New Forum Member with an Indian Ringneck on the way!

[UnkTob]

Thanks Allee! Yes, Strat was a great little buddy. Crazy how much personality such a little guy could have. He was one happy little birdo! The name came about pretty early on... had some names I was deciding between, then I started playing along with Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters on guitar (I thought that was pretty appropriate) and he went nuts! He was singing and dancing and having a great time! That's when the name came to me and there was no more doubt about what his name should be.

I'm still debating with a few names for my Indian Ringneck. Although, he or she is constantly trying to dig his or her way out... Trying to "Shawshank his way out"... So Andy (or Andi) might be in the lead right now. LOL

I attached a photo. I hope it works. I used to use PhotoBucket to host, (haven't done that in awhile) and now it looks like they charge $400 a year! Yikes!

Before people get mad at me, as I mentioned earlier, this is a temporary solution since my bird arrived much faster than they said, and his new big home hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully my little buddy will spend less than 24 hours in this little parakeet cage.
The water is yellow due to the Electrolytes mix the aviary recommended to use. Although, he/she also threw his carrot and millet into the water. Time to change the water for the 3rd time this morning. lol

 

[itchyfeet]

Andy/Andi is awesome! Love that name! (I know it's not confirmed....but ya know, it's awesome).

 

[UnkTob]

Thanks again everyone!

So, I'm a little disappointed with the aviary I used. I knew they don't hand feed, but they also don't have hatch dates. Any guesses as to how old my new friend is? I'll just have to take a best estimate and pick a hatch date.

 

[itchyfeet]

New cage looks lovely! can you get a closer photo of his beak? To me, he looks around 4-5 months, but Silversage will have a better idea

 

[UnkTob]

Thanks Itchy! On Amazon, the reviews complained about the directions being bad and it being difficult to put together. I thought it went together well, and wasn't tough at all.

In terms of trying to figure out how old he or she is, I've attached 2 more, trying to get a clear shot of his (or hers) beak. He sure is hard to get a good photo of! lol He currently paces around a lot!

I'm trying to get him trained to the point where I feel comfortable letting him out. Even before that, I am working on getting him (or her) to be comfortable enough with my hands that I can put a couple more toys in there with him. Sure is stressful and tough to be patient. Want him or her to be as happy as possible as soon as possible!

 

[LordTriggs]

So, I'm a little disappointed with the aviary I used. I knew they don't hand feed, but they also don't have hatch dates..

what I will say about hand-feeding and parent feeding is this, no opinion just how it seems to be.

Hand-feeding gives a parrot more inclined to go towards people and be confident at a young age around humans resulting in a more "pet-like" animal straight out the box. But they don't learn quite how to birb and can believe they're a human making them more prone to try making babies with us and are confident with us to a point where they think they get top billing and can tell us how things work. Essentially they can become very moody confused beings if not properly trained.

Parent fed birds are a bit more wary at first, they take more time to tame down but the moment they decide that you're a friend they are a friend for life. They understand that we are a different creature although they can still decide we make a good baby-momma. They require a bit more socializing so they can see different humans and be more confident around all humans. Parent reared in general seem a little hardier than hand-fed as the parents give bacteria when feeding them which is good to get. They also learn a little about how things work socially through observing the family, they see what the parents do when one acts up and learn their own body language from others.

So really you can see hand or parent reared there's some differences but honestly on the whole it makes very little difference

 

[UnkTob]

Thanks LordTriggs for the reply! Those are helpful observations!

I am okay with him or her being parent raised. I looked into the pro's and con's of both before I made my decision. My disappointment comes from not knowing the hatch date, and they wouldn't even provide an estimate on how old he or she is. (just 4 -14 months) He's got a band on his leg, so I would have guessed that would have been logged with the details for the band. Itchy guesses 4-5, but hoping that Silversage might have a better feel.

 

[LordTriggs]

Thanks LordTriggs for the reply! Those are helpful observations!

I am okay with him or her being parent raised. I looked into the pro's and con's of both before I made my decision. My disappointment comes from not knowing the hatch date, and they wouldn't even provide an estimate on how old he or she is. (just 4 -14 months) He's got a band on his leg, so I would have guessed that would have been logged with the details for the band. Itchy guesses 4-5, but hoping that Silversage might have a better feel.

yeah silversage is definitely the authority on it

All I can say is take a look at some of the pictures I have of Rio, he was parent reared but he was the most loving creature I've had doing anything he could to be with me.

Once they let you in they wrap you around their talons and you're there for life

 

[UnkTob]

Thanks again LordTriggs! That picture of Rio on your PlayStation is perfect! It's like he is saying, hey... don't look up there, look at me! I read what happened to him. Sorry! Stupid fryer from Tefal. I inherited some Tefal stuff when my Dad passed away. Not using any of it! (I need to ebay that stuff and get it out of here)

 

[SilverSage]

Wow that aviary sounds positively horrid!

