Hi, I'm David and I live in Sacramento. I have always wanted an IRN as far back as I can remember. Having seen my first one over 30 years ago when price was very prohibitive. Last month my dream finally came true. I was walking through a flea market that has a pet stand I spotted a beautiful lutino IRN. I asked if it was an IRN and the guy said yes, a female, and she was $150.00. I just kept walking and that night it hit me that I should have pounced on her right then and there. The flea market was only open Saturday and Suday so I spent a week kicking myself in the rear for not buying her on the spot. A LONG week later I woke up early and drove to the flea market before it even opened. After waiting 2 hours the pet people finally showed up. When I asked about her they said they didn't know where she was and I should check their permanent store which was 1/2 block away. I raced over and found the owner outside of the store. A very friendly middle eastern man. He told me she had been sold but that he had a blue one inside! While the lutino had tempted me, my heart had always wanted a blue male. He showed me the blue which was in a cage with a lovely grey and told me he thought it was a male. I bought him on the spot and a cage and asked the guy to set him up in his new cage so he would have a chance to get used to it and I would return after work to pick him up.I noticed he had a single black feather where his ring should be. I was surprised to find upon getting him home he is not only completely tame but starting to talk!
I named him Klaatu (from the movie the Day the Earth Stood Still) And I plan on teaching him only classic lines from classic movies. I abhor birds who wolf whislte and say "Polly wanna cracker" He has been moulting heavily and as a result his broken tail feathers have all been replaced and his ring is coming in beautifully. I am so tempted to go back and buy the grey hen but having talked to a couple of IRN experts I realize it is best to keep him as a tame pet rather than letting him go wild to breed. I can't wait for the moult to be over as he has alot of pin feathers on his head and has a pretty scruffy look about him now.
Its lovely that you have aspirations for your new fid
My Jordan says many things, immitates my laugh, asks us what we are doing and will run over to our other ringneck when I am teaching him to step up and will help me by telling Pickle to "Step up" "come on" "good boy", just like Jordan is trying to help out. He whistles Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik", but I am sorry to say (because you don't like it) he also Wolf whistles .. lol but I don't care one bit.
Angie --------- Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. {Pro 10:12} ----------- God Bless
Hello and welcome to the board You really waited 30 years, man thats a long time to wait I probably waited 10 to find the right one(but I didnt really look too hard).
Hello David and Klaatu and welcome to the flock here.
Thats a great story.. I can just see the disappointment and then the excitement of a little blue! 30 years ago.. I didn't even think IRNs were popular as pets back then? Well, thats was the case here in Australia or so I've read. There has been a boom of IRNs in the last 10 years here. In Asia/India ringnecks have been kept as pets for hundreds of years!
Don't be disappointed if Klaatu does not say the things you want him to say. Not all birds will talk. Some will only learn a few words, some will learn more, some none at all. They also pick up things you dont want them saying. Whenever my partner calls me I say 'Yeeeeeeeah!' (In an annoyed voice) LOL. Well, My Jibby started calling 'Yeeeeeeeah!' (In an annoyed voice) haha.
Goodluck and I look forward to seeing some pictures.
"Jibby aka Gilbert" Indian Ringneck 13 years"Charlie" Rex Rabbit 1 year
Thanks for the welcome all. I was really lucky to find the right one so easily. When I bought him I had no idea he was tame. I was throughly ready to spend a month or so with bleeding bite wounds and a squacky bird. Imagine my surprise when I put my finger in the cage and instead of a painful bite he just hopped right on. Also the next morning when he woke me up I was surprised to hear him trying to talk. Yes, it was the faint start of the wolf whistle, but he hasn't heard it since and is receiveing proper elocution training now. LOL! One of my passions is old Hollywood and classic movies. I want a bird that will repeat famous lines that everyone can reckognize. His first phrase we have been working on for the past month is the line from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. That raspy Bette Davis line: "But you are Blanche, you are in that wheelchair" And of course he has to learn the famous "Klaatu Barata Nicto" This forum is set up identitcally to the Marilyn Monore fan club I have belonged to for years. On there, I receive emails when someone has responded to a topic. I clicked the notify me on the profile page but it is not working. Any hints anyone? Lauren, you are right 30 years ago they were not popluar as pets. That's why I said the price was prohibitive. I think a normal green was about $850 back then. I will be posting pics soon. I have a digital camera I don't know how to use very well, and also a video camera I don't know how to use at all! What can I say? I am old. I need a teenager to help me out
This is a pic of Klaatu a day or two after I got him. As you can see his ring is not showing. It is now. Also you can see every feather in his tail is damaged. I pulled them out, one a week, and they are growing in nicely. He also is in a heavy moult. Hence the ring coming in so fast. Right now he has alot of pin feathers on his head but I expect him to be ready for pin up pictures in a couple of weeks.
