Help please...

[Beautiful.brave]

Hi,

I recently bought two IRNs we've had them two days now and I've managed to get one to eat through the bars a couple of time which is great progress, however when we bought them from the pet shop they said they had to be rehoused together now there home our green (girl 2years) dominates the blue male who's 1 when I try to feed through the bars her eyes pin and she goes for him, she also does this when he tries to go to the food bowl when she's there. Shes bit him so hard before it causes him to scream and drop to the bottom of the cage, I'm concerned as the person who sold them to the pet shop said that they must go and live together like they always have but now they are home all she seems to do is bite him.

Any ideas how to stop this or should they be split up which I really hope i don't have to do.

Thanks,

[Skyes_crew]

If she is older than the male I would split them immediately as a female IRN can kill a male bird. Females are very protective and dominant over their cage. She will make it hard for your male to eat or rest. Are you sure they didn't just mean that the birds had to be sold together? If your future plans don't involve breeding, which the male is too young for anyway, I would separate them and house them in cages adjacent to one another. Hope that helps.

[MissK]

I agree - I've got nothing to go on but gut here, but I would think if he screams and drops, he needs saving.

BTW, in any case of having multiple birds in one cage, you should have multiple feed and water sources as well. If one chooses to hog the resources the other should have a chance to grab a bite elsewhere.

-MissK

[Beautiful.brave]

No we're not wanting to breed from them. the lady in the shop said they came in the same cage and she kept them in the same cage, can the birds cage be put in front of a window as i herd different things on this also. im still new to all of this. I will put in another bowl of food like you said miss k until we can get another cage, thank you both so much for your help.

[Skyes_crew]

They may have been together, but now that the male is coming into his hormones and the female just reached breeding age, it can be dangerous for them to be together if the female does not like the male. Try to get another cage ASAP. If you are in the states it is still breeding season. Very touchy time for females. You can try to put another feeding bowl, but my first instinct when reading your post was to get that male out of there. Are they clipped? If not, clip the females wings and leave the male flighted so he has some sort of chance getting away from her. Also, I don't know the size of your cage, but two IRN's should be in a cage at least 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep if not larger. Otherwise there can be some major territory issues. Are they let out during the day so that they get a break from one another? Play stands, perches, hanging toys, these can all help to distract them.

Please go to this site and click on the tabs on the left http://www.parrotenrichment.com/

There is a wealth of information on birds. Also do a search for E.B. Cravens http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forums ... /ebcravens

These two sites can offer you a lot of info on keeping birds and how to enrich their lives.

[Beautiful.brave]

I'm in the UK, neither are clipped, we haven't let them out yet as so far they are on their 3rd day living with us we wanted them to get used to us and out dogs before we let them out. ( the first few times they are out the dogs will not be present). I have frantically been searching for another cage and i have managed to get one, so my partner will be moving her tonight I have put another food bowl down for them this morning so far this is keeping the peace as they now each have one. They also have toys in their cage. When do you think would be a good time to let them out of the cage?

Thanks

[MissK]

Just wondering here about the first cage - is that the cage they were in at the pet shop? Did the shop acquire them in that cage? Is it possible the male has been living in fear for some time?

I agree that relationships change over time and under stress. Perhaps they really did used to be fine, but now are not.

Best wishes.
-MissK

[Beautiful.brave]

The first cage they were in when I got them home we bough for them, they came with a cage that the original owner had given the pet shop when he sold the birds to the shop, but that cage wasn't big enough for them both. That's why we bought another.

As for the fear I'm starting to think yes myself as he doesn't have a long tail like the green one, but if you we're to look at it, it looks like its been either bitten off or something it's hard to explain. So I'm thinking she may have done it to him, but then again I'm not sure if they are to have a normal size tail at 1 as I've never had them before.

[Skyes_crew]

At 1 he should have a 6-7 inch tail. If its short and jagged looking then that is probably evidence of a long term issue between the two birds. Since we have no background on the previous owner I can only assume they probably sold them because of the fighting between them. And the pet shop should have known better. This is one of my reasons for not getting birds from a pet shop. I'm not blaming you. Please don't take my comments as harsh. I'm really just trying to help. Are these your first ever birds?

[Beautiful.brave]

Yes there our first ever birds and don't worrie I won't take it as harsh I understand where your coming from. I'm just glad I have bought so I now know they will be looked after the lady in the pet shop genuinely didn't realise as she's never sold them before, I went in just after the lady who sold them left and told the pet shop manager I wanted that particular kind of bird and she was delighted as she was debating whether to take them on or not. She told me that knowing how much they should really sell for that her boss wouldn't be too happy if he found out how much she sold them for as she told me she wasn't bothered about the money it was that they found a good home.

In the pet shop they didn't show any real signs of whats been happening but i suppose that could be due to confusion or even stress it was just the tail that hit me I said to my partner that it looked strange, but didn't think much of it until I got them home. I'm just glad I found this forum a few days before we got them as I knew I'd get help on here.

The pet shop manager bought them believing that the old owner was moving to Portugal, and his daughter the woman who sold them had a full time job and lived by herself so therefore didn't have time for them, but now I'm starting to think that they were hers and that she had the green one first thought it needed a friend bought the blue one, they started fighting she thought they'd grow out of it but they didn't and she didn't know where to go for help so she made up a story and sold them because she couldn't cope. But that is just my oppinion as now every thing seems really strange. I remember the manager saying to me earlier that the lady was really upset to let them go but why would she be if they weren't hers and she only saw then when she visited?

Thinking about it now its rather strange.

[Skyes_crew]

Well regardless of their past, at least you have a say for their future now. Seeing as how they are your first ever birds, try to get some books on bird care from your library. Most of your questions about IRN's can be answered within this forum. Just use the search tool and you will find a ton of useful information. And if you can't find your specific question answered, post a new thread and there are many people here to help out the best that they can. My first official piece of advice would be to locate a good avian vet and have them in for a look. Do they have names yet?

[MissK]

I agree. You probably got two fine, young birds at a good price and you have the noble intent to do right by them. That's great! AND you miss the "bluffing stage"! Not to mention that you have associated yourself with a wonderful group of people who all have varying experiences to assist you. One day you're going to be able to look back to that lady and say "She never knew what she gave up."

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

She doesn't know what she gave up. They are amazingly awesome birds. Welcome to the IRN family

[Beautiful.brave]

Yes they do have names the green one is beauty and the blue one is brave, he never responded to his old name bleu so we changed it as we thought he was brave to put up with what he has for so long.

Thats true miss k i think all they need now is a bit of tlc and training.when does the bluffing stage start?. Is it only in females? As I thought we may have it to come with brave.


I've been interested in them for awhile searching videos on the Internet, but as they say one mans loss another mans treasure. And when were all settled in and used to one another including our dogs I'm sure we'll be very happy.

Thanks

[sanjays mummi]

It's a good idea to let them have their own bolt hole so to speak,if you are not planning on breeding there is no reason they should share a cage. They may also be suffering from stress after their upheaval recently. I'm sure they will adapt and settle in soon.