IndianRingNeck.com

Hello all,

I apologize in advance for the long post, but please I'd really appreciate you giving the time to read and reply. I'm really desperate for a solution!!

****S/he's about 40 days to two months old (I'm not sure how old exactly s/he is, but I believe that's a good approximation)

About two weeks ago (more or less) I bought a young IRN. I love IRN, and I'm dying to be a close friend with one of them! I've been searching for years for baby IRN but without any luck. In 2008, I found baby african grays and since they were the kind available, I got one. It's been a good experience with the African Gray, and it was the first baby chick I've ever adopted. However, I still wanted to have an IRN, so I kept looking and waiting. In 2009, I finally found one! we had a wonderful relationship, but unfortunately after one month, it caught cold and kept getting worse very quickly, and in less than 24 hrs, it died at the vet's table. It really made me sad as I really wanted one. Also, in December, I had a Baby Lovebird, which was one of the best birds I've ever had. We got attach to each other almost instantly!!! And now, about mid April, I finally found some! I was very excited and wanted to have one putting in mind that I'd prepare as much as possible to prevent it from getting ill. So, I purchased a recommended Handrearing Food from the Vet hospital (CeDe), had a heater ready to keep it warm. Everything was perfect, except the bird itself!!! The first time I brought her in, she was VERY protective, to the extent that it won't ask for food even if s/he was starving. But, if I approached her with the syringe, she'd eat (but kind of in an offensive way -- as she tries to bluff biting me then when s/he bites the syringe, it starts trying to suck the food from it.) That was the first time I experience that from a bird. I mean, it's true that I don't have a lot of experience with birds, but I've never witnessed such a behavior from a chick, especially that she has been in the store, which I assume should be familiar with the hands and syringe. Anyways, if it was me that she's not used to, I'm willing to take it slow and be patient. Two days later, she stopped eating from the syringe. She got very weak, and very thin, so I had to take her to the vet to check if she was alright. They told me s/he was fine, they had her fed (I really don't know how they did it, but I was glad to see her crop full). Later, she kept doing the same thing, refusing to eat from the syringe. I tried feeding her from a spoon without any luck. I tried picking some with my hand and feed it to her, it worked for little while, then s/he began to throw it away. The food was warm (not too warm) and s/he was supposed to like it. Anyways, that behavior was making me worry sick, so I decided to try eating it (putting it into my mouth) then try feeding it to her mouth to mouth. FINALLY IT WORKED! and s/he really loved it!! It took one day for me to listen to her voice for the first time calling me to feed her again!! I was extremely relieved and happy! I kept doing that for about a week with no problems at all, until yesterday. Now, s/he refuses to eat from the syringe, spoon, hand, mouth, and even from the cup itself. I tried leaving her to starve then maybe s/he'd be willing to eat from whichever. It didn't work! s/he really really refuse to eat from anything, yet, s/he keep crying asking for food!!! I thought maybe s/he's at the age where I should start giving her some Decorticated sunflower or some other food other than the powder, but that didn't work! I was afraid that if I left her like this, she'd die. So, I brought the syringe, filled it the appropriate amount, and forced it in (it's how you place the syringe from the right towards the left and start pushing the food in -- I've read and watched a lot of tutorials just to make sure that I do it right). S/he was screaming and fighting me to not do it, but I ignored all that fuss, held her still, and gave it to her. Now s/he's fine, s/he definitely feels way more comfortable and full, but s/he is starting to hate me for what I did. Today, this is how I did all her feeding, which keep getting her to hate me more and more. I can feel that s/he doesn't even like me petting her anymore. What do I do?! S/he's healthy, s/he's growing and developing nicely, but it's just that weird behavior that I really can't figure out the reason behind it, and it's driving us away from each other. I've always wanted an IRN, but not like this. I'm seriously considering returning it to the pet shop if it was still possible. I'd either replace it with a younger one, or maybe just get my money back... Yet again, I don't want to give up on her/him, but seeing how and where our relationship is going, I don't know what else to do. Incase if you were wondering, there aren't any other birds in the room with her, so there's not a possibility that she may be jealous, and I'm giving her/him my full attention! All day long!! ... Please help! :'(

It must be a girl! LOL!

No on a serious note. I've just recently brought a baby IRN from a breeder Rolla which is 4 weeks old. I am also having trouble feeding Rolla and have to force feed, but no love lost between us. The feeding is from the left side of the birds beak to the right side of the throat.

I'm afraid I do not know the answer to this problem, but I'm sure someone with more experience will be able to shed some light.

Thanks

lol

I myself keep referring to it as a girl most of the time! Yet I highly suspect that it's a boy. lol...

Anyways, I know the left to right technique. It's just that whenever she sees the syringe (or whichever that's approaching it's beak with food) she goes crazy then tries as hard as she can to move away from it!

She's in the hospital now. I've admitted her yesterday. I just hope that she'll show some improvements.

So sorry to hear that.

Inshaallah she/he will be fine.

Hi,

This may be a few days too late i have only just read your post. But in anycase it may help with your next baby.

I have bred and handraised IRNs for a few years now and i can tell you that MOST (not all but most) of my baby IRNs do this. People say that Eclectus are hard to feed and raise but in my experiance i have never come accross more diversly difficult birds to feed then indian ringnecks.

