I've known about ringnecks birds for a while now, though I've only recently been in a position to obtain one.
I used to be the caretaker of a two Cockatiels and two Quaker parrots for a number of years and I absolutely adored them all. So I feel a lot more confidant about new birds, but I want to learn more about the Indian Ringneck before I jump into purchasing one.
I've taken the time to read over a few articles on the site and they have been very helpful. Though I also like to hear people's personal takes on the species! Perhaps some who knows quakers as well might be able to give me a good comparison?
To me quakers were very hande-able birds, they had their odd habits but they felt comfortable with me as long as I handled them and provided the needed attention. If I was to get a ringneck I would hope that the species would be similar in those aspects. What appeals me about the indian ringneck is that they appear to like puzzles and sometimes more complex interactions then the quakers. I loved the quakers, though sometimes I would call them dumb as a term of endearment.
I appreciate any input!
New to Ringnecks
Moderator: Mods
Re: New to Ringnecks
I don't have much on quakers (they were always so LOUD to me) but I can share a little bit about life with my IRN.
Hane gets bored. He likes to have something to do all the time. I had to initiate a foraging program greater than I had before because he took up feather picking. He's quiet and enjoys playing with his toys. His favourite toy right now is acrylic with a ball in it that he can't get out- keeps him occupied for minutes at a time. Hane quickly figured out the Mazey Munch toy and how to get the nutriberries to the bottom in no time at all. I have to tie square knots into anything to keep him busy untying his toys (and make it take longer for him to take them apart).
He is eternally curious and always wants to come over to see what I am doing and always wants a taste of what I eat. He is dog aggressive and never backs down. Hane is stubborn and knows how to glare and tolerates petting/scratching most days. I believe his favourite activity is eating. He is a most frustrating a wonderful pet.
Hane gets bored. He likes to have something to do all the time. I had to initiate a foraging program greater than I had before because he took up feather picking. He's quiet and enjoys playing with his toys. His favourite toy right now is acrylic with a ball in it that he can't get out- keeps him occupied for minutes at a time. Hane quickly figured out the Mazey Munch toy and how to get the nutriberries to the bottom in no time at all. I have to tie square knots into anything to keep him busy untying his toys (and make it take longer for him to take them apart).
He is eternally curious and always wants to come over to see what I am doing and always wants a taste of what I eat. He is dog aggressive and never backs down. Hane is stubborn and knows how to glare and tolerates petting/scratching most days. I believe his favourite activity is eating. He is a most frustrating a wonderful pet.
I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
Re: New to Ringnecks
I can only agree with Melika.
Our boys always had toys but I would rarely catch them playing with them. They loved natural branches to strip it of it's bark so it got me a bit worried they were getting bored.
Then one day I decided to get them a small baffle cage. http://www.busybeaks.com/63026-7_SS_nut_cage.htm
At first they weren't to sure what to do but after 3 days I have to 'fight' them off so i can put it back in their cage with fresh food.
From there it was happy days.
We bought these foraging toys:
http://www.everythingbirdie.com/patofowh.html
http://www.everythingbirdie.com/subicrsntr.html
http://www.busybeaks.com/63078_sphere_forager.htm
and they can't get enough.
So we've advanced it a bit and they're happy pulling off the old keys off a keyboard and we've threaded some nuts with shells (eg cashews, macadamia, walnut) with a bit of the hard shell cut away so they can see the treat and they're stuck for hours trying to get the tasty nut out. I'd also wrap a peanut in a scrunched up newspaper and before the newspaper bounces for the second time they're onto it trying to get the treat.
Very clever birds that really thrive on challenges. Now I gotta work harder to come up with new puzzles which hurts my head
Our boys always had toys but I would rarely catch them playing with them. They loved natural branches to strip it of it's bark so it got me a bit worried they were getting bored.
Then one day I decided to get them a small baffle cage. http://www.busybeaks.com/63026-7_SS_nut_cage.htm
At first they weren't to sure what to do but after 3 days I have to 'fight' them off so i can put it back in their cage with fresh food.
From there it was happy days.
We bought these foraging toys:
http://www.everythingbirdie.com/patofowh.html
http://www.everythingbirdie.com/subicrsntr.html
http://www.busybeaks.com/63078_sphere_forager.htm
and they can't get enough.
