What to do next...

[tlouiselle]

Sky is 17 weeks old. We have had him since we was an adorable 4week old porcupine. Two weeks ago we tragically lost our black capped conure. Since then Sky has become quieter, doesn't sing, and is even more attached to me than he already was. He likes to spend his days on his huge playgym outside then come interact with his humans in the evening. He was not loving to the conure but he enjoyed his company. They called to each other when seperated and would sing together all day outside. In the evenings they would play on us or their gym on the counter.

Now Sky will not let me out of his sight. He refuses to sit on the playgym and jumps to the floor and follows me around like a puppy. I want to get a friend for him. Here is my question...

If I get another IRN would they get too attached to eachother and forget about their people? I am concerned about that. I want them to keep eachother company and be friends while still loving us. Should I get another IRN or a different species of bird?

[ellieelectrons]

We have 2 IRNs that cohabitate & both are tame. They were both hand raised. So long as you spend time with them I think they will remain tame. However there are no guarantees of this or that they will get along.

Our first is more "needy" of human companionship because we waited a year before getting the second one but both are tame.

Ellie.

[tlouiselle]

Thank you Ellie

I am just so torn between another IRN, a lesser sulfer crested cockatoo (worried about noise level but I am in love with them), a cockatiel (not as high maintenance as the other birds and I still get the cute crest on the head), or an eclectus parrot.

I found some BEAUTIFUL violet cleartail babies that I have been drooling over. Since they are harder to find I will be so mad at myself if I decide on and other IRN and miss out on these beauties.

[mikeb]

where are you located i'm looking for a female violet cleartail i'm in the united states and having a hard time finding one also i would suggest if you get another ringneck as a companion for your other one get the same sex unless you would want to breed them

[ellieelectrons]

Given that your little guy was attached to your other bird that wasn't an IRN, providing you don't want them to share a cage, it stands to reason that another breed of bird could offer companionship. However, a bigger bird may scare your little guy. You may need to read up on the sociability of these other breeds. There are some people on this forum who have eclectus & cockatoos so hopefully they will answer.

Also, my understanding is that 2 male IRNs will get along fine but two females probably won't.

Ellie.

[tlouiselle]

We THINK Sky is a male. We studied "him" for an hour comparing his body to the other birds when he has hardly any feathers. He has very square shaped head and vibrant cheeks... but who knows. Boy or girl we still love him His bluffing is not nearly as bad as I expected either after researching and reading all of the horror stories. I was terrified to deal with this stage! He is bratty during the day while he is out on his stand (unless he is lonely and wants company. Then he chirps for me to come read outside with him for an hour) When he decides to come in for the evening he is either following me or on me all night. Such a strange little guy.

We brought home an umbrella cockatoo from a rescue last weekend. We fell in love with him. Something scared him and he kept letting out an alarm squawk. He was generally a quieter cuddle bug. We are going to buy a house soon and are currently in an apartment. We had to return him because we couldn't risk his transition period here. I sobbed the whole drive back to return him because I was in love. Sky searched the house for him and called for him during the next two days. He has no fear of larger birds. He tried to walk on him LOL.

I am in Florida and here is the link for the cleartails:

http://tampabay.ebayclassifieds.com/bir ... d=13142849

They are sooooo cute. I am so tempted

[mikeb]

thanks alot for the info i've sent him an email did he send you pics of the violet cleartails because none of the pics in add are violet cleartais again thanks mike

[tlouiselle]

Mike-

No he didn't send photos. I have tried to have self control and not contact him (even though I have looked at those babies so many times now). It just says it in the listing. I was wondering about that too because those babies don't look like violet. This ad has been on Craiglslist a couple times and Ebay classifieds. I have not seen them on other bird breeder websites. They may let them go for even cheaper if the babies have not sold. Do the babies in the photos look like cleartails to you? Will they be blue cleartails? They are so young and light in the photos so it is hard to tell.

[tlouiselle]

Thankyou for all of your input Ellie. You have really made me feel better about getting another IRN (if that is what we decide to bring home)...Personally, for me birds are like potato chips, you always need one more I would like to have three When we went to the rescue I was in my glory. Birds loose outside everywhere, flying around and jumping from person to person. It was amazing My dream... but not AS many birds running around there LOL.

[mikeb]

no they all look like lacewings (pallid) lacewings have light colored body and lighter colored head and tails when they first get their feathers if they are cleartails they wii be normal blue or violet with white tails and only the male will get the white head in 2-3 years of age

[tlouiselle]

Okay. I am glad I did not run out and buy one then. It was tempting because they are so close to us. I either want a full violet or a cleartail Thank you If you hear back from them would you mind letting me know if they do have any cleartails?

[mikeb]

sure will i think he doesn't know what he has or trying to pass off lacewings as cleartails because a violet cleartail sells for $1300 i just sold a violet split to cleartail for $650 and that's a cheap price last year i paid $1000 for his father a blue cleartail and these aren't hand tame birds so violet cleartails for $700 seems fishy