Hello.

Let us know a little about yourself! Tell us about your birds and why you are here.

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court
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:51 pm

Hello.

Post by court »

I just want to introduce myself and my birds. I have been a long time parrot owner but have never owned an IRN before so this is all pretty new.

I currently have 2 semi tame parakeets, Moss and Jen, 3 children and 2 dogs.

We will Be bringing home our IRN next Saturday. We were told he is 4 months old and is male because he already has the hint of a ring. No name yet but I've attached a picture of the little guy.
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blueirn.jpg
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: Hello.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Hi court

Welcome to the forum.

You really picked a very nice IRN for your first but a word of caution: do not be fooled by that hint of a ring around it's neck. Even females of certain mutations (such as blue like yours) sometimes tend to show a visible ring from a very young age. I know that from experience because I have a blue female and I actually had her surgically sexed twice to confirm she's female because of that ring around her neck. She's 10 years old now and in the meantime she laid some eggs so that matter is settled once and for all.

Male IRN's tend to start showing a ring anywhere from 18 months to 3 years (although in very exceptional cases it happens from around a year or a bit earlier) so 4 months is far too soon for a ring. Your safest option to confirm your bird's sex if that matters to you or you simply can't wait to find out is to have it either surgically sexed by an avian vet or by a blood sample. I've always used surgical sexing but if you prefer the other method one of our other members that used the blood sample method could give you more details about it.

Kind regards,

Wessel
court
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:51 pm

Re: Hello.

Post by court »

Thank you for your reply :D

I was told by the man male. I was skeptical because of what I had read but there was a language barrier so I couldn't ask why he believed he knew the gender. At this point gender only matters for naming as I think both genders are lovely.
I'm just hoping for a sweet bird. This one was picked because he seems to be very calm about everything. I'm hoping that calm attitude carries over into training.
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: Hello.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

The only way he could be so certain is if the mutation is somehow sex-linked. I know some very experienced breeders can tell by looking at an IRN at a young age what sex it is but how they do that is too complex for my simple brain. Perhaps one of our other members with years of breeding experience can tell you if it is a male or female but I'm not going to take a guess simply because my guessing IRN'S sex in the past turned out to be the complete opposite of what I thought.

If it already has such a sweet personality a lot of positive reinforcement during training is a good idea as well as figuring out what his/her favorite treat is. IRN'S are incredibly food-motivated and if a morsel of their favorite treat is at stake they usually figure out pretty fast what kind of behavior will get them that treat.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Hello.

Post by MissK »

Wessel, maybe you have a good system after all, but you have to switch the sex label on your two criteria groups. :wink:
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: Hello.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

MissK,

At the risk of sounding like a complete fool which labels would that be?

The one reading "oh, that's a male" which is scientifically proven as female?

And the one "oh, that's a female" which is surgically sexed as a male?

Lol, I'm poking fun at myself because I always but always get predictions wrong (that's the main reason I'll NEVER win the lottery).

Wessel
court
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:51 pm

Re: Hello.

Post by court »

I have a question. When do their eyes start to lighten?
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