So we've advanced it a bit and they're happy pulling off the old keys off a keyboard and we've threaded some nuts with shells (eg cashews, macadamia, walnut) with a bit of the hard shell cut away so they can see the treat and they're stuck for hours trying to get the tasty nut out. I'd also wrap a peanut in a scrunched up newspaper and before the newspaper bounces for the second time they're onto it trying to get the treat.
Very clever birds that really thrive on challenges. Now I gotta work harder to come up with new puzzles which hurts my head
Re: New to Ringnecks
Thanks for the advice, I've appreciated the advice and anything I can learn about these guys.
My original intention was only to get one, though I ended up picking up two of them about two weeks or so back. The house they were in and the conditions were pretty bad, so I hope I can kind of turn things around for them. From what I was told, they original came from a bird shop which closed, then the current owners were getting rid of them since their daughter didn't take interest to them. I was informed that they are 9 months old, which from some research into telling age I can believe that number.
The green one seems to be in perfect shape, though the yellow one I'm still a bit concerned about. When I was able to take a closer look I noticed that the yellow's left wing flight feathers has been ripped out. The feathers were just missing and the little stubby end showed amounts of dried blood. I wasn't able to get a story about what happened to him, though with the little dogs in the owner's house I assumed one of them got to him. Also, out of the two he was the one that initially acted the most stressed when I attempted to interact with them.
The birds came very untame, though I'm working on improving them every day. Originally they didn't want anything to do with people and I have a few large gashes in my hand to show for it. Below are the steps I've taken so far and how they have responded.
- First I got them to the house, both set up in a very large cage. They were provided water, pellets as well as cut up veggies. The cage was near my computer desk as well as next to a window. As I said, they didn't want anything to do with me and I can tell they were super stressed. I gave them some time to settle in before interacting with them.
- Not too long after I began with some towel interaction, taking one out of the cage, keeping them snug in the towel, then just sitting with them and talking with them softly. The green one always wanted to escape the towel, where the yellow one would eventually just stay still and look up at me. I did this for a few days and the green one eventually stopped biting at the towel if I had to go pick him up, this was awesome to see some progress.
- Inbetween the towel training, I ended up clipping their wings. They didn't fight all that had when I did it, and it allowed me to let them have a bit more freedom around the house. At this point I would take them to a closed room and let them wander around. I did this with them both individually.
- Although they had been warming up to being handled, they still didn't want anything to do with me and would still bite at my hands. So I decided to stop using the towel and just interact with my hands directly. I've certainly got a few hard bites that are still showing, but I have really been able to see their acceptance of my hand and the biting has toned down to more soft nips that don't hurt at all. Though a day or so in I decided to file down the tips on their beak which has improved the damage to my hand quite a bit.
- I was making progress with them, though I could tell that having them in the same cage might have been an issue. So a few days ago I ended up getting a separate cage and putting them in separate rooms of the house. They didn't seem too disturbed about this, though I could still tell they would have rather not been separated. After a day they began calling out to each other in the house every now and then, which I really don't mind.
This pretty much brings us up to present day. In the short time I've had them they have been slowly improving, though there is still a lot of taming and training to do.
Both of them still don't like it when I get too close to them in the cage, generally climbing to the other side of it. If I go to get them inside the cage, they generally will jump around and do anything they can to avoid my hand. On the up side I've gotten both to sit on my hand for a period of time, even the green one will sit on my shoulder if he can't find something to immediately jump too.
The big thing I'm trying to work on now is trying to give them treats. If I try to give them a treat, they will back away from, eventually fluttering off their cage if I get too close. So for now I'm showing them as stick little pumpkin seeds between their bars, hoping they will eventually associate it with me. My hope is that by establishing this, I can use it as a positive re-reinforcement, since I really don't have much at the moment with them.
Below are pictures of the two. They don't have official names though we have started called them Carrot and Lemon respectively. From what I can tell the green one is starting to develop a bit of a ring, so I believe he will be male. The yellow one, I'm not sure yet on the sex.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Kiro.roo/B ... hsW-v4yWLw#
My original intention was only to get one, though I ended up picking up two of them about two weeks or so back. The house they were in and the conditions were pretty bad, so I hope I can kind of turn things around for them. From what I was told, they original came from a bird shop which closed, then the current owners were getting rid of them since their daughter didn't take interest to them. I was informed that they are 9 months old, which from some research into telling age I can believe that number.
