introducing us and bit of guidance needed for site & birds

[browny820]

Hi,

I am Luke.My 5yo boy(actual boy) is Kaden. I live in unit so cant have a puppy that i promised. a work colleage Breeds IRN and conures so i lined one up and promised my son a parrot instead. As this took some time to wait for one to hatch and get old enough, it so happens in this time i was looking on gum tree and stumbled across 2 free budgies and cage etc to good home..Initially i was mostly thinking of saving money on cage but ended up falling in love with them and i got them to a stage where they jump on my finger etc but were still bit nervous(particularly 1)... Just as i had them to this stage my mate says the ringneck is ready and i hesitantly still grabbed it but worried i would over crowd the cage..the day i bought him home he was landing on my head/shoulder and it was like the budgies who were still bit scared rubbed all there scaredness onto (still unnamed dammit)..I clean cage every morning fresh food?water/fruit etc but every time i do this he and the budgies escape and he just wont have a bar of me.. I admit i havnt put in enough time last few days and have read alot of stuff on here but wanted to post my story so i could get spacific help. Each time he gets out i need him back in coz its before i need to leave for work so have been most recently trying to catch him by throwing light cloth over him. after reading today i wont do this again.

A couple of things i guess i really need to know is

-should i seperate the birds or even give to good home my budgies to focus solely on him and start from scratch with a new approach thanks to this site

-should i get his wing clipped

-how can i get him in cage again/ Does he hate cage as he continually looks like hes trying to escape


Ill leave it there for now coz i read about not putting questions in wrong spots but im sorry i cant really understand the way this site works.. How do i ask certain questions in the right spot could someone please help??

My bird is a flyer if i go anywhere near him, hes so scared and its sad and also annoying. where should I start??

I will fill in all the blanks as i go along im a first time user of this sort of site and not the best computer guy

Thanks everyone

Ps ill put up photo of my cage and birds wen i can figure it out

Cheers from luke and kaden

[Doodlebug]

Just as i had them to this stage my mate says the ringneck is ready and i hesitantly still grabbed it but worried i would over crowd the cage..

Hi Luke, and welcome. I dont really think its a good idea to house the IRN with your budgies, they can be quite aggressive and budgies wouldn't stand a chance. Are they all in there together now? Is there some sort of stand you could use for the IRN until you can sort another cage? Just something he can perch on to call his own and to save you having to try getting him back to the cage.

About the wing clipping, its a matter of personal choice really but I think for the most part, opinion is that birds are birds and are meant to fly-if you take that away you are likely to end up with a biter as it has no means of getting away from you if it wants. Yes its sad that he flies away each time but he needs to get used to you and sees you as a predator at first. Patience, and lots of treats is key. Leave them for him if he won't take them out of your hand.

What sort of unit do you live in? Just trying to get a picture of whats practical for your situation.

[InTheAir]

Hi Luke,

I agree with Doodlebug. Budgies, in a seperate cage where the ringneck can't touch them, might be good company. One of the members here has a cage of budgies near her ringneck cage.

In my opinion, ringnecks are not the best childrens pets, so your son and the budgies may end up getting on better. Please supervise any interactions between your son and the ringneck very carefully.

The mechanics of how a bird defends itself is to fly away if it can, if it can't it will bite. If you take away it's flight it will default to bite. The idea that clipping a ringnecks wings will make it easier to catch or tamer can back fire severely. One of our neighbours clipped their ringneck to make it tame recently and it made things way worse, they are regretting it.
But, having a flighted bird is a challenge as far as safety.
If you do decide to clip, I strongly advise that you and your boy learn all about the warning signals that parrots make when they feel threatened. The more you respect what the bird says, the more warnings it will give you before biting.
Mine are flighted, but I have found that when I do ignore their warnings, they give me a soft bite to remind me, rather than trying to hurt me. Respect goes both ways.

Regards,
Claire

[browny820]

ok thanks alot.

i will not clip his wings then.

i was working all day yesterday but i will go get a new smaller cage for the budgies this morn...yes he is aggressive toward them thats for sure. i just thought they would get over it coz he is still a babie.. he does stand his ground alot(well his perch haha)

i actually had a breakthrough this morning... whilst cleaning out cage i let him out and when i had to put him back in i thought id try rolling up a peice of newspaper and slowly lift it to him to see if hed get on that, rather than my finger/hand.. ive been talking softly to him alot and i got him to get on that and he loved to play with it tearing bits off it..

i am just taking on board things i have read on here and gonna let him decide when he trusts me instead of acting like his predator..he has been so good this morning..

anyway i gotta go but ill get some pics and/or some footage on here later if i can work it out

thanks