Cage ? pairs? Breeders?

[Kat424]

Hello, So I joined this site to read up on larger birds such as the Macaw and Cockatoo but after 30ish hours of reading different threads along with my other online research we decided to scale down our thoughts for a few years until we got more hands on with larger birds.

My husband and I fell in love with an IR a few years back but never followed through with getting one. We are now looking around for a pair? I was wondering if it was recommend to get a male/male or female/female pair as we have no intention in breeding ever. I have handled and worked with IR's a few times and also have done some research on them.

I am having trouble now finding a cage I find large enough with small enough bar spacing as well. Seems all the cages I think are big enough have 1" or larger spacing and I was hoping to find something closer to 1/2" spacing. Any recommendations?

I am located in Southern Vermont and also searching for a breeder to get my new loves from if anyone knows of someone less than 5hrs from me. I would like to not ship my birds but handle the sale in person.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Doublete]

No idea on the breeders..
But most flight cages have appropriate bar spacing. Go to amazon and search flight cage.

 

[Kat424]

Thanks, I have looked on Amazon at the flight cages. They are all a bit smaller than what I would like for my pair. I was hoping to find something around the size of this double cage but with smaller bar spacing.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Double-Macaw-Parrot-Cage-Centurion/dp/B00PJRMPZW/ref=sr_1_22?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1434547048&sr=1-22&keywords=double+cage&pebp=1434547068242&perid=1T37VV32QGB60PKTQKBE]Amazon.com : Double Macaw Parrot Cage - Centurion Cages : Pet Supplies[/ame]

 

[Kat424]

Ok, so I found a cage and have that on order. I should have it in a week. Now I need to find a breeder. I am looking to get 2 males, after a bit more research I feel that will be best. Anyone have any recommendations of a good breeder?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Where are you located? (No address needed, but a state would be helpful)

Are you looking locally, or would you be open of having babies shipped to you (flown to nearest airport)?

 

[SilverSage]

If your plan for two males doesn't work out, do NOT go with two females unless you want dead birds. I'm not sure if the same holds true for males, but I know female irns housed together will kill each other if there are no males present. Is there a specific reason you are interested in two irns rather than one? I'm all for multiple birds, but IRNs have a LOT of personality quirks, and not necessarily in a good way. I don't really suggest taking on two of them at once if you don't have experience with this particular species and their unique needs and challenges.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Thanks Silver [good to now this stuff]

 

[Kat424]

So I have continued doing research and actually was put in contact with someone that had a male/female pair she needed to re-home. I went and got them today and have them all set up. The Male is 3yrs old and female is 6yrs old. They have been together for the last 2 yrs. I have a breeding box and will put it in come spring time. It was just taken out of their cage a few weeks ago. They seem really well adjusted to each other and if I notice any issues I will place them in separate cages. I have a few spare ones just in case.

 

[Mitchan]

Oh, congrats on the newcomers, that sounds great! I'm glad you went with two as it is very natural and enriching for them.

If you don't have any intentions of breeding them (which you previously stated was the case), I don't see why you should put the breeding/nest box in, as it is completely unnecessary and will just stimulate breeding behaviour. They will do just fine without it

 

[Kat424]

I am still in the research stage for breeding and figuring out what the best way to deal with it is. lol I will continue to absorb and take all information I can

Will not placing a breeding box add or lesson the stress during that time of year for them?

 

[SilverSage]

Please. DO NOT breed a species you are new to. Do not breed unless you have a REASON to. First, I am not against breeding, I am a breeder. But let me ask you some things.

1. Knowing that there are unwanted birds out there, bounced from home to home, filling shelters, and flooding Craigslist, how can you justify producing more?

2. Do you or another adult work from home or in some other way have plans to be at home all day most days to catch problems in the nest?

3. Do you have thousands of dollars on hand to spend on the vet with problems in the nest of even ONE clutch of babies, or one case of egg binding? One case of mate aggression? One case of parental aggression toward chicks?

4. Do you understand the ins and outs of hand feeding? Do you know how to do it safely? Do you know how to avoid crop burn which can literally put a hole in your baby bird, sour crop, yeast in the crop, bacteria, etc? Do you know the signs of them? Do you know how easy they are to cause?

5. Do you know the developmental stages of a baby parrot, and the very real implications of hand feeding vs. co parenting?

6. Do you understand the permanent consequences of clipping a bird before he is an expert flier? That it can lead to life long phobias, aggression, and stunted intellect? With that in mind, are you prepared for the HUGE MESS of formula as fledging babies fly all over your house and land on all the surfaces you never realized you had?

7. Speaking of clipping, do you know that IRNs to not handle clipping as well as most species?

8. Are you familiar with the term "Bluffing"? Do you understand what causes it, what a bird is thinking while bluffing, how to avoid it, and what to do when it happens? Can you talk a new family through it because of your deep understanding?

THESE ARE ONLY A FEW of the questions you need answers to before you can responsibly think about breeding. If your reasons for breeding are "It would be fun" or "I could make money" then please, remain in the land of responsible pet owner, and do not go down that path because those reasons only take you down the path of unethical, irresponsible breeder who brings pain and suffering into the world through ignorance and lack of dedication.

