First IRN

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grimace
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 am

First IRN

Post by grimace »

Hi all, just got my first ringneck yesterday. Saw it last Sunday and it allowed me to stroke its head, so I fell for the little bugger and bought it after some research. She's a female and is already surprising me with her intelligence!

Here's a pic of the naughty gal -

Image

No name yet...she's smarter (and naughtier) than the African Greys I've had, fearless too...always trying to jailbreak and picking up new sounds on the second day.

I'm just wondering if I should get her a partner someday, because I've read that females often bully males. I don't intend to breed, just let her have a companion during the times when I go overseas. She's got NO interest in toys at all and spends time hopping around the bottom looking at me or my other birds.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: First IRN

Post by MissK »

Can you offer her toys with food inside? Can she come out for social time?
-MissK
grimace
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 am

Re: First IRN

Post by grimace »

Unfortunately she's not food motivated. Picks at the seeds/pellets I give her for a few seconds and leaves it. She was on a all-sunflower diet at the shop. I'll give her a foraging toy tomorrow and see what she makes of it.

Yes she comes out when I open the door to get the water & food dishes, but doesn't know how to step up. Bled a bit trying to play with her through the open door. I'd rather have her observe me handling my other birds before asking her to step up.

I'm also a little upset at having to change her current cage, it's big enough for her to poke her head out and I'm worried she might escape through the bars. But cages with less bar gaps are much smaller. I don't like it but maybe a smaller cage may help her step up faster.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: First IRN

Post by MissK »

Hi again.

I suggest you have a look at Pamela Clark's instructions for converting a bird to a new diet. Regardless of whether you choose to follow the instructions, the article is very informative and you will surely pick up some useful tips. http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/ ... anion.html

If Miss NoName is not motivated by food, my thinking is that either something is taking a greater importance than food for her (such as surviving what she perceives as a dangerous environment) or else the food offered just doesn't ring the bell for her. Ask me to do something, anything, for the bribe of broccoli and I may laugh at you. Make the same request for fresh red bell peppers, and you may see action. Additionally, if I've been snacking all day, you may get no action from your bribe because I'm well satisfied from snacks. For me to act you might have to raise the value of the food all the way to fresh melon or even ice cream. And so it is for Miss NoName.

Since you have other birds, you probably already know this, but I remind you as it seems you may have forgotten it for the moment. :)

Determine her favourite food and place that in the easiest of foraging toys. You may need to start off by letting her see the food go into the dish and just placing a quarter of a Kleenex over the food. She may not forage if she has to learn how, so take baby steps and make it easy for her. If she loves sunflower seeds, then those are a natural for the foraging food, BUT do not cut them out of her diet until you see her reliably eating the other foods or else she might just starve to death. By all means, let your other birds model their good eating habits for her. I'm sure it will help a lot.

It's good for her to come out, and she doesn't need to step up for that. All she needs for coming out is to know that the food she wants comes from the dish she recognizes. It's a simple matter of letting her out before breakfast and then serving breakfast INSIDE the cage, with you keeping an eye out so you can shut the door when she goes home. Don't stand BY the door, however, or you might spook her from returning. Note, it is simple but not quick. Let her out only when you have plenty of time for her to choose to come back in. Do not chase or catch her for return to the cage. Do not engage in any activity that leads her to bite you. She's clearly not ready. Also, protect her by covering the cages of the other birds. She will likely want to go investigate them and they will likely investigate her right back. If they investigate her too closely she could lose a toe.

CERTAINLY change her cage ASAP. The primary danger in bars she can get her head through is getting her head through, getting scared, getting the head stuck, and breaking the neck while flailing about in a panic. If you do some shopping, especially on internet, you will surely find a larger cage with suitable bar spacing. For example, this is my cage: http://www.birdscomfort.com/doubleflight_bird_cage.html I do not believe a smaller cage will help her step up faster. I believe it will help her bite more. As you approach her in the smaller cage she has little option of where to go to flee from you. You are familiar with the idea of "flight or fight", are you not? If you subtract the option for flight, what does that leave you?

I urge you to excuse the idea of getting the bird to do things "faster". If you make the conditions optimal, you will be able to set the bird at ease so she can come to you willingly. IRNs have a reputation of being hand shy. Forcing them to confront the hand is not going to go well for either of you. Use bribery instead. For bribery you will need a firm idea of what constitutes a bribe *for her*. So, get to offering a variety of delicious foods and see what comes of it.
-MissK
grimace
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 am

Re: First IRN

Post by grimace »

I'm going to look for something similar to this 24x16x16"h

Image

to begin with. If I get a bigger cage there's a chance she might be too happy inside to want to come out.

Let me take a tour of the pet shops today and see what I can find.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: First IRN

Post by MissK »

Oh no; no, no, no!! :!: MUCH too small. For heaven's sake, my CANARY is in a bigger cage. (BY the way, I own that exact cage in a larger size and it is utter trash.)

This is your first IRN. Please take my advice and get a cage no smaller than 32" by 22" and 30-36" high. Even that is quite small. The bird will not choose never to come out, I promise. She will want to come out for good food, for social time, and for the fact she is in a cage.

Let us imagine you live in the fanciest bathroom ever made. Would you want to stay in there forever, alone, even if they did serve you fantastic meals?

