've been wanting another bird so I was looking for a Quaker because I've always wanted one but then I came across a posting on craigslist about an IRN that needed a new home. A couple of nice folks took her in as a rescue but found they couldn't care for her the way she needed so I gave them a call after doing a lot of research (on this site and a lot of others) and found that it was just the bird I was looking for. I figured I'd give her a good home since she hadn't been given the chance to be in one instead of buying a baby that would probably go to a good home anyway.

I've had her for a couple of days now and so far so good. she's still getting settled into her new home and I've replaced nearly everything in her cage because the perches were all too big and were just straight dowels so I replaced those with grape vines that she really likes. Next I'll be getting her a bigger cage but I don't want to change too much too fast. her cage was also packed with about 5 very big toys so I took out most of those and left in the ones that were most chewed since they seemed to be her favorites and she seems to be a lot happier.

Now a little about her. I don't know anything about the original breeder but the people that I got her from told me just how she had been abused. I guess it was a younger persons birthday gift(around 14ish) and he didn't know what he was doing. When he got her he wanted her just to look at so she never left the cage and she squawked a lot so he would hit the cage or leave it covered up 24 hours a day. As if that wasn't bad enough he read somewhere that he should clip her wings so he pulled out her wing feathers and then clipped the edges of her wing skin with scissors. When she started bleeding he took her to the vet and that's when the vet stepped in and refused to let the bird go back to him. they found her a nice home (the people I got her from) and they nursed her back to health. This all happened to her before she was even 3 months old.

She's a green IRN and she's roughly 5 months old now. However I call her a she but I won't know for sure until I get the DNA test back to see if she's male or female. It's crazy what just a couple of feathers will tell us about them though. Her name is Emma (unless I find out it shouldn't be) and so far she's shy, she doesn't try to bite me though when I put my hand in the cage to give her food and water but she does cower a lot. I'm giving her a couple of extra days to settle and I'm going to start working with getting her hand tame probably next week. The people I got her from said they could get her out of the cage without her biting them most of the time so I'm hoping that'll be the case for me too or I'll have to start a square one with just putting my hand in the cage so she can get used to it and moving closer everyday.

Anyway, wish me luck with her lol. Sorry the post was so long but I wanted to tell you guys all about her. I can't link a picture of her since I'm a new user but once I can I'll make sure to.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi and welcome

I'm glad that vet stepped in when she did. Well done to you for taking her on. She's experienced a lot in her very short life.

It sounds like you are doing well with her. Given the trauma she has been through, the best gift you can give her is patience and understanding. Certainly you want her to get used to hands as much as possible so she doesn't go crazy when you try to change her food and water. Before putting your hand in the cage, though, if you find she's scared, I'd suggest you start by offering her treats through the cage bars. Offer it in such a way that she has to come to you, because if you shove it near where she is standing she may scare.

There are lots of threads on here already about taming techniques... so feel free to browse!

Lovely to meet you and best wishes for you and little Emma.

Ellie.

[Dixie-1]

Hi and Welcome Charles good job rescueing that poor bird.

[Doodlebug]

Hi, and welcome to you both Charles and Emma

What a great, informative post. You are doing so well looking after her and going to great lengths to see she has everything she needs. She is very lucky to have such a caring owner.