We need advise! please help!

[Nicole]

We have been thinking about getting our ringneck (Meeko) a friend for a while. (we have had her for 2 1/2 years now) She hasn't been around other birds much. We bought her from a pet store and they told us they had only had her from there breeder for about a week before we bought her. We have had her around other birds one time since the pet store...a friend of mine has birds and we took Meeko to her house for a "playdate". Meeko wasn't scared of the other birds at all.

Anyway, we recently bought a red headed amazon and it isn't/didn't work out... to start we put Meeko's cage in our bedroom (it has been there before) and we put the new amazons cage in our spare room (where meeko was)...i also should mention she is obsessed with my boyfriend, she has to be with him all the time or she will yell and he is the only one she will really let pet her or anything. if she does let me pet her he has to be sitting very close....

so, when we got home with the amazon Meeko started trowing up...she has never done this before. She has done the regurgitation thing before but she never brought anything up before. this continued for 2 days, to the point that she had nothing left in her. at one point she drank a bunch of water and then threw it all back up. we called a bunch of local vets and they all said it was probably the stress of the new bird. after the throwing up stopped things settled down and the amazon started warming up to my boyfriend (the bird whisperer LOL) and not me. also since he has been home, Meeko has not been herself...meaning she used to whistle and make different noises and she is not doing this at all now. she has always preened a lot but now it seems like she is preening a lot more because her one wing is looking scruffy... also all she wants to do is go after the amazon and try to bite/fight him anytime they are around each other. we don't know if it is because she is jealous of the amazon getting attention or his size or what...

All of this has really scared us, Meeko is like our baby, so we decided to sell the amazon back...we need advise!

Do you think Meeko will ever get along with another bird since we have had her alone for so long (and she is so attached to my boyfriend)?
And if we would try again would it be ok to get another ringneck? we have been told they will turn "wild" and not want to interact with people. and if not a ringneck what kind of bird?

Please Help! Thank you!!

[Enephis]

As far as I know, IRNs are okay with another bird as long as it's a ringneck. So, yes, it would be okay to get another one. I don't believe they would turn 'wild' as you say, as long as you keep interacting with them, but it will take more of your time.

I don't recommend getting another species. My cockatiel loves my ringneck, but the IRN gets vampiric urges when too close to the 'tiel.

[Nicole]

You don't think it matters that we have had her alone for so long?? Also do you think the sex of the other ringneck would matter?

[mikeb]

if the bird you have now is female it would be best to get a male. two females will likely not get along when breeding time comes along

[ellieelectrons]

We bought Janey as a handraised baby from a breeder. When she was about a year and a half old we decided to get a second bird - another handraised baby, Charlie. We kept them separate at first and did all the slow introductions and now they get along pretty well. They regurgitate to each other, Charlie does the male dance.... and they've been experimenting with sexual positions but don't seem to go any further than that yet... it is a bit of a problem introducing a second bird that is so much younger but it seems to be working ok in our case.... there was also the worry that the DNA sexing was wrong (Charlie still doesn't have his ring yet). However, there are no guarantees that they will get along but it seems to have worked for us. Interacting with and training two tame birds is definitely more difficult but I personally wanted Janey to have a companion. Janey continues to be extremely attached to my husband and Charlie is extremely attached to Janey (panics if she's in another room) and I'd say they're both reasonably tame despite being together all the time.

So, I would encourage it, however you need to be aware that there are no guarantees that they will get along and you need to be prepared to put the time in with both of them to keep them tame.

Ellie.