The green one seems to be in perfect shape, though the yellow one I'm still a bit concerned about. When I was able to take a closer look I noticed that the yellow's left wing flight feathers has been ripped out. The feathers were just missing and the little stubby end showed amounts of dried blood. I wasn't able to get a story about what happened to him, though with the little dogs in the owner's house I assumed one of them got to him. Also, out of the two he was the one that initially acted the most stressed when I attempted to interact with them.
The birds came very untame, though I'm working on improving them every day. Originally they didn't want anything to do with people and I have a few large gashes in my hand to show for it. Below are the steps I've taken so far and how they have responded.
- First I got them to the house, both set up in a very large cage. They were provided water, pellets as well as cut up veggies. The cage was near my computer desk as well as next to a window. As I said, they didn't want anything to do with me and I can tell they were super stressed. I gave them some time to settle in before interacting with them.
- Not too long after I began with some towel interaction, taking one out of the cage, keeping them snug in the towel, then just sitting with them and talking with them softly. The green one always wanted to escape the towel, where the yellow one would eventually just stay still and look up at me. I did this for a few days and the green one eventually stopped biting at the towel if I had to go pick him up, this was awesome to see some progress.
- Inbetween the towel training, I ended up clipping their wings. They didn't fight all that had when I did it, and it allowed me to let them have a bit more freedom around the house. At this point I would take them to a closed room and let them wander around. I did this with them both individually.
- Although they had been warming up to being handled, they still didn't want anything to do with me and would still bite at my hands. So I decided to stop using the towel and just interact with my hands directly. I've certainly got a few hard bites that are still showing, but I have really been able to see their acceptance of my hand and the biting has toned down to more soft nips that don't hurt at all. Though a day or so in I decided to file down the tips on their beak which has improved the damage to my hand quite a bit.
- I was making progress with them, though I could tell that having them in the same cage might have been an issue. So a few days ago I ended up getting a separate cage and putting them in separate rooms of the house. They didn't seem too disturbed about this, though I could still tell they would have rather not been separated. After a day they began calling out to each other in the house every now and then, which I really don't mind.
This pretty much brings us up to present day. In the short time I've had them they have been slowly improving, though there is still a lot of taming and training to do.
Both of them still don't like it when I get too close to them in the cage, generally climbing to the other side of it. If I go to get them inside the cage, they generally will jump around and do anything they can to avoid my hand. On the up side I've gotten both to sit on my hand for a period of time, even the green one will sit on my shoulder if he can't find something to immediately jump too.
The big thing I'm trying to work on now is trying to give them treats. If I try to give them a treat, they will back away from, eventually fluttering off their cage if I get too close. So for now I'm showing them as stick little pumpkin seeds between their bars, hoping they will eventually associate it with me. My hope is that by establishing this, I can use it as a positive re-reinforcement, since I really don't have much at the moment with them.
Below are pictures of the two. They don't have official names though we have started called them Carrot and Lemon respectively. From what I can tell the green one is starting to develop a bit of a ring, so I believe he will be male. The yellow one, I'm not sure yet on the sex.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Kiro.roo/B ... hsW-v4yWLw#
Re: New to Ringnecks
That's awesome news! 
Keep it up and they'll eventually settle down and be tame before you know it!
I'm at the same stage as you with Alpha. He's happy to sit on my hand but I can do a little more with pats and scritches but he doesn't want to accept treats yet.
He watches the other 2 IRN's (both tame) and how I interact with them and each day there's a little bit more progress. He now takes a treat from my hand and drops it after a second; used to take the treat and drop it straight away hehehe
It was only last night that Alpha actually puts his head in my hand whilst I give him is scritches; something that Tango & Bravo don't do. He's content and comfortable and it lasted about 15min before he wanted to go back to the cage.
Keep us posted on the progress!!
Keep it up and they'll eventually settle down and be tame before you know it!I'm at the same stage as you with Alpha. He's happy to sit on my hand but I can do a little more with pats and scritches but he doesn't want to accept treats yet.
He watches the other 2 IRN's (both tame) and how I interact with them and each day there's a little bit more progress. He now takes a treat from my hand and drops it after a second; used to take the treat and drop it straight away hehehe
It was only last night that Alpha actually puts his head in my hand whilst I give him is scritches; something that Tango & Bravo don't do. He's content and comfortable and it lasted about 15min before he wanted to go back to the cage.
Keep us posted on the progress!!