Is he set in his ways?

[Colleen]

Hi everybody!
My name is Colleen, I have been looking at all of the information you give to people and I think it is amazing.

I got my IRN in March. I have never owned a bird before, but decided to get one because I cannot have a cat or dog in the apartment. I found my IRN at a pet store and fell in love instantly! They told me that he was almost 1 year old, but when it came time to take him home they told me he was 2 years old. At first, he was hard to handle, bit all of the time. He still bites a little, but not hard at all....Such a difference! He is even giving kisses now. The problem for me is, he will not leave his cage. I try to take him to other parts of the apartment, but within minutes he goes right back to the cage. He has a play gym on top of the cage, so he is either there or inside. I would love for him to sit with me, but he gets scared, screams, and goes to his cage. Is it possible that he will come around?

Also, I am trying to teach him to speak, the pet store said he was "almost ready" to talk, but, since they lied about his age, I don't know if this is a lie too. I kind of feel like they would tell me anything to sell him. I think he may be trying to speak, but I don't know the difference between him trying to talk and regular bird noises since this is my first experience with a bird. My only concern is that he is past the age where he will learn to talk. Either way, I love him to pieces.

Is it possible that he will come around or will he stay set in his ways?

Thanks for all of the help you give to people! It is appreciated!

Thanks,
Colleen

[ringneck]

LoL!!! Don’t worry. I laugh at people when they say wild ringnecks cannot be trained. This is untrue and another myth about ringnecks published. I bet you did not know that wild IRNs overseas are avid talkers. When I would visit overseas I saw many wild caught ringnecks that were tame and loved their human companions.

It all depends on how well you tame the bird. The key is patience patience patience!

Also don’t worry about him trying to get to his cage. What you might want to do is interact with him by the cage until he is ready to leave the cage. The cage is a comfort zone for him.

Place treats away from the cage and on you until your sure the bird is completely satisfied being away from the cage. You have to remember he was probably kept in that cage for a long time without interaction.

Just keep doing fun activities that your bird enjoys away from the cage and he will come around.

Hope this helps,

I am away from home at the moment and very tired so please for give my typos! It’s 1:34 in the morning;)

Good luck and hope this helps!

I.C.

[LAAnnie]

My bird is the same, she likes to stay close to her cage. In the morning she waits for me to remove the cover, open the cage & set up her perch on top. Then she stays there most of the day. If I take her away from the cage too long, she gets nervous and tries to fly right back.

I don't mind, really. That way I know she's not wandering around getting into trouble.