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[brandi28]

Hi, I found this forum while researching indian ringneck parrot housing. My husband and I adopted an Mealy Amazon 3 years ago and knew we would someday own another species of parrot. Well that day came 3 days ago when we adopted an indian ringneck. I researched this bird for several days before deciding rather or not to adopt him/her. I love what I have read about this species bird, and I can't wait till we reach 17 months old and learn if it is a he or she.

Here is what I know (so far). The previous owner stated she had him from a few weeks old and she showed me pictures of his growing up and being hand fed. She stated that he had bonded with her daughter and her daughter was really the only human who touched him, fed him, and cared for him. and her daughter wanted it to be a male so she has called him a he since day one. She told me she would include a great cage for him *cough cough* and that he was not completely tame but was well on his way. He/she is also 8 months old.
first of all, thanks to those who take the time to read this lengthy post and offer advise.

Today makes 3 days since he has been here, (not counting the night I brought him home) and he is starting to whistle and chirp and trying to mimic noises from our other parrot. I of course have not introduced them yet but they talk back and forth through the wall.
I let him be completely alone the night we brought him home and then on day 2 I began talking to him as I passed his cage. So far, he accepts food from my hand very well and has already associated me with food. I have crushed peanuts and he will eat the smallest of crumb from my fingers without biting me. Today I began holding up a finger and asking him to "touch" before letting him have the peanut. He picked up on this really fast and now will take his beak and touch my index finger before receiving his treat. he does still try to get past the touch part sometimes but with me waiting on him he picked up quick that he forgot to touch.
Within the 3 days with him, he already comes to me when I approach his cage and starts looking for treats.

Now that I've shared the good... I'll share the bad lol.. well not bad because he is in a new home and having to adjust.
He has been pinning his eyes at times, fluffing his head feathers and pretending he is going to bite me. OF course he DOES NOT bite but more so just pushes his beak into my hand. This morning I was giving him is fresh veggies and he tried this with me. Over and over he would fluff up and lunge my hand but he never actually bit me, didnt even pinch my hand just opened his beak and pushed it into my hand lol... Once he realized it wasn't getting me away and I ignored his "scary" attempt to scare me, he began licking and nibbling the left over veggies on my hand. I have read about bluffing and was wondering if this was just the fear of being in a new home, or a little of both?

The cage his previous owner provided him is only 19"x19"x28"
I am currently looking for a new cage for him, today is the first day since bringing him home we have not had ice and snow so I plan to visit a few pet stores and petsmart and see what I can find. I did however, find a cage on ebay that seems nice but Im scared to buy it because I dont have an opinion from an experienced owner (this is where I hope to get advise from you)
The cage is 32"x20"x35" (53" counting stand) the door is 11"x22" and here is the link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

Other than cage size, the only question I have remaining is about training. Giving what I know about him so far can anyone offer advise as to where and when to begin training (other than the taking food I have been doing)? I went through all of this with my amazon who was cage bound but to be honest I dont remember exactly what I did with her SHould I let him watch me interact with her or will this cause setbacks?

Thank you for taking time to read my post and I look forward to all I will learn here.

[xx_sheena_xx]

Welcome

The cage looks great, but you will need to put in metal feeders because the plastic ones will get chewed and a clip or peg or something on the doors would also be needed so your IRN cant open the doors.

Im not sure about taming because i havnt had to do this before, but you sound like your doing a great job. Hopefully someone else on here can help you with that?

What color is your IRN? And whats his/her name?

Pics would be great too

[brandi28]

I am not sure how to upload pictures just yet. All my pic's are 14+ mgp so they are very large.
My baby is green, we are not sure about sex because he/she is only 8 months old. However, last night I was changing the water and he came out ontop of his cage. I stood by his cage and let him do his thing with me close by. Before I knew it he was picking at my shirt and when I got tired and sat in the floor he slid down his cage and worked his way slowly onto my arm where he sat for about 10 min or so before I put him back in the cage. I am coming so far so fast with him. He is taking food from me, knows already to touch my finger before he gets a treat and today he took a cracker from my mouth lol ( i know im not supposed to do that but he wanted to)
I informed his previous owner and she said he never done these things at her home.

[ellieelectrons]

The first trick I taught both my birds was to "turnaround". It's a good trick to do because it does not require you to touch the bird. I've written a couple of threads in here on how to teach the bird to do the trick. Do a search of the forum on "turnaround" to find it.

You can see my two doing some of their tricks on my Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYrNZ3-ZVio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKugZMVNBuM

They also do a retrieve - pick up a bottle cap and put it in a bowl but I haven't been able to video tape that one because I don't have enough hands to do the trick & operate the video camera!

We are currently working on selecting the appropriate coloured object on command... They seem to be sort of getting it... but I'm not really sure, it might just be luck!

I find teaching them tricks deepens your bond to your bird.... and they really like the stimulation and challenge offered by learning new tricks. They are so smart... it's great to see what they can do!

Congrats on your success so far... Keep up the great work!

Ellie.

[brandi28]

Thanks!
I am still working with him hours a day. He has already stepped up once on his own and twice for a treat. However we did have one day when he got spooked and flew (sorta) behind the christmas tree. I of course freaked, but when I moved the presents he came half way to me and waiting on me to get him. He HATES my husband and so far I am the only one he seems to be at least attempting to trust. When I compare his progress to my amazons progress when we brought her home he is doing wonderful. He has accomplished in just a few days what it took her half a year to learn.

[ellieelectrons]

however we did have one day when he got spooked and flew (sorta) behind the christmas tree. I of course freaked, but when I moved the presents he came half way to me and waiting on me to get him.

I know how scary these moments can be. I have them regularly with my two. Sorry to say, you will probably have more of them. Make sure the toilet is inaccessible. (This is highly unlikely that they will end up there... but for some reason I think I have a neurosis about it!)

Janey & Charlie had a wing clip yesterday... they were overdue for it. Charlie flew over to Janey's perch and for whatever reason it freaked Janey out... she flew all through the house - from one end to the other.... I was calling her, all the time, watching the floor to make sure I didn't step on her accidentally. I didn't see which room she ended up in... so I'm calling her.... but of course she never chirps when this happens (is this a nature thing? they feel vulnerable and don't want to let any predators know where they are?). I can't find her anywhere. My husband was asleep at the other end of the house and he thinks she want into the back bedroom. I go in, can't find her anywhere.... but then sure enough, there she is, in the far corner, she'd fallen behind some junk (really need to clean that room out!). It's is interesting though, they are always prepared to step up when something like that has happened.

... so what I'm trying to say (in a long-winded way) is that if you have a bit of a nervy bird, you can expect this to happen reasonably often!

Ellie.

[brandi28]

I remember those times with my amazon. She likes to climb down unnoticed and hide of course if I dont find her soon she squawks for me. but when i do find her she laughs and thinks its funny. (I should have named her peek a boo).
My IRN however seems very confident in himself and unlike my amazon seems to stand his ground. I am having a HUGE issue with him constantly wanting to nibble my hands. He isn't trying to bite by no means but the small nibbling can hurt sometimes

[pinkdevil]

Hi Brandi. Did you end up buying the cage? Looked like a good sized one to me.

How has your ringie settled in now it has been a while?