Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

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Zaheer708
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:59 am

Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Zaheer708 »

Hello All

First of all let me appreciate this wonderful online bird lover community...

2 days ago i purchased two little IRNs..this is my first time to own any pet....i purchased them from a local pet shop. They did not give me any info about the birds at all except their age which is about 5 months or so for both the birds..though i doubt it.

I am keeping them in one cage at the moment. The birds are tooooo scared and aggressive.

I need your help to estimate their age and sex...also to identify if they are IRNs or ARNs...and methods to tame them and have them stepped up on my hand.etc.
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Wessel Gordon
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Location: South Africa
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Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Zaheer,

Both birds are Indian Ringnecks and not African Ringnecks, based on their beak color. For more information see the below link:

http://pets.thenest.com/difference-betw ... 12187.html

As for age and sex: while they seem to be young (you will notice the completely black eye compared to the black and grey eye of the bird at the top of this page) it's tricky to estimate exactly how young they are or what sex they are. The only reliable way to determine sex before 18-24 months old is to have it sexed by an avian vet.

Wessel
Zaheer708
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:59 am

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Zaheer708 »

Thanks Wessel

I thought the eye color is dark due to expanded pupil while being indoor. I will take it out to check if the color changes or not.

Also please advise if i should put them in 2 separate cages in order to fast track the tame/adjusting process.

the one at right side of the picture (with long tail and bigger beak) is very aggressive and always attacks to bite. While the other one is more scared and just runs away...do you recommend any special trick to tame them?

As far as the feed js concerned...there are bowls..one full with seeds and the other with different vegetables and fruits

Thanks
Wessel Gordon
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Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Wessel Gordon »

If it was my birds I would let them settle more before attempting to tame them.

Two days aren't a very long time and the change in their environment is likely to keep them unsettled for awhile. To help overcome this I would keep them together unless they start to physically attack each other. You do have to keep in mind that they might be more interested in each other than in being tamed/trained.

As for getting them to accept you around their cage it might work to make a show of throwing a treat into one of their feeding bowls. Just make sure that the treat you give this way aren't available to them otherwise to increase it's novelty value.
MissK
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Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by MissK »

Oooooooh, they're giving you their backs! I remember that! :lol: When my bird used to do that I think he was letting me know it was time for me to leave him alone!

Are they in front of a mirror or is that a second cage and another bird behind them? If it's a mirror, move them now. Place their cage on a table up against a wall and make it so the perch where they sit is at least as high up as your eyes. Choose a spot where people are not going to be walking past the cage at very close distance, but don't put them away in a room where nobody goes either. When you do this you will be helping them feel that their cage is a relatively safe place to be. Birds feel safest when they can look down on you. Peel the skin off an apple and cut them a small slice, taking care to remove the seeds and the little area where the seeds sit in the apple. Apple seeds are bad for birds. Put the small slice in the cage, maybe clip it to the bars near the perch or cut it in bits and put it in the cup. Then go stand in the next room, put on your sunglasses, and spy from the doorway. You might (or might not) get to see them eat some apple, and that will make you feel better.

Congratulations on your very first pets! I don't want to scare you, but you have a lot to learn in a very short time. I do think that some other experiences in life can help prepare you for this, however. :) Have you ever taken care of another living thing of any kind - a child, a fish, a hermit crab, a plant, helped someone else take care of their pet while they were away, or cared for someone who was very sick? Have you ever helped a friend when they were very unhappy or upset?

If you've done any of these, and you probably have done at least one or two, then you can draw on that experience to remember the kindness and compassion you needed to do that, and remember how you provided whatever that living creature needed, and how your actions affected them in important ways. I think of the skills of kindness, compassion, attention to detail, respect, willingness to learn, selflessness, patience, and diligence will take you a long way to success in keeping your pets. If you have those and you read up on some basic instructions for keeping birds, I think you will probably be fine.

I Googled to see if I could link you to bird keeping instructions for very beginners, but I was not satisfied with what I found. If you would like to let me know what you already have set up, I will see if I have any suggestions. Also, let us know what kind of routine you are developing for taking care of them. You should certainly check out the pictures section to see what others have done.

Here's a list of the bare minimum you need to keep them alive while you figure out what you're doing:
clean water in a dish you wash with soap every day and rinse very well
bird food they will eat - give them the same as they had at the pet shop while you are deciding how to feed them
big enough cage - big enough they could both flap their wings at the same time and not hit anything is the smallest cage you should ever put them in, but it really should be much larger than that
several perches of different diameters, made of WOOD
some bird toys - get those bigger than Budgie size but smaller than macaw size, and make sure they don't crowd the cage
change the paper on the bottom of the cage every day
keep the cage out of direct sunlight so they don't overheat
not in front of a window so they won't be scared by stuff outside
keep the cage out of drafts so they don't get chilled
protect them from physical contact with other animals or people who do not respect them
perches at human eye height or higher for their emotional comfort
natural day length - don't keep them up too late. They need quiet and dark for a good night's sleep of 10 hours or so.

Everybody - did I forget anything?

