My 6 month old baby Gizmo Lutino Ringneck

[Amjaid]

Hi All,

My names Amjaid and I recently purchased an indian Ringneck after 2 months of researching and the priceless information from this forum. I have a 6month old baby which I have had for 1 month now and boy I luv him to bits. Due to work commitments I wanted to make sure I spend set times with him everyday so me and my wife sat down and sicussed how to accomodate time for this bird. I now wake up an hour early every morning to tidy up his gage and change food and water which takes 15 min and then the rest of the 45 min I hold him, pet him and just spend time with him. I then go to work at 10am and come back for 6. In that time he has a huge indoor Cage/avaiary with loads of toys rotated every day. I come home at 6pm and then let him out till about 10pm and he just loves to come to me. When I first purchased him he was slightly tame. In one month afer reading alot of the info on this forum I now us e the comamand "come on baby" and he will step up and "come down baby" and he will get down. I can also get him to stop chewing stuff that I dont want him to, sometimes he will push me to test my limits but I stay firm and stare at him and he freezes, as soon as he freezes for about 10seconds, I give him a treat and this seems to work nicely. I have also now got him to turn around on command and by circuling my finger and he does it everytime I do this. I'm just so shocked tha I have come this far with Gizmo in my first month and my first ever bird.

The minute I open the gage he wants come to me and he lets me pet him and stroke him when he wants to, sometimes he doesnlt like it so I distract him by giving him food and then he lets me pet him just so I can get him use to this I do this everyday and at least pet him for 5 min to get him thinking this is normal. He keep wants to get onto my shoulder but I dont allow him, he will then push me and wont listen to any of the commands because he wants to get onto my shoulder so I really push back and dont let him so he starts making an aggressive sound but I odnt give in so now he doesnt try this any more and is content on my hand or arm but will still try once a week.

I have put him on a Pellet diet and give him fresh vegebales and fruits everyday. I use sunflower seeds and peanuts only for treats. I really hope I am doing things right and giving him everything he needs. I keep saying he but not sure if he is male or female...

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Amjaid

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you are doing a great job with Gizmo... and he is one very spoilt bird.

You have a lovely cage - reminds me of the cage we almost bought for our IRNs. I really liked the way it opened up to the gym.

Just keep in mind that as Gizmo matures there will be changes in his personality. I'm only saying this because I have a two year old and a one year old and I've noticed recently that the one year old is starting to push his boundaries more. You are doing a great job establishing the relationship now, so you shouldn't have any major hassles but each bird is an individual so there are no guarantees.

Glad to see that Gizmo is giving you so much joy. They certainly are wonderful creatures to share your life with!

Ellie.

[Amjaid]

Hi Ellie,

Thank you so much for your comments, its so nice to read someone else talking abut Gizmo, its my first post on this forum and just feels really nice to be able to talk about Gizmo. I'll try and post some videos of Gizmo in action....

How are ringnecks when they Muture? are they still freindly and do they still hsow love? right now he just wants to be with me all the time....if he sees me in the room he will go to the bottom of the gage and walk left to right so I can open the door for him.....he doesnt scream for attention as I walk out the room if he screams for attention....

Thanks again

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Amjaid

its so nice to read someone else talking abut Gizmo, its my first post on this forum and just feels really nice to be able to talk about Gizmo.

I know what you mean. Other people just don't understand when you talk about your IRN!

All IRNs have their own personalities... and I only have two and they are still quite young... so I wouldn't call myself an expert. I can tell you the changes that I have observed in mine as they mature... but it doesn't follow that the same will happen to you. Here are the things I have noticed.... most of them are good. Sorry if my previous message scared you