 

[Kat424]

Relax, I have no intentions of breeding. You might want to go back and read my first post. I am simply looking into the best ways to deal with my new pair through the breeding season. I couldn't pass up on taking these 2 home due to the conditions they where living in and how sweet they where. Their cage is fairly nice but they where living in a trailer that smelled horrible of cleaning fumes and also had fire damage. There where 7-8 dogs and 6-7 other bird cages. I am hoping the lady will re-home more birds if I keep talking and working with her.

No I am not prepared for a breeding pair but I will educate myself and make the best choices for my birds as I can. I do have a decent amount of money set aside for any vet needs that come up and I do have a good avian vet. I have done nothing but reading as much as I can about Ringnecks for the last few days. I will continue to do so until I know everything I need to know.

Also I do not agree with wing clipping. My conure is fully flighted and recall trained for in the house. We never take our birds out if doors are going to be opened. I simply keep the door shut to the room I am in and let them have fun flying around. I fully plan on training my ringnecks to recall when flying around the house as well.

I am a homemaker so I am home all day every day outside of basic errands. I have the time to put into these guys to make sure they are happy and well cared for.

 

[Doublete]

Ok.
If you have a m/f pair of birds you will
Inadvertently BREED.

So if you don't intend to breed they have to be separated. Basics 101.

 

[Kat424]

I was looking into if I need to separate them all the time or just during breeding season. I do have another cage and right now they freely go from one to the other. I can easily shut one door and keep them apart. I would like to let them stay together all except around breeding season. If this is not possible I will take the needed precaution and shut the door.

 

[SilverSage]

If you want a breeding pair to become tame pets you will need to separate them until they trust you. They can be returned to the same cage once they are integrated into the family. If you dont want to breed, do not EVER give a nest box, no matter the species. Parrots do not need them, or any other "fake nests" like snuggle huts, and they are the number one trigger for breeding. As far as separating them, you may not have to do it every season once they are tame. Many people will insist that you must clip them to tame them, and that is NOT TRUE. It can make the taming go quicker, but with IRNs it can majorly mess up any chance of real trust; they really do not handle clipping well in many cases (before anyone jumps on me for that statement, I am not judging those who clip). IRNs have a natural fear of hands, especially fingers. It seems to be genetic. They can overcome it, and some owners never notice, but please keep it in mind. When you approach an IRN with your hand, start by making a fist and placing a treat on the back of your hand. Taming the bird to "the rest of you" before really introducing fingers may sound silly but is a solid tactic.

Also, if you dont plan to clip, I STRONGLY suggest teaching "cage recall" as you tame. It's easy. Get a metal dish (metal is louder and works best), THROW an almond or other hard treat in it so it makes a sound, and say "return" or whatever you want the command to be. Then put the dish in the cage. Do this multiple times a day, every day, starting asap. Yes, your bird will be in the cage while you do this. They learn "command comes with that sound, that sound means there is a treat in my dish in my cage!" If you are taming without clipping, there will come a point where you want to get your bird back in the cage but cannot reach him. Rather than chasing your bird and undoing tons of trust work, or risking leaving him out unsupervised, simply toss a nut in the dish, give the command, and walk away. The more times you do this, the better it works.

Best of luck!

 

[Kat424]

I can already freely handle these 2 and they know their names. The last person that had them said they didn't come when called. They have for me each time though. I had them out of their cage for about 6hrs yesterday and with in 2 hrs they where snuggled up on me playing and sleeping. they have no fear of me once out of the cage. I do have to earn some cage trust though. I am working on letting them build up muscle so they can fly around the house. I would never not let them fly. My Conure gets so happy when he flys around I couldn't take that from a bird. I will keep out the breeding box and just wait and see what happens. As I stated I do have a second cage if I need to keep them apart.

 

[Mitchan]

Yeah, in my personal experience, certain birds personality-wise actually do BETTER taming down and learning to trust humans when they're with a bird friend. They feel more confident, pushing eachother to take further steps together, and would not be as comfortable dealing with the scary thing that is humans if they were all alone in it.
I don't think I ever would have gotten anywhere with taming Meg if Nicko wasn't there to kind of show her that humans aren't all that scary actually.

I also strongly believe in having birds flighted and letting them come to you because they WANT to, not because they don't have anywhere else to go. ^_^

 

[SilverSage]

It sounds like these birds have found the right home. When breeding season gets here (for me it starts in December, not sure where you are located) just observe them for mating behaviors or aggression. Particularly observe her as she will most likely be the violent one if anything happens. If they are fine then leave them, if not separate them, you will be able to tell. Keep in mind that IRNs are not pair bond birds like conures or macaws, and do not mate for life in the wild.

 

[Bandespresso]

I just have one incredibly important thing to add to the wonderful advice on this thread:
Can we get some pictures of your new cuties ??? You picked a great species and it sounds like they picked a wonderful home! Watch them closely and have an extra cage to seperate them if necessary

 

[Kat424]