Talking about fast tracking their taming - please throw out any notion of rushing them. I am not so sure you need to separate them with regards to housing for taming. They are flock creatures and should take comfort from being together, unless they develop an antisocial issue. You may want to work with them separately, however. Good news is that as you work with one, the other will probably learn from watching the first.

Talking about the eye - see the eye of the bird on this page? The dark part is very small because the bird is excited. Making the pupil small like that is called pinning. It is not the normal relaxed look of the eye. What made you concerned that your birds are not young?
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
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Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Wessel Gordon »

MissK

a Very thorough and detailed answer as always. I can't think of anything to add.

Zaheer:

As MissK mentioned they tend to ''pin'' their eyes when excited but it can also be used as a warning signal that they're not in the mood to be disturbed. If you see any of your birds rapidly ''pinning'' and ''unpinning'' their eyes you might be running the risk of being bitten. I do not mean to scare you from keeping birds but we all know from experience how nasty and painful even a warning bite can be.

My advice would be that you observe your birds carefully in the way MissK suggested and get to know their moods till you get to the point where you can glance at them and know how they're likely to react to something. You should also be aware that a bird (just like a person) have certain things that will trigger a negative response. This can be something they are afraid of such as a new toy or a certain action on your part they see as a threat. This varies greatly from bird to bird and the only way you will know what it is is if it happens. Your best option in that case is to remove whatever is causing them to react negatively or to modify your behavior if that's the cause.

I have to add that all the statements I made is based on my own experience with my birds and other owners might have completely different advice.
Zaheer708
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:59 am

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Zaheer708 »

Thanks Missk & Wessel for such a detailed reply.

Yes i put them in front of the mirror for no specific reason. However i just have relocated them to a new place..you might wanna see the pictures to get the idea...i made sure that their perches are above my eye level...

I am not scared at all for all this...in fact im very excited to do anything which could make my birds happy and i can wait patiently til they are ready for being tamed.

I have heard that IRNs aged more than 8 months are very hard to tame as they might have already adopted their wild nature by that time. Thats y im little bit concerned with their age....their perfect plumage suggests me that they are quite near to maturity.....however i may be wrong.
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Zaheer708
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:59 am

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Zaheer708 »

Another pic
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InTheAir
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Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by InTheAir »

Your birds will be much happier with a much, much, much bigger cage. Also some stuff to chew on and natural wood perches.
They might like having a corner against the wall covered too, so they are not so exposed.
Zaheer708
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:59 am

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by Zaheer708 »

Thanks for reply

What kinda stuff to chew on????
Whats your take on the birds' ages ?

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

Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by MissK »

Hi Zaheer,

First, let me say that is a beautiful wall. It will soon have bits of the birds' food on it. I'm sure your birds are a little bit happier now that they don't have to watch every side of their cage, and also that they are higher up. I'm sure they appreciate being away from the mirror.

I am sorry to say I agree with InTheAir that the cage is quite a bit too small. This is a nice size of cage for travelling to the veterinarian or for just sleeping overnight when it's dark, if you like to have them sleep in a more private place.

If you mention where you live, in general, there may be someone from your area here on the forum who might advise you where they found a more suitable cage. Here is a link to a cage I would consider the *smallest* size possible to keep a single Ringneck who was allowed to come out a great deal. http://www.hayneedle.com/product/havana ... Hwod0hUD-A
InTheAir will feel this cage is much too small, and I agree IRNs deserve much bigger. However, I think it would support life for the bird who agrees it is big enough. Not all birds will agree. Since you have two birds, it would be more suitable to get a cage twice that big, such as this one: http://www.hayneedle.com/product/altoon ... Hwod6n8Pbw
I have two such cages. I had intended to join them for one VERY long cage, but have not done so, and now I have Budgies living in one and two Ringnecks living in the other. Notice there is a divider which can be used to separate the birds if needed. Note, please, I am not telling you to buy either one of these cages. I just include them here to give an idea of what is a more suitable sized cage. Here is a link to the thread that contains InTheAir's cages - they are very big, indeed! http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... hilit=dave

Birds like to chew on whatever there is to chew on, but in particular they like natural stuff similar to what grows outdoors. Soft woods and dry grasses and twigs are popular. You can have a look at my photos for some close view of some things my birds like. http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... ssk+photos

Wooden perches are more suitable for the birds' feet. They are softer than plastic. Natural branches are not all one diameter, as well, so the birds' feet can get some exercise making different grips. This is very important for the health of their feet.
-MissK
AJPeter
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Re: Need help with my two newly purchased IRNs

Post by AJPeter »

Hi MissK,

Do not hear from you now a days, how are you? Billie laid so many eggs last year (11) she had a prolapse and an emergency op, the vet gave her a hormone injection that stopped her, this year she laid 5 eggs the last 16 days ago.
I bought a new cage for her a Libirta Voyager which is almost as big as her first cage. She is very hormonal and tried to masturbate on me, so l play on the floor with her dangling a toy she rushes back and forth l think l am more tired than she is!
Kind regards
AJPeter
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