Hello,
We love Skittles so much that we are considering adding a second Indian Ringneck to our family. I know I have the time and space for 2, I want to get advice from people that have more than one bird....do they get along? do I need to keep them separated? will they not spend time with us if there are two of them? (I am very attached to spending a few minutes in the mornings with Skittles)
I had a quaker in the past that had been attacked by another quaker, I dont want birds that might fight and hurt each other.
thanks for the advice!
considering another baby...
Moderator: Mods
considering another baby...
Skittles and her mommy
I recently got another ringie because like you, I decided one isn't enough. 
Anakin, the lutino in my sig, is our second ever ringie.
You'll want to either get a baby from a very reputable breeder or a rehome from someone with no other birds but the one ringie to ensure you've got the best chances at acquiring a healthy bird. You could also try a rescue. I opted not to do a rescue because I felt a baby would be easier to introduce to my oldest.
The first thing you'll want to do when you bring home the new birdie is quarantine it. I didn't really quarantine Anakin. There was no space in the apartment my husband and I were living in. I did take a gamble though, but the breeder's conditions Anakin came from were immaculately clean. I assumed it was safe. It's best if you can quarantine in a completely separate airspace from Skittles. Quarantining should last about 6 weeks.
Skye (turquoise in my sig) is around 14-15 months old. He was a year old when we introduced him to Anakin. Anakin is the baby, at around 4 months old. When you do the introductions, it's important to introduce them on neutral territory. That's what we did. The first week or two will be a bit rocky just so you know. My two are now able to play together no problem and they even share a large cage. (don't recommend you try to have them share a cage. If you decide to try that in the future, let me know and I'll help you there. It took mine a month to get comfortable enough with each other to share a cage) Skye is the dominant bird, so I made sure not to mess that up by bringing home an older bird that could knock him off his pedestal. Is Skittles a male or a female or do you know? You may have a problem introducing any bird to a female. Females can be mean. Skye is a boy, so introducing a younger female to him could work ok, but I opted for another boy. Boys tend to be a bit more laid back.
I don't know how much you know about birds, so if you know this I'm sorry and ignore this. When you do pick out your birdie, if you go to a breeder, ask to get a look at the parents of the chick you're interested. If the breeder says no like Anakin's breeder, that means it's a closed aviary and most likely clean and healthy and disease free. Anakin's breeder went into great detail about how she treated (weren't really sick, just preventing it) her entire flock of outdoor birds one summer from the West Nile Virus. When you hear that kind of thing from the breeder, it's 99% of cases a healthy environment. I got a good look and played with all 4 of her babies and none had any sign of anything wrong with them. Look for things like scaly face mites (feathers on forehead looking really messy; super flaky beak and feet), nose discharge (a tiny bit of clear is most likely fine, as my two get that after a good drenching bath. It's just water), healthy looking poop (shouldn't be too runny and should have 3 distinct separate parts and should NOT smell at all).
Rescues are most likely fine, but there are some iffy ones out there. If you decide on a rescue and pick your bird, you could often ask to see vet history, if there's anything to see.
I was originally set on getting a boy, for reasons explained above, but I ended up bringing home the bird my husband and I fell in love with. I got Anakin DNA sexed and he ended up being male anyways. We got lucky.
So basically here's 4 important things to remember from my long rambling post:
1. while at the breeder/rescue check health of the bird and the others in the facility
2. when you decide on a bird and take it home, quarantine it. Don't take my experience as an example. I gambled and got lucky.
3. when quarantine is up, introduce birds to each other on neutral territory (any room the bird isn't used to). Expect some squabbling. Don't panick and separate straight away unless they're really really fighting and getting into it. Keeping the new bird in a separate room but still in ear shot from the first bird often gets them interested in enough in each other that when they do finally meet, they'll be pretty interested in each other and it wont be a huge shock for them.
4. spend time with them individually and together.
Good luck and I hope i helped at least a little bit! I wanna see pics if/when you get another bird!
Anakin, the lutino in my sig, is our second ever ringie. You'll want to either get a baby from a very reputable breeder or a rehome from someone with no other birds but the one ringie to ensure you've got the best chances at acquiring a healthy bird. You could also try a rescue. I opted not to do a rescue because I felt a baby would be easier to introduce to my oldest.
The first thing you'll want to do when you bring home the new birdie is quarantine it. I didn't really quarantine Anakin. There was no space in the apartment my husband and I were living in. I did take a gamble though, but the breeder's conditions Anakin came from were immaculately clean. I assumed it was safe. It's best if you can quarantine in a completely separate airspace from Skittles. Quarantining should last about 6 weeks.
Skye (turquoise in my sig) is around 14-15 months old. He was a year old when we introduced him to Anakin. Anakin is the baby, at around 4 months old. When you do the introductions, it's important to introduce them on neutral territory. That's what we did. The first week or two will be a bit rocky just so you know. My two are now able to play together no problem and they even share a large cage. (don't recommend you try to have them share a cage. If you decide to try that in the future, let me know and I'll help you there. It took mine a month to get comfortable enough with each other to share a cage) Skye is the dominant bird, so I made sure not to mess that up by bringing home an older bird that could knock him off his pedestal. Is Skittles a male or a female or do you know? You may have a problem introducing any bird to a female. Females can be mean. Skye is a boy, so introducing a younger female to him could work ok, but I opted for another boy. Boys tend to be a bit more laid back.
I don't know how much you know about birds, so if you know this I'm sorry and ignore this.
When you do pick out your birdie, if you go to a breeder, ask to get a look at the parents of the chick you're interested. If the breeder says no like Anakin's breeder, that means it's a closed aviary and most likely clean and healthy and disease free. Anakin's breeder went into great detail about how she treated (weren't really sick, just preventing it) her entire flock of outdoor birds one summer from the West Nile Virus. When you hear that kind of thing from the breeder, it's 99% of cases a healthy environment. I got a good look and played with all 4 of her babies and none had any sign of anything wrong with them. Look for things like scaly face mites (feathers on forehead looking really messy; super flaky beak and feet), nose discharge (a tiny bit of clear is most likely fine, as my two get that after a good drenching bath. It's just water), healthy looking poop (shouldn't be too runny and should have 3 distinct separate parts and should NOT smell at all). Rescues are most likely fine, but there are some iffy ones out there. If you decide on a rescue and pick your bird, you could often ask to see vet history, if there's anything to see.
I was originally set on getting a boy, for reasons explained above, but I ended up bringing home the bird my husband and I fell in love with. I got Anakin DNA sexed and he ended up being male anyways. We got lucky.
So basically here's 4 important things to remember from my long rambling post
: 1. while at the breeder/rescue check health of the bird and the others in the facility
2. when you decide on a bird and take it home, quarantine it. Don't take my experience as an example. I gambled and got lucky.
3. when quarantine is up, introduce birds to each other on neutral territory (any room the bird isn't used to). Expect some squabbling. Don't panick and separate straight away unless they're really really fighting and getting into it. Keeping the new bird in a separate room but still in ear shot from the first bird often gets them interested in enough in each other that when they do finally meet, they'll be pretty interested in each other and it wont be a huge shock for them.
4. spend time with them individually and together.
Good luck and I hope i helped at least a little bit! I wanna see pics if/when you get another bird!
I have indie in with Mika (alex). I would strongly suggest having a spare cage to seperate them if you need to, some will do fine with a cage mate and others dont do well at all. I had Mika and spike (irn) in the same cage and it was lucky that mika could handle the little she devil, but indie wouldnt have handled her at all. It just comes done to the personality of the irns involved, if one is stronger willed than the other there is the potential for one to pick on the other.