4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

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sandytini
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:28 am

4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

Post by sandytini »

I hand raised my IRN 4 years ago. This past year she has taken on terrible screaming among other behaviors...the biggest being everytime I come near her she sits and raises her hind end and "clicks". For about a year now I have not had a sleepy tent in her cage, no foraging materials to nest with, I do not touch her anywhere but her head, do regular training(learning colors) and she gets free time. We are building her an outdoor aviary and thought about getting her a buddy. What are the chance of her bonding with another bird instead of me...our interactions arent fun anymore with all of these breeding behaviors.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: 4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

Post by ellieelectrons »

Unfortunately there is no way to know whether she will accept a male.

I feel your pain though... we have had similar experiences with our female, Janey. Janey was squatting and clucking for us too and I felt that she was too bonded to us - that she didn't know she was a bird, thought she was human.

We brought home a male (Charlie) and kept them separated for a while and then had supervised play sessions together. They now share a cage and get along quite well. Janey still squats and clucks for us and we pat her on the head when she does this. Last season Janey & Charlie started mating for the first time. So overall, it's been a success for us. It was a gamble though. I was worried that they wouldn't accept each other and I wasn't sure what I'd do if they weren't able to eventually live in the same cage together as we don't have room in our house for two huge bird cages!

If I was you I'd be inclined to take the risk and see what happens or even do a test run with a male if you can - to see how they get along.

Our Janey was younger than your bird though. I can't remember if she was one or two when we brought home Charlie.

Are you having problems with her biting?

Ellie.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: 4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

Post by ellieelectrons »

I was also wondering, does your bird forage for her food? That could help if she is screaming because she's bored?

These links have more information about foraging:
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... 01&p=69400
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =4&t=13466
http://www.parrotenrichment.com/ - this site has some free ebooks to download


Ellie.
sandytini
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:28 am

Re: 4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

Post by sandytini »

Thank you for responding:-)

Yes, I have 2 forage feeders mounted on her cage as well as placing all diets and snacks in boxes and yogurt containers...I used to be a zoo keeper so I love enrichment. Maybe I can find a breeder willing to let me "try" a male...typically rescues and individuals selling don't like the idea. Bummer... Thank you for trying to help!
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: 4 yo female ringneck inappropriately bonded

Post by ellieelectrons »

The ideal situation would be to let her choose him, perhaps by taking her to a few males... I don't know if anyone would do that... but I've read about that approach. We bought Charlie from a pet store who has a bird room where they put the young birds that they have for sale in a big room. We did consider taking Janey there first to see if they got along.... although we didn't do it.

Ellie.
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