Introducing Myself

[susanmaurer]

Hi - My name is Susan Maurer and I have two birds. One is a cinnamon cockatiel that I adopted after a friend found him on the beach, and the other is a new baby Indian Ringneck, Petey. Petey is almost nine weeks old, and I adopted him/her at six weeks. He's still on baby formula, but he also is eating some fruits and weaning pellets, as well as sharing my breakfast cereal and scrambled eggs in the mornings. He is a beautiful turquoise and I just adore him. I didn't intend to adopt him; I happened to be in the store buying food for my cockatiel a few weeks ago, when Petey climbed up the side of the open-topped pen he was in (he was in there with about fifteen other baby Ringnecks), climbed up onto my sleeve, up my arm, and into my jacket. I just couldn't bear to leave without him, so I purchased him on the spot and took him home. I've had several birds in my life, but I've never had a Ringneck before, and certainly never an unweaned baby, so this has been a great adventure for both of us, and I've devoted many hours of research over the past few weeks learning as much as I can about Indian Ringnecks. I'm looking forward to learning whatever I can in this forum, too. So my greetings and good wishes to everyone here!

[kimijean]

I'm new to the forum and Ringnecks (but not birds) as well. I have a 4 1/2 month old creamino girl that I got just before she weaned, and last week I got a baby turquoise that I'm hand feeding (not sure if male or female or exact age).

Kim

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Susan & Kim

Welcome to the forum!

Susan - great story of how your little guy chose you!

Best wishes to you both. I have two Indian Ringnecks: Janey & Charlie. We've been sharing our lives with Janey for about 4 years now Charlie about 3. They are a delight and I love them to bits!

Ellie.

[susanmaurer]

Hi Kim and Ellie!

It's great to meet you! I'm also not new to birds, but this is my first Ringneck and he is SUCH a joy! Petey and I have really bonded. He is almost never off my body except to sleep, when I put him in a travel cage and set it next to my bed (but for the first two weeks I slept on the couch with him cuddled at the base of my throat).

My only problem at the moment is that I have to go away on business next week and I will be gone for 9 days. My friend Pat will be babysitting my birds (she already has three of her own), and so I'm not worried about their well being; but I am really anxious about losing the bond with Petey. He's not yet weaned and he's still on baby formula, and I'm afraid that he'll feel abandoned and never trust me again. I used to travel all the time, but now I don't need to do that anymore, which is why I felt that it was a good time to have birds again. But this last trip cannot be avoided and it's very bad timing from my point of view. So I'm really anxious about it. I'll feel very relieved when I'm home and can provide a stable home life for my babies.

I wish we could post photos here. I've got some fabulous shots of my birds. Besides Petey, I have a cinnamon cockatiel that my friend Pat found floundering about on the beach a few months ago. Because she already has a cockatiel and two parakeets, she called me and asked if I would like to foster it while we searched for the owner. Of course I agreed, and we embarked on a major search enterprise, but to no avail. So Enkidu has become a very welcome part of my life, although he is a very cranky little bird. I think he may have been abused, or perhaps simply not hand tamed, because, while he will come and sit on my shoulder or my lap, he will absolutely not tolerate any attempt to touch him. Hands and fingers seem to terrify him, and he literally screams and hisses if I inadvertently bring my hand a little too close. But I adore him and I simply respect his boundaries and love him in any way he will accept it. These two birds are truly such a joy and I am so very happy to be able to share my life with them, and to share in their lives.

[kimijean]

Hi Susan,

I have 11 birds right now and 2 of them are IRN’s.

I think Petey will be just fine. Your friend will hand feed him and spend time with him daily right? When you get back he will either be mad at you for a short time then forgive you, or he’ll be thrilled to see you right away. Either way your bond with each other will be just as strong, possibly even stronger.

Kim

[susanmaurer]

Thanks so much, Kim! This makes me feel a lot better, of course, but I'm still going to be suffering separation anxiety. Yes, my friend Pat absolutely adores both my birds (she's the one who actually rescued Enkidu, my cockatiel), and she will certainly spend time hand feeding and cuddling Petey when she is home. But she is out most of the day, and the birds will be left alone in their cages for hours. Petey will be 10 weeks old when I leave next week, and although he does eat fruits and some pellets and seeds, he is still dependent on his hand feeding formula several times a day. I suspect that at this point the hand feeding dependency is more emotional than physiological, but it's important either way. In any case, once I do get home it will be a very long time before I'll be willing to leave my birds again.

[kimijean]

I'm hand feeding a baby as well but his/her age is not known for sure. S/he is not really eating much on his/her own and I work full time. I feed before and after work and a late night feeding as well. S/he is doing just fine so I'm sure Petey will be fine as well.

Kim