Janey (currently 2 years old):
- trusts us more
- has bonded quite strongly with my husband (had a stronger bond with me when she was a baby)
- screams more - I think she is trying to call to my husband
- makes a wider range of noises & can talk
- bites our ears less (when on the shoulder)
- we can communicate better
- is more willful. (she has always been willful but it is getting worse with age... maybe it's because we are softies?) For example, she knows how to step up and step down and knows when we want her to do it but will only do it when it suits her
- is harder to get back in her cage
- she has always been a bit of a biter and when she bites she bites hard. She seems to have a policy of "bit first, ask questions later". She bites us far less now but when she does, boy do we know about it!
- Janey knows her name - she will look up when we say her name... and she can say her name. I think she thinks that her name is just a word she can use to call us... When she is looking for us, she will run along the floor yelling "Janey, Janey!"
- is very intelligent - we have taught her quite a few tricks
- anxious - She can get anxious especially when she knows my husband is around but she can't see him. When she is anxious I can't really interact with her... as she is too on-edge. I have to wait for her to calm down.
- loves pattings - she didn't like this when she was younger.
- when Janey was a baby, she didn't make any noise until we were out of bed. Now, she will squark earlier (although thankfully she waits till a couple of hours after sun up!)

Charlie (currently 1 year old):
- is noisier than he was when he was younger (although Janey is still noisier than him)
- can talk
- Charlie does not bite as hard as Janey but I think he may be going through a bit of bluffing... we get the occasional bite from him. We rarely had one when he was younger.
- is starting to learn more - he is gradually learning more tricks but he is still slower than Janey to pick them up - it may be because he is younger or because Janey has had longer with us


They are just a few things that I have noticed. All I was trying to say in my previous email is that just like human babies mature into toddlers and then into children and then into adults... birds also undergo this process. Just as with children, having a strong relationship with them when they are young (and it sounds like you are establishing a great one with Gizmo already) will be helpful for when they mature.

Best wishes!

Ellie.

[Amjaid]

Hi Ellie,

Wow your birds sound amazing!

I wasnt sure if I could keep two ringnecks together as I heard people say its difficult to tame but yours sound perfect! Has Janey and charlie bonded as a pair? do they fight at all?

Gizmo has never really bitten hard like some people talk about drawing blood....if he is annoyed and makes a angry sound and bites its more like a warning then a reall hard bite...everytime he starts to bite hard when playing with my finger i just bring him to my eye level and give him a stern look and he just freezes.....i got big ears so scared to put him on my shoulder as im sure he will start to explore...lol

Im not sure if gizmo is male or female...but im really worried that I heard that when females mature they can start laying eggs and can be very stressfull and they can fall ill.....i just want to make sure gizmo is always healthy.....i cant wait to finish work and go home to gizmo and start our evening training sessions....gizmo is makein al sorts of funny noises when i talk to him, sometimes like a squeeky toy and sometime light squirky sounds...is he trying to talk?

Thanks again Ellie...

ps...i'd love to see pictures of Janey and Charlie...

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Amjaid

I love Janey & Charlie dearly... but they are far from perfect (but then again, neither am I!).

I wasnt sure if I could keep two ringnecks together as I heard people say its difficult to tame but yours sound perfect! Has Janey and Charlie bonded as a pair? do they fight at all?

We worked really hard at our relationship with Janey before we bought Charlie. There were a couple of reasons we decided to get Charlie:
- Janey was starting to pick her feathers. She may have just been preening aggressively or going through an uncomfortable moult because she didn't have any bald patches yet.... but I wondered if she had a playmate whether this would stop this before... and so far it has worked.
- If we waited any longer to get a second one, there would be a big age difference.
- Our local pet store had a particular breeding pair that are known to produce good, tame baby birds.

When we brought them home, we went through various stages before we let them cohabitate in the one cage. It was probably about two months before they started cohabitating. We introduced them to each other very gradually.

I don't know if they are completely bonded to each other yet... but I think they are. Whilst we have had them both DNA sexed and they are supposed to be male and female, DNA sexing isn't 100% accurate.... so we're not completely sure yet. They show the following signs of being bonded:
- regurgitating - Janey usually regurgitates to Charlie but occasionally (and it has been getting more frequent of late) he will regurgitate to her too
- the "love dance" - Charlie seems to be running from side to side around Janey holding his wings out, standing up straight and pinning his eyes
- sometimes Janey bites Charlies feet when she is in "patting" mode. I think she may be trying to direct him to the mating position... but he doesn't seem to understand... and just stands on her head
- When out of the cage, Charlie follows Janey everywhere. They don't spend a lot of time on the floor but when Janey crawls to the floor and decides to go for an explore, Charlie will be right on her heels and follow her around.
- Sometimes they eat the left over feed from the other's beak (or steal food as they are eating it).