I hope you don't mind, I resized your image for you so that it fits into the
message area, makes it easier to view and read your posts.
You can right click on this new smaller image in the post and select the option to "save picture as" and save it down to your computer for reloading to photobucket.
In future you can use a program like photoshop or such to resize your images to something around 600 x 400 or so
Angie --------- Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. {Pro 10:12} ----------- God Bless
I'm better at the digital camera, but I can't even see out of the vidoe camera to see what I'm shooting. Darned glasses! I can't get my eye on the eye piece.
To resize images before you upload them to the hosting sites, you simply need to use a photo program, like photoshop, or similar and use the help wizard, resize wizard or resize function to resize the image to online and for an avatar it should be around 100 x 100 pixels or similar, and for posting to the message area around 500 x 500 pixel or similar.
Angie --------- Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. {Pro 10:12} ----------- God Bless
Kyria, thank you so much! I'm so old and it IS hard to teach and old dog new tricks. he he he. I think I will be 56 this year but, because of senility I can't remember.LOL All I know is it takes a teenager to do anything that has to do with technology. I'm sure I have those programs installed but don't have a clue as to how to use them. I gather from your "for now" I am going to have to learn.
we will get there .. even if I have to copy and resize your images for you for now then that is what I will do. Or better may be for you to email me the images and I will resize them email them back to you and you can then upload them and use them. That way they will be with you in your hosting rather than with me in my hosting.
Angie --------- Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. {Pro 10:12} ----------- God Bless
Welcome! And 56 is not too old for technology (I just turned 50, and am feeling a bit defensive). Now, not being able to find the right spot to see with the bifocals.... that is another story. Looking forward to hearing more about you and your new buddy!
Please! Don't ever mention bi-focals again! I deliver auto parts and while wearing bi-focals isn't too bad doing other chores it's a nightmare driving, especially backing up. Depending on whether your looking in the mirrors or over your shoulder you can see about 4 different things. It drives me nuts, (and I don;t have far to go LOL!) Klaatu just got his first sweet pepper today. I know you are supposed to be able to give them hot ones but I'm chicken. They have what they call Super Sweet peppers now that are shaped like a Jalapeno but are yellow, orange, or red and are sweeter than a bell pepper. Got to trim his nails too and I'm kind of putting that off. I got a roommate who can hold him for me so guess this weekend it's time to stop procrastinating.
but that he had a blue one inside! 
While the lutino had tempted me, my heart had always wanted a blue male. He showed me the blue which was in a cage with a lovely grey and told me he thought it was a male. I bought him on the spot and a cage and asked the guy to set him up in his new cage so he would have a chance to get used to it and I would return after work to pick him up.I noticed he had a single black feather where his ring should be. I was surprised to find upon getting him home he is not only completely tame but starting to talk!
I named him Klaatu (from the movie the Day the Earth Stood Still) And I plan on teaching him only classic lines from classic movies. I abhor birds who wolf whislte and say "Polly wanna cracker" He has been moulting heavily and as a result his broken tail feathers have all been replaced and his ring is coming in beautifully. I am so tempted to go back and buy the grey hen but having talked to a couple of IRN experts I realize it is best to keep him as a tame pet rather than letting him go wild to breed. I can't wait for the moult to be over as he has alot of pin feathers on his head and has a pretty scruffy look about him now.
.. lol but I don't care one bit.
I probably waited 10 to find the right one(but I didnt really look too hard).
Please! Don't ever mention bi-focals again! I deliver auto parts and while wearing bi-focals isn't too bad doing other chores it's a nightmare driving, especially backing up. Depending on whether your looking in the mirrors or over your shoulder you can see about 4 different things. It drives me nuts, (and I don;t have far to go LOL!) Klaatu just got his first sweet pepper today. I know you are supposed to be able to give them hot ones but I'm chicken. They have what they call Super Sweet peppers now that are shaped like a Jalapeno but are yellow, orange, or red and are sweeter than a bell pepper. Got to trim his nails too and I'm kind of putting that off. I got a roommate who can hold him for me so guess this weekend it's time to stop procrastinating.