Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

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Rocco0115
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:38 pm

Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by Rocco0115 »

Hi all

As you can see i am very new to this forum and relatively new to the whole bird keeping hobby.

i have 1 year old male( I think) ringneck that i got from somebody who was scared of his beak. When i first got him he was totally wild wouldn't let me go near him or anything but now he is ok with me picking him up and taking him from his cage to his stand .. he will sit on my shouldn't and preen my hair etc but he prefers to be on his perch or in his cage:S when out of his cage he isn't interested in playing with toys or interacting with me he just wants to get back to his perch. I'm hoping this is just because he isn't totally tame yet but any advice would be great :)

Thanks

Andrew
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by MissK »

Hi Andrew and Welcome!

I have a second hand male called Rocky! Small world. :)

You didn't say how long you've been keeping Rocco, but I imagine it's been a little while. If you can ID his favourite kind of toy, you should select that one for up-close interaction. My bird loves a rattling plastic frog head - we call it Mr. Froggie (cuz I'm so clever and original). It took Rocky a long time to figure out that toys can be fun, but he continues, even now, to develop new interests. He's about..... um....13 by now?

If you can't get Rocco interested in a toy while he's with you, try nuts, especially almonds in the shell because they are easy to open and flake off bits of shell. Spray millet is another choice, and he probably would be less likely to take it and fly off.

Good work with your bird. It sounds like he's happier with you!
-MissK
AJPeter
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Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:17 pm
Location: Birmingham England
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Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by AJPeter »

Hallo Andrew and welcome

I am the third owner of my Alexandrine Hen Billie and she is only aobut 5 years old, she does not talk but has oodles of personality, the only toy she really likes is some millet spray rolled into some paper which she hold in her foot. She chews on wooden sticks and some plastic triangles. She bites me a lot. Its my fault for letting my hand get too near her beak.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by MissK »

AJ, what are you doing that Billie feels she needs to bite you? She should be over this by now, I would think. Here to help............
-MissK
Rocco0115
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:38 pm

Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by Rocco0115 »

hey thanks for the reply MissK!

I have had Rocco For around 7 months now so far i he hasn't shown much interest in anything i have given him, other than his morror such a vain little thing but who can blame them huh they are beautiful after all!!

i will continue to try different toys, i have found he likes to chew on my cotton rope perches that i have in his cage and is partial to shredding a few plastic straws.

i also have questions with regards to his tail feathers, he has basically none left and wondered if there is anything i can do to help them grow back.

Thanks

Andrew and Rocco
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by MissK »

Did he molt the tail? It can seem to take *forever* for it to come back in. My #2 bird molted backwards this year, starting with the tail quite early in the year. Now he's getting along to his body and face. Very strange. This is just the end of his first year with me, and I know his prior situation was stressful and funky. His tail is back in by now. Meanwhile, my #1 bird has just recently started molting, with down and a contour feather here and there, much more normal. I think my #2 has some weird stuff going on and I expect he will be more in synch next year. They are housed together. Where in the world are you? What season are you having now?

Also, is he missing just the long two, or the complete fan of tail feathers?

When Rocky came to me he seemed not to know what toys were for, save his immediate interest in the jungly plastic cat toy. Here are some links to toys he came to like early on:

He slowly destroyed this one - a very successful toy! http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=17163

He quickly learned to dismantle this one - both a good and a bad thing. I replaced it with a Jungle brand skewer that was harder to take apart and bought him a stainless steel eye bolt (easy to hang) and a number of plain stainless nuts and wingnuts. On the one hand, I have to collect the nuts from all over and be careful not to throw them out in the paper, but on the other hand they're not so expensive. If you do this, insist on stainless steel and read the label. Zinc is also silver coloured but bad for birdies. You will be bursting with pride the first time you see your bird has removed a pile of nuts from a bolt. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=8797

Not a toy, but handy when you make or hang stuff - see which style you prefer. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=24869

This one got destroyed quickly. Fortunately, easy to make your own. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=12594

These are his #1 fave wood for chewing. They must contain birdie crack. Sometimes sold in the rodent sections. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=7549

This is exactly like that instant hit cat jingle ball, except instead of jingles (easily removed and possibly a danger) they have paper inside. Just recently I found someone had stuffed a feather through this ball - no idea who, but it was a Ringneck...... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=28366

He really enjoyed putting stuff in and out of this, until he got bored and never looked at it again. Now I put forage in there and I recall one of them once stuffed his whole body in there for a swing ride..... I removed the coloured fluff at the top. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=13301

This kind of thing is good, but I started small, with the one that's just a little broom, so he wouldn't be scared. http://www.petsmart.com/bird/toys/all-l ... d=36-14009

He also really liked a big stainless steel bell on a stainless chain, big links, till he one day got tired of it.

Maybe Rocco will like something like these.
Last edited by MissK on Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-MissK
Rocco0115
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:38 pm

Re: Hello! from me and my IRN Rocco

Post by Rocco0115 »

I think the tail feather where broken prior to me getting him as when i have had a closer look i can see a small amount of feather there, obviously i will have to wait for moult to take place. which i think he is starting as we have a lot of feathers flying around when he is flapping his wings.

thanks for the links of the toys i will be sure to look for something similar in the uk pet shops.

Andrew
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