My first time i ever raised IRNs was a clutch of 3 babies i pulled from the nest at 2.5weeks old, just at pin feather stage. They were pulled at the same time as a clutch of 3 Alexandrines and 2 eclectus.

The alex's and ekkies were thriving. They were all in the same brooder, all on the same handrearing formula and were all fed at the same time of day and the same amount of feeds per day. However that first clutch of IRN babies put me off breeding and handrearing IRNs for another 2 years. They would do everything you have described in your post and it didnt matter what i did the endless "feed fights" went on and on from about 4weeks untill wean. In the end i had to learn how to use a crop needle for them. I was shown in depth by avian vet how to preform this and have now fed and raised over 200 IRN babies using this method alone. However i have always treated each baby with its own right to decide if it will eat from the spoon or syringe or not before force feeding with the crop needle. And before using the crop needle i would try everything in the book to get them to take the food on their own terms, mixing baby apple sauce into their food for taste, heating a bit more or a bit less, feeding them as a group instead of pulling them out individually for feed time. You name it, like yourself i have tried and tested every method known to avian handrearing to get these guys to take it on their own. Some will, MOST wont.

As i said i have done anumber of babies from all sorts of breeds from budgies to black cockatoos and everything in between but i have never fought so much as i do with my IRN babies. I cant explain why. It doesnt sound as if your doing anything wrong and i dont think you are, its just the way the babies go at a certain age.

Now i cringe when it gets time for pulling babies from the nest. So many times iv nearly given up on them and thought about selling my breeding pairs of IRNs....but i love them too much and like you i persevere. Maybe next time dont buy an unweaned baby ESPECIALLY FROM A PET STORE I CANT BELEIVE ITS EVEN ALLOWED HERE IT IS ILLEGAL!! Why dont you get one from the age where they are only on one feed a day. I know you might THINK that with you feeding them and bringing them up that they will bond to you but let me tell you and im sure every other breeder and handraiser out there will say the samevBABY BIRDS DO NOT BOND. Infact, especially with the IRNs they can learn to resent and fear you because of the fight you have to go through with them to get most of them to eat. Next time, if there will be a next time? you are better off buying a bay OLDER not younger. And you can get off on the right foot together from the beginning.

I never EVER sell any of my babies untill 100% weaned. There are way too many inexperianced people out there litterally KILLING baby birds because they beleive that THEY will bond better with the baby if they get to feed it, which is a load of s#@t, and for most babies out there they end up dead or dying slowly in a vets surgury and the owner is left with hefty vet bills and a heavy heart wondering "what did i do wrong" then inevitably go out and buy another baby beleiving that it must have been something wrong with the baby that time, and not having learnt where it was all going wrong and how to correct it before doing it again with the next baby.

PLEASE DONT BUY UNWEANED BABY BIRDS FROM PET SHOPS!! It's basically a trade that is legal torture for most babies that get into the hands of inexperianced people and suffer the consiquences.

Dont get me wrong im not saying you are in experianced BUT i think ESPECIALLY with a difficult bird like IRNs you should get something that is all but weaned and save yourself the heart ache and expense of having another bird end up at the vets.

Anyway hope this rests your mind a bit that you are not the only one out there that struggles with these guys.

I am fresh/new to this site and an awestruck at the information. I have had Cockatiels for years and last weekend became a mom to a baby ring neck parrot. Turquios/green in color.

I had to post this reply before I explode !!! I was not intending to post just read but everyone should know this ....

Don't take a baby before its completely eating on its own! Somewhere around 8 to 9 weeks!

I can't believe people are selling babies at 4 weeks of age!

This is true for Cockatiels as well as ring necks. Other birds I am not sure of the exact week.

The bird farm that I use "magnolia bird farm in riverside ca." had babies a few years back and I had to wait to purchase until 9 weeks old. They will not sell a bird before that. I admire their judgement and have learned a lot from them over the years.

I am just sick that people let the babies go prior to them being ready. Its like taking them out of the ICU too soon.

Well I have that off my chest ..... back to reading all the wonderful information on here. If anyone knows how I can put my baby "Cherokee's" picture on here for my pic please send me a private message, it would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Callinurse

Hi All,

Thanks for the expert advice.

Yousif, how is the baby IRN doing?

Thanks


Asif

I'll agree with the others about not buying unweend birds and espceially not from pet shopsm but I stumbled across a baby IRN because my mom saved it from a group of crows in our garden (I live in Belgium where we have a wild population of IRN amongts other species of parrots). She didnt want any of the formula either at first (barely ate a THING), but heres what I did to change her mind about the food (recomneded to me by a good avian vet) so you may try it out.

I stopped making the formula with warm water, and started using warm freshly squeezed orange juice instead. Mine personally loves orange juice so she went bonkers for the new formula right away. You can also add in some mashed apple/kiwi/etc and ground parrot kibble (i got specialised, high-nutrient ones from an avian vet). As I said mine started going crazy over the food as soon as she had the first taste of the new formula. And now her favourite thing to do is eat haha
Just try to mess around with the ingredients a bit (HEALTHY ones ofc!) and see if you get any different responses

But in truth I was never really into IRN (i love mine now, but she came completely unplanned haha) so I don't really know much about the species and it's weaning/behaviour, so you're better off taking advice from some of the more knowledgable memebers I just wanted to share my experience with weaning, since it may possibly help