IndianRingNeck.com

I've researched a lot on the net, but I joined this forum and am writing because I believe someone here probably knows the answer to what I am asking. Our 16+ year-old Senegal died a couple of months ago, and the house had been too, too quiet. Before he came to us, he had been found outdoors by someone who gave him to us; he was a biter. You never knew what was coming with him. He was nevertheless charming, with a lot of great qualities, except you could not handle him. Well, with his death, I decided to buy my Mom, whom the bird really bonded to, another bird. I happily started reading all kinds of information about every breed. I ended up focusing on the Quaker parakeet for its disposition and talking. Then, within the last week, I inadvertently started coming across videos of Indian Ringnecks talking. They blew me away. Well, to make a long story short, I decided that an IRN would be a fantastic choice. We then went to a bird sale in Rolling Meadows, Illinois yesterday. A gentleman there had three for sale, but the guy manning his table said he didn't know where he was, probably eating. We then went to another table where we found a lovely chartreuse Quaker. We told the woman we would buy it, and I went outside to get our carrying cage. The bird was finger tame and let you hold it. It was a beauty. Well, I re-entered, and the gentleman with the IRN was back. I started talking to him, and found that a pretty blue female was for sale. Unsocialized, she had not been hand fed by him from the nest, so she was skittish. He said that could be overcome by clipping her wings so that when she tried to fly, she would be dependent on you to get back to her cage. You could then tell her up while putting your hand under her to carry her back to her cage. (The gentleman has bred birds for 50 years, according to his hometown newspaper; he reassured me we would be extremely pleased with the bird0. I decided to buy this one instead of the quaker. The gentleman clipped the first 5 flight feathers on each wing for me. I figured no problem. So we got the bird home, and she escaped for 1/2 hour, flying like crazy around the house, and then even managed to sink her fang into me. She is in a cage the we just bought for her. It is commodious. She basically has not calmed down. All I hear is the tap tap tap of little feet, back and forth, back and forth, climbing up and down, up and down. I understand the bird is stressed. The three of us in the house have given her some space, but have returned to just sit near the cage and talk to her one at a time for a half house or less. We have made no effort to handle her. I know she needs time. Yet I am thinking of that nice Quaker that let me, a stranger, handle and pet it. I think that we could be playing with that bird right now, and that I made a stupid mistake buying an unsocialized older bird. And now it seems like we face a mountain trying to socialize an 8-month old bird so it will not be afraid or bite us. We just finished with having a biter for 16 years; he never let anyone handle him, although he was an entertainer. I see myself facing a 30-year future with a bird that is afraid of handling and eager to bite. Did we get the wrong bird? What should I do? If anyone can give me advice or point me in a direction where I can find it on the net, please do so, and I will be forever grateful. Thanking you i advance: CICHOCKI

Any direct responses will be appreciated: joecichjr@sbcglobal.net

Nothing against Quakers, as they are great birds too... but you made a fantastic choice and will just have to be patient in getting to know your new family member and to develop a new bond and mutual trust.

Talking ability should be at the bottom of the list when choosing a bird and some well known talkers will only speak parrotese and this is a language one needs to learn, just as they learn ours.

Your bird has just be taken from the only home she knew and an environment that was probably stressful and brought into another new environment and will need some time to settle in and realize she is safe and secure.

I would revisit the wing clipping as it sounds like the feathers may have not been clipped back far enough... discovered this with my female IRN in that even though we clipped the first 5 feathers she could could still blast across the room and evade capture.

With just a little extra clipping she can now fly 8-10 feet in a controlled descent and is very happy to be picked up by anyone in our household and has become much calmer.

You have actually found the best place on the net to get information on raising and caring for Ringnecks as they still not as common as many other species and still have a bit of a bad reputation.

Of course, I have had "experienced" bird keepers tell me Senegals are terribly difficult and believe that as it applies to dogs, there are no bad birds... just bad owners.