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Hi, we've got an IRN, called Ziggy. We speculate he's around 7-8 mos. old. When we first got him he was quite vocal in the mornings and evenings and liked to be on his top perch so he could see what was going on. For the last 1.5 weeks though he's gotten very quiet, won't go up to the top perch, and he sleeps a lot; even shortly after waking up in the morning he soon takes a nap. Today he made almost no noise at all upon waking and he also seems to be eating very little. Ziggy just seems depressed lately and we're getting worried. We think he may be lacking in vitamins. We have vitamin and mineral fortified food, but he seems to prefer millet. Should we remove the millet from his cage as I know it's sort of "parrot junk food"? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated as we're pretty new at this.
-Phil in Ireland

Are you giving him plenty of veges? I give mine millet but I give them fresh fruit & veges too.

Ellie.

Yes, mostly apples, grapes, etc.

Anyone else have any suggestions-I know there are people out there with more experience than ourselves so any advice and suggestions would be welcome.

It's important to give them veges, not just fruit. In fact you should give them more veges than fruit because fruit is so high in sugar.

Ellie.

IRN's need lots of fruit and veggies. A lot of variety as well so they dont get bored by what they are eating.

Do you give him lots of toys? And rotate them regulary so he gets new things to play with?

I have never heard of a bird being depressed though, usually when animals are depressed they wont do anything at all, but your bird sounds very tired which is a sign of illness so i would take it to a vet straight away.

has the weather/temperature changed there in the last 2 weeks?

If you're worries about nutrition, apples and grapes are lower on the scale of nutritional value. Try colourful veggies like peppers, carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potato. Vitamin A deficiency is the most common in pet birds and is best fought by feeding foods higher in beta carotene (orange/red veggies).
Suggested food list and links to recipes and information: http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... f=3&t=8078

As Julie said, temperature can change too. Hane has been sleeping more now that there's a little chill. Though he hasn't had a decrease in diet. I do warm his food for him on colder days.

Thanks everyone for the advice. We'll try more veggies and less apples, etc. Also, yes the temperature has dropped considerably and we've got snow and freezing temps now. (really weird for Ireland!)

keep an eye on him but i would say its the weather change. They are generally more active in the warmer weather.

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice. Happy to report that Ziggy is doing way better and back to his normal self now! We've gone to more vegetable-loves broccoli, peppers, pomegranate-and also started mixing some vitamin supplement in with his food.
He's now full of energy, playing around his cage and making a good deal of racket as well.
Cheers!
Phil & Justyna (Ireland)