You don't have to get a flight cage (though obviously that's what I think an IRN should have) but you *do* have to get a cage big enough for the bird to sit there (16 inches long, remember) AND spread the wings, and that's just if the bird NEVER moves. You also need room for the toys and dishes, AND you need enough clearance so when the bird poops it doesn't fall into the food and water. IRNs are active birds, busy, interested in things, and easily bored. They need a cage large enough to support those activities. A trapped bird is a self-destructive and noisy bird. You flat out need a big enough cage, grimace, and if you aren't going to get one, you may as well rehome that bird right now.

Here's an example of a smaller cage that is the smallest I would consider for someone else's bird. It's clearly not good enough for MINE.
http://www.wayfair.com/Aosom-LLC-Large- ... O1251.html
Here's one that's still cheap but a bit bigger - though I'm not sure it is great quality. PrevueHendryx isn't what it used to be. http://www.wayfair.com/Prevue-Hendryx-E ... P1176.html
Shop around, check the internet, compare prices. I know there is some better stuff out there at a price you can handle.
-MissK
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: First IRN

Post by InTheAir »

+ 1 on Missks advice. That cage you posted is way way too small! Also that door will make life awkward with a nervous bird.
I just bought a corner cage, as it had a suitable bar spacing for an irn and is quite a decent sized cage. The large cage hasn't deminished my birds enthusiasm for coming out of the cage at all, and the cage has a big door so she can fly out easily.


This is a thread I made about gaining my birds trust. http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=18181
She is easily as tame as a lot of hand raised irns now, so patience pays off with these birds.

Regards,
Claire
Donovan
Posts: 833
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: First IRN

Post by Donovan »

the smallest dimension for an indian ringneck cage would be 22.. anything less than that is too small..

But absolutely do not put your bird in a cambodian prison cell or it will be very very unhappy
grimace
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 am

Re: First IRN

Post by grimace »

I ended up getting this:

Image

2.5ft x 18 x 18 inches. And that's the biggest I can find. Taller and less wide cages yes, but that's not going to fit a tail. Breeder/flight cages are not sold in shops, because apartments here are tiny.

I don't live in USA, so buying online is out of the question I'm afraid. Over here, birds are usually kept in small cages, below an example from the shop where I bought her from (she was also in the same cage size):

Image

I've actually been told by a local IRN breeder that my 2.5ft cage is too big! But she seems happy in the cage now, so I ain't shrinking it.

Anyway, I found out that she loves men and other male birds. Must be a female thing...
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: First IRN

Post by MissK »

Unbelievable. That is the size cage my Mom's canary stays in when he visits here. Can you go back and get a second of those cages and customize them together? If you carefully remove the top from one and the bottom from the other, unbending the wire (not cutting) you may be able to get a cage that is 30" long and about 30" high. It would be a start. Plan on having the bird out frequently. Where are you, by the way?

Also, consider building your own cage.

:roll:
-MissK
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: First IRN

Post by InTheAir »

Wow, I don't understand how a cage can be considered too big... we are talking about a creature that flies for miles ever day in the wild!
I want to live in a world that everyone considers an appropriate size cage is one that the bird can fly around in...
Donovan
Posts: 833
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: First IRN

Post by Donovan »

InTheAir wrote:Wow, I don't understand how a cage can be considered too big... we are talking about a creature that flies for miles ever day in the wild!
I want to live in a world that everyone considers an appropriate size cage is one that the bird can fly around in...
agreed!
I have this fantasy of building an aviary (probably with a sort of netting material) the size of a mansion. An acre or two in size and very very tall with trees inside and lots of interesting things. I imagine my birds would be pretty scared at first. It would be an interesting experiment to turn them loose in such a large area to see how they might respond to getting outside on accident.
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: First IRN

Post by InTheAir »

I've seen photos of someone's place that has kind of turned their whole back yard into an aviary. I think it is netting of some sort and they do have to supervise their birds in it.
My boyfriend told me about someone who bought a place with a tennis court and converted it to an aviary for his Mawcaws... Apparently the neighbours were not very impressed.

This guy gets first prize from me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTSwMHO-XC8
Donovan
Posts: 833
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: First IRN

Post by Donovan »

Can you find those pictures again by chance?
grimace
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 am

Re: First IRN

Post by grimace »

Sorry for the late reply but the last notification I got from here was a bot answer and nothing more after that.

I can't make a bigger cage for now, until my friend picks up her macaw from me at the end of the year. Any higher and the cage is going to be almost hitting the ceiling, not really good for changing papers, feeding and taming her.

So far I've noticed that the ringneck screams for attention everytime I have a guy friend over until they scratch her little neck and tries to get the attention of my male eclectus. Ever since she saw her first guy though, she's been a bit more nippy and mean towards me :(

Anyway, I live in Singapore. Land of the tiny apartments. I've got a friend migrating overseas and he plans to have an aviary with the house in the middle, pretty cool though I wonder how he's going to fix holes in the netting.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: First IRN

Post by MissK »

I maybe didn't explain what I meant correctly. If you join to cages by stacking them and removing the partitions, you'll only be raising the roof, not the floor. It would stay as you have it. Changing the paper and feed, etc would not have to be harder.

I do know how it goes with stacking cages. My Canary and my mom's Canary are stacked because these birds want to compete and intimidate each other when they can see each other. I really don't like stacking, but it turned out to be the way to go here. :?
-MissK
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