Is having two IRNs a good idea?

[Caitrose96]

I got a 1 year old male IRN about 2 months ago, he is semi hand-trained he just prefers to do his own thing rather than sit with me. My mum and i had planned to get a bird from a family friend but it seemed as though they were not going to be able to breed this breeding season so we ended up getting another bird. However our friend has just hatched a little lilac IRN, and was wondering if we still wanted it. It would be completely handraised and handtamed, but if i had two would it still bond with me, or would my other bird and i have even more trouble bonding? I am aware that it does make it more difficult to train and tame, but if they are both handraised would it really be that hard? I am not at home all the time so i think my bird would prefer a friend, however i know this is entirely selfish but i do really want to have a special bond with my bird.
Please share your opinions and experiences on this matter!

[SCB 22]

I have a breeding pair, one of which is my tame male, plus 2 hand reared males, and a hand reared female, my 2 males are housed together, and all of them still absolutely love me, when i go up to my 2 boys cage and talk to them, they both drop their wings and bow and start taaaalking away to me, my female loves me to bits and cooes and goes all silly for me when i talk to her and take her out.... In my opinion the more the merrier, you just have to watch as the birds mature, if they will all get along come breeding season, if you house 2 females together, my males have never had a problem, i used to have the 2 boys and girl together, and had to seperate the female as she got a bit grouchy wit the boys, otherwise its one big crazy ringneck family....

[Dixie-1]

I am by no means an expert, but the Breeder we bought Quinn from said that he/she would be more inclined to bond with us if he/she didn't have another IRN to bond with. Again just repeating what we were told.

[InTheAir]

If you want relatively easy going pets, it would probably be best to get a male friend. Then you probably won't have so many issues with them over the breeding season.
If you develop a good relationship with the second bird during the quarantine period and keep interacting with them they should stay tame and enjoy your company.
It does depend on what you want as far as a special bond. .. I don't quite understand that question.

[Redzone]

Yeah you want your bird to be your friend, not "bonded" to you, that only ends up in tears..

[Little Buttercup]

I have a breeding pair, one of which is my tame male, plus 2 hand reared males, and a hand reared female, my 2 males are housed together, and all of them still absolutely love me, when i go up to my 2 boys cage and talk to them, they both drop their wings and bow and start taaaalking away to me, my female loves me to bits and cooes and goes all silly for me when i talk to her and take her out.... In my opinion the more the merrier, you just have to watch as the birds mature, if they will all get along come breeding season, if you house 2 females together, my males have never had a problem, i used to have the 2 boys and girl together, and had to seperate the female as she got a bit grouchy wit the boys, otherwise its one big crazy ringneck family....

Awwww! such a lovely bunch you have there. I can't get enough of ringnecks!

[SCB 22]

Just my comment on wanting your bird "bonded" only to you, my grey turq female in the pic there, when hand reared ended up so attached to me, I battle socialising her with my other birds, she was sitting peacefully with them there, but only as i was a distance away. As soon as i get close to them all she goes ballistic and attacks all the others, to get to me, and i cannot have another one on my lap or near me, if i am giving her attention... She has also refused any form of male companion when breeding season comes, and i have to house her alone due to her "bond" to me... Where as all my boys are a bit more laid back, they love me like crazy, but i can at least have them all on my lap, or sitting by me without disagreements....

[Caitrose96]

Thanks for all your replies! I don't think 'bond' was the right word choice to use
I haven't been able to spend that much time with my bird in the last few days as school has been pretty crazy, but i'm slowly getting more and more time back.
Currently he has access to food 24/7, but i was reading somewhere that this is not ideal? And that it can lead to overweight birds and unmotivated birds for training..
I want him to be healthy and happy above anything else!

[InTheAir]

Our bird has pellets and a few greens available at all times and is still pretty motivated to train.
He mostly gets different treats for training from his normal meals. I use oat groats, sunflower seeds, nuts and sprouts for training.
If you are worried your bird is getting overweight, it would probably be advisable to consult with your avian vet and weigh the bird regularly while he's on a diet.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Caitrose

I have two IRNs and they are both tame. Your second bird will probably tend to want to spend time with your other bird more at first, but you can win him over with treats. You do have to put the time in however, it's not going to happen magically. Think carefully, though, about what gender you want. Our first bird was a female and we love her dearly but we have problems with nesting behaviours. Giving her a mate probably exacerbated those behaviours. If I knew then what I know now, I would have ended up with two males as they will usually cohabitate together reasonably well.

Ellie.

[MissK]

I also keep my bird with plenty of food. He always has more food than he will eat. He has seeds all the time. In the morning I give him the fresh foods, and as the day goes on he gets any extra treats or grain/pellet mush if he's getting that on that day. I also like to give him foods by hand, and as long as they're desirable foods (sorry Brussels Sprouts) he will leave his food in the dish to come for food in the hand. I do limit the stuff he will gorge on, like corn, to not every day, but when he gets it, he gets as much as he could possibly want.

I also save the training treats to give only by hand. (OK, MOSTLY by hand.... I just love to give him stuff that makes him so happy... )

Rocky has a lot of room and a lot of toys. So far, being fat is not an issue. I suppose it *is* important to note that as time goes on his willingness to eat more and more fresh foods increases. With that, his interest in seeds seems to decrease. He still eats them, but not like the junkie he once was. It may have something to do with the fact that I changed his seed mix for something he doesn't like as much. If his seed mix included the sunflower and safflower he loves so much, or nuts, he would probably be a Weight Watchers candidate.

Today Rocky is enjoying his edible pod peas being tied to strings and hung in the cage.

[InTheAir]

One thing we omitted to mention is our birds are all fully flighted too.

[Skyes_crew]

Just to add to it...try not to get discouraged if it seems like they would rather be with each other at first. They eventually realize who has the treats lol. Just be patient.