Finally got him!

[Xenobia]

Here's our new baby with no name yet. Sitting on my head.
I let him get up there if he's been good at doing his step ups.


He was recently weaned and came to us from a breeder in Georgia.
He was terrified when I picked him up at the airport Saturday, but he's been getting used to his new home gradually.
Today he actually ate & preened while I was sitting next to him & he's learning to step up very nicely.

A few questions:

Maybe I'm just impatient, but he seems to be a bit shy and will sometimes just freeze when you come near the cage. Is this normal for a weanling IRN who's only been in his new home for five days? He was hand raised and socialized with people and other baby birds. Do you think it's just the shock of going to a new environment? He likes playing peek games where I look at him and look away when he looks back. That makes him shake out and wag his tail.

Also he has not made a single noise that I've heard besides beak grinding. Are IRNs usually this quiet?

All in all he seems happy - he fluffs, tail wags, stretches, and grinds his beak. Today he was also preening the fluff on his boing. He eats and drinks well. He's eating Zupreem, because that's what the breeder fed him, but I plan on switching him over to Harrisons & Roudybush gradually.

Anyone have any advice on making my shy bird a bit more comfortable?

[Xenobia]

Anyone?

Any tips at all?

[Mikaela]

Hun:
I am far from a pro as a am a mother of an 8 week IRN. I got her a week ago. I can tell you this... although she flies or climbs from her cage to chill with me, she still shakes sometimes when I talk to her. She may be still a little scared of me or she may be so excited to see me.

I can tell now I have a VERY sensitive bird. Either by nature or individuality, she is very easily hurt (her feelings). If I say NO (firmly, never loudly) it hurts her feelings (or pisses or off, havent decided yet) to the point she will literally turn her back on me! *perk* Very nice for me to learn of her because now when she is a bad gir, l I literally turn my back to her and she HATES it. She starts cooing and trying to be cute. Remember, our new babies have the mind of a two yr old and the power to manipulate as the best Ex-wife out there haha. If she is smart enough to snub me, she is smart enough to know when she is being subbed and IRN's WONT be snubbed lol.


I have found the love of my life. I know that sounds retarded but I love her so much. I have to love her from afar as she gives nasty bites but one day all of that will stop. I read something from a webpage I run across here that said "All of this work is worth it because at the end of the day only a bird will say "I Love You". Brought tears to my eyes... so true.

Good luck on your new baby and name. I went with Lil' India. I let her choose her name by her reactions to different ways I said them. India makes her bop from one end of the pirch to the other so India it becme.

[Lynne Watts]

Hi Xenobia,
I love the picture of your new baby. you're lucky to have a hand tame one as i have a 16 week old that is not hand tame and quite the biter. She got ill during the holiday weekend while we were away so the vet put her on antibiotics which means i have to handle her twice a day and in a way that she doesn't like. I'm waiting till she's fully recovered to start my hand taming. We've had alot going on since I got her and unfortunately I haven't had enough time to spend hand taming. I thought she would at least step up when I got her so I wasn't expecting this. I love her very dearly non the less. She plays a game with me when she's on her play top. She looks over the side to make sure I'm looking (I have her cage behind my computer chair so I am with her while on the computer) then she grabs a toy and throws it over the side and waits for me to pick it up. She does this about 6 or 7 times and then moves on to other things. It's funny as her favorite toy to throw over is almost as big as she is and it's funny to watch her drag it over and lift it up and over the top of the cage. Ringnecks are the funniest creatures to watch during play time. My sister in law is into conures, but she was watching my ringneck (Asia) playing and commented on how beautiful her form is and that she'd never seen a bird look so awesome during play time, the way she cocks her head and gets silly.
Anyway, your baby will be quiet for probably about 2 weeks and maybe more. Once she starts a talken it never ends LOL. I bought a plumhead parakeet with my IRN and they are caged together since they've been together in the same cage since almost birth. My IRN makes quiet plumhead sounds instead of IRN sounds. She just makes quiet squeaks here and there. I have an older IRN in another room, but she doesn't answer her. Also Ringnecks seem more nervous about new situations so that may make your baby quiet for a while.
Best of luck
Lynne

[carrie]

Hi Xenobia
I am not much of an expert either but have had my irn for six months now. At first she was very shy and quiet but after a couple of weeks she settled. Now she runs the house and barely shuts up! Trust me, enjoy this quiet time because once they start sqwaking there is no going back. She screams in the morning to make sure we know she's up, screams if she hears the fridge open or the microwave start (this means food is about), screams at dinner time - in fact screams most of the time....
The first noise I heard come out of her was little squeaks of pleasure when I gently scratched her around the back of the neck - so sweet.