prospective IRN mum, long-time tiel mum

[kirthefierce]

Hi everyone!

I stumbled upon this wonderful website the other day and fell in love. I've been interested in adopting or fostering an IRN for a while now because I love their little personalities.

I'm currently owned by an 8 year old cockatiel named Vlad that I raised since he was 6 months old, and "the old man", a 23 year old cockatiel named Heartsong that was given to me over a year ago. Heartsong is cage bound as he was traumatized when he was younger, and Vlad has free rule of the condo when I'm home and is your typical "mama's boy". They both are housed in separate cages that are close together so they can talk to each other while I'm at work.

My questions about IRNs are pretty simple, but I'm hoping y'all could answer or even point me in the direction of a website that could help. I have allergies to cats and dogs, and mild controlled asthma so I understand that I can't have cockatoos or "powder birds", do IRNs fall into this category? Also, I work 8 hours of my day Tuesday through Saturday, this doesn't seem to hurt the tiels, but I've read that IRNs aren't very fond of being left alone and it could lead to behavioral problems and plucking issues... Would you recommend maybe when I get an IRN taking some time off work to bond and get it used to its surroundings? Also with gender, since the birds in my household are male would it be best to get a male or do you think that would cause more problems? I would like to avoid dealing with egg laying and the like since my childhood tiel died from laying too many eggs.

One more question, the biggest one actually... Will having an IRN out of its cage while having my young tiel out too (even though they're supervised) cause problems? Will the IRN be a danger to the tiel? I've seen a lot of youtube videos with different bird species out of their cages at the same time, even IRNs and others, but I just want to be sure. I'm also worried that Vlad will get jealous, is there any way for me to maybe nudge things away from that direction?

Thanks in advance! I'm really glad I found this wonderful site.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi & welcome to the forum!

I have allergies to cats and dogs, and mild controlled asthma so I understand that I can't have cockatoos or "powder birds", do IRNs fall into this category?

IRNs do release dander when they preen and some people will be allergic to it. I don't know how the quantity compares to cockatoos. I know after my recent vet visit I had dander all over the back of my shirt as our two retreated to the back of my neck to try to hide from the vet.

lso, I work 8 hours of my day Tuesday through Saturday, this doesn't seem to hurt the tiels, but I've read that IRNs aren't very fond of being left alone and it could lead to behavioral problems and plucking issues... Would you recommend maybe when I get an IRN taking some time off work to bond and get it used to its surroundings? Also with gender, since the birds in my household are male would it be best to get a male or do you think that would cause more problems? I would like to avoid dealing with egg laying and the like since my childhood tiel died from laying too many eggs.

All birds are individuals and some will be fine and others won't. However, I think getting two birds helps keep them occupied and having plenty of enrichment in the cage is good - foraging and toys. I would suggest you continue along the theme of getting males and if you are thinking about getting two, two male IRNs will usually get along fine but two females will not especially during breeding season.

One more question, the biggest one actually... Will having an IRN out of its cage while having my young tiel out too (even though they're supervised) cause problems? Will the IRN be a danger to the tiel? I've seen a lot of youtube videos with different bird species out of their cages at the same time, even IRNs and others, but I just want to be sure. I'm also worried that Vlad will get jealous, is there any way for me to maybe nudge things away from that direction?

Once again, this is very bird specific - it does depend on the bird. Vlad may get jealous but unfortunately you can only gauge this once you get the new bird and have extremely closely supervised play sessions when they are out of the cage at first. When I brought our second bird home, we didn't let them out at the same time for quite some time and then it was extremely well supervised... and I more or less went at their pace. In our case, I wasn't going to let them cohabitate so soon but our second bird seemed determined to get into the other bird's cage... so we supervised it well and, thankfully, all went well.

Well done for doing your homework.

I'm sure others will have something to add here as I only have experience with my two birds and they are both IRNs.

Best wishes.

Ellie.

[kirthefierce]

Ellie,

Thank you for replying! I'm sure there are a lot of threads and posts to look at so I'm grateful you took the time to reply to mine. Tiels have a lot of dander too, but I think I read somewhere that cockatoos and african greys have the type of skin that "sloughs" off a lot so that's why they're redlight asthma birds. Asked a lady down the street who does bird rescue, and she said IRNs should be okay for people with allergies and asthma, especially if I use a HEPA filter vacuum and change my air filter in the A/C unit regularly.

I was thinking about getting just one IRN, since I have other birds in the house. Even though they're in separate cages, I don't think that should make a difference in them being social while I'm at work?

How old are your two IRNs? Is that them in your profile avatar? Did you raise them from babies or are they "rehomes"? I was thinking about going through my friend's rescue contacts to get an IRN that needs a good home.. I've heard there's a lot that goes with that as with anything that's had a less than optimal life being thrust into a new situation.

Again thanks for the reply and information.

Happy holidays! Kirsten.

[ellieelectrons]

I was thinking about getting just one IRN, since I have other birds in the house. Even though they're in separate cages, I don't think that should make a difference in them being social while I'm at work?

I think having them in separate cages is still some companionship for them although I suspect having a 2 birds of the same species that get along in the same cage is ideal... but I'm sure if the birds are friends, being able to interact in separate cages is better than nothing. A lot of people keep lone birds and swear by it... and we had a lone bird for 1 year before we got our second.

How old are your two IRNs? Is that them in your profile avatar? Did you raise them from babies or are they "rehomes"? I was thinking about going through my friend's rescue contacts to get an IRN that needs a good home.. I've heard there's a lot that goes with that as with anything that's had a less than optimal life being thrust into a new situation.

I have a three year old (Janey, blue IRN) and a two year old (Charlie, lutino IRN) and yes, that's them in my profile avatar. We got Janey from the breeder at 6 weeks just before she was flying fully and we got Charlie from the breeder at about 9 weeks. Both were handraised although I suspect Charlie didn't get as much handling as Janey did at the breeder's place. Charlie was really scared of us when we first got him home but he settled down within about a month. We knew very little about the breed when we got Janey - we hand picked Charlie from a particular breeder because we had seen other birds with the same parents that were extremely tame and loved being around people. Charlie's father is also really tame. Janey is more dependent on humans for companionship than Charlie. Charlie likes us but so long as he's got Janey, he's happy... which to be honest, I think is healthier for the bird.

I think getting a bird from a rescue is admirable... but potentially, it will be a lot harder to turn into a tame companion (if that's what you're after) - however, I believe that with patience, respect, gentleness and time, I believe that all birds will improve their level of trust.


I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.

I have posted some videos of Jany & Charlie on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ellieelectrons

Ellie.