Do they fight? Yes, they do. At the moment, Charlie seems to be dominant (although I've read that normally the female is dominant, so maybe that will change as they age?). In the cage I notice that Janey will watch where he is and try to get out of his way when she sees him coming. Whilst I wish this wasn't the case, the cage is quite big and she can usually get out of his way pretty easily. A couple of times I have seen Charlie bite Janey when out of the cage... so I put him back in the cage on his own for a while or let Janey come to me when he does that. This is reasonably rare though. Janey will sometimes bite him back but I have never seen her do it unprovoked. Having said that, last week Charlie had a little bit of blood on one of his feathers... but I'm not sure where it came from... I only noticed it after we had a shower.

So whilst you can see it's not all positive, overall, I would say getting Charlie has been a positive experience for Janey and I think they will get along better as time progresses. It was a bit risky getting a bird that was a year younger than her because she was going through puberty whilst he was still a baby.

It is more difficult to train the birds when you have two but it is possible. I think Janey learnt more tricks more quickly than Charlie. It could be because she is more intelligent but it is more likely because we had more one-on-one time together.

Gizmo has never really bitten hard like some people talk about drawing blood....if he is annoyed and makes a angry sound and bites its more like a warning then a reall hard bite...everytime he starts to bite hard when playing with my finger i just bring him to my eye level and give him a stern look and he just freezes.....i got big ears so scared to put him on my shoulder as im sure he will start to explore...lol

I'm glad that the stern look works for you. I hope it continues to work as Gizmo gets older... and it may continue to work, you just never know. I personally believe that it is probably better not to allow the birds on the shoulder and we started with that policy with Janey... but we found her soooooo wilful that we gave in.... perhaps we should have perservered... but it would be difficult to stop it now. Sometimes I find it handy though. It means they can be on my shoulder and I my hands are free to go about my daily chores. I have long hair and I defintely get less ear bites than my husband... although I get my share too!

.gizmo is makein al sorts of funny noises when i talk to him, sometimes like a squeeky toy and sometime light squirky sounds...is he trying to talk?

When Janey was a baby, she would make all sorts of noises, I think she was working out what noises she could actually make. Eventually she learn a few words and has a small repertoire of phrases. She would especially make these noises when she was dropping off to sleep.

ps...i'd love to see pictures of Janey and Charlie...

You can see pics and vids of Janey & Charlie @
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =5&t=10859
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... 11&t=10913

hanks again Ellie...

You're welcome.

Keep enjoying your time with Gizmo!

Ellie.

[pinkdevil]

Hi Amjaid, welcome to the forum.

What a sweet looking birdie you have there, and even I am jealous of the size of his cage!!
I could live in that.

It is great to read people put so much time, effort and love into their pets like you have. Too many animals are ignored, neglected or abused these days.
I am sure Gizmo knows just how much you all love him.

Sounds like you are on the right path if you are getting positive results from Gizmo in such a short amount of time. Way to go!

From what I understand, not all girls will lay eggs if no partner, so I would not be too concerned about it for the moment. Besides, if Gizmo was a girl, she possibly would not even think about laying for at least another 2 years yet.

Keep up the good work.

[Amjaid]

Thank you Pinkdevil for your kind words.....people at work think i've gone crazy....and so I dint want them to think i've gone completey mad so I really needed to sign up to this forum...somewhere I can share my stories and talk about Gizmo...thnak you for your advice regarding the eggs

[pinkdevil]

lol Yes I think a few people out there think those of us who talk about our feathered and fur babies with pride, look at us with a "you have gone mad" expression.
But I just keep talkin' 'bout my babies!