Your bird is somewhere between 4 and 12 months. I am astounded that they cant be more specific, they really sound awful! How do they have NO records? And WHY are they selling wild birds into pet homes???

His body posture and carriage suggest he is at least 4 months, and around 12 months (usually) the start to get a white and blue iris instead of the all black baby eye.


3 year old Nohea

2 year old Royal

6 month old Isana

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SilverSage]

Here is a better Isana pic to show the difference in the baby eye

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UnkTob]

Wow that aviary sounds positively horrid!

Your bird is somewhere between 4 and 12 months. I am astounded that they cant be more specific, they really sound awful! How do they have NO records? And WHY are they selling wild birds into pet homes???

His body posture and carriage suggest he is at least 4 months, and around 12 months (usually) the start to get a white and blue iris instead of the all black baby eye.

I see what you are saying about the eyes! Mine definitely still has the baby looking eyes. Hmmm... maybe I'll go with LordTriggs' guess of 4-5 months and say it's birthday is around April 20th (received him or her on the 20th of last month), but if the eye changes noticeably sooner, I'll call that month is birthday month. Thanks again for the insight!

In terms of the aviary, they said they don't hand feed since there's a chance with hand fed the bird might not bond with the new owner since it already feels bonded to the person that hand raised it. They also said once I tame it and bond with it, the bond will be much stronger. Sounded good at the time, now I feel like it was a sales pitch. LOL Been 3 weeks now, and it is very slow going.

It doesn't like most treats, so training has been difficult when the only "treat" he responds to is slices of apple. I'm fine with being patient to a degree, and going at his or her pace, but... since the big cage came after the bird, he was stuck in a small Parakeet cage for a day. I had lots of his toys in the cage with him, and only a few put in the big cage. He still freaks out if I try to put anything in his cage, like new toys. Pretty much, hands are okay if they have apple slices, if no apple... he flies like a scared little guy as soon as I try to (very slowly) reach in.

And since so very not tame, I don't feel comfortable letting him or her out to fly around the house yet. So I feel stuck. Target training is coming along, but slowly. Apples only hold their allure for 2-3 small slices per training and after the first training, they hardly get its attention at all if I try again later.

There are times I wish I would have found someone near Idaho with hand raised... but then I think, I wouldn't have ended up with this little guy ( or gal), who is pretty awesome, despite being loud, difficult to train, and one picky little eater. Bird seed, apple slices, cucumber, some lettuce occasionally (baby spinach usually) are the things he will eat. It loves pellets! For as far as it can throw them! LOL! Tried small & medium sized, natural and fruit colored pellets. Won't eat a single piece, but LOVES to pick them out and watch & listen to them fall. Broccoli, peas, corn, baby carrots and any other veggie suffer the same fate as pellets at this point. Nuts! Same thing! Almonds, sunflower kernels, cashews, etc all fall to their demise. And, he really loves throwing the pieces if cashews since they make so much noise when they land in the cage tray! Crazy little guy!

But, my favorite times of my day now are definitely sharing an apple with my little Andy during training, and just sitting next to him talking to him. (Many times throughout the day, of course, but favorite times are usually at night, as he or she is winding down for the evening and being more calm.)

Sorry. My reply went long and in a different direction.

 

[SilverSage]

Yeah they fed you a bunch of lies. That is such utter bologna.

BUT you won't be the first or last of us to get lied to and end up meeting a lovely bird because of it keep it up, be patient, it's worth it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LordTriggs]

WHY are they selling wild birds into pet homes???

Just because they're parent fed doesn't mean they're fully wild. In fact over here our vets recommend parent reared birds, so they know how to bird and get that good bacteria from the parent's stomachs

Think how well mannered that goofball of min was and he was parent reared with 0 human interaction. Just means a little more work at the start is all

 

[SilverSage]

You are correct that one doesn't necessarily mean the other, in fact I'm a huge fan of coparenting. However keep in mind that I raise Irns (both methods) and a well raised tame one doesn't need to be left in the cage, even after shipping; they truly are tame.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LordTriggs]

very true, IRN's are of course a bit different too but even then rio was far from tame when he came home, he still was let out an I just sort of let him figure things out. I don't think we would've been anywhere near as close if I hadn't done

 

[SilverSage]

This is where I say that any baby bird who hasn't been properly exposed to the world enough to handle a new home without fear is a victim of a lazy breeder

But you already know I have extremely high standards and get riled up that most breeders seem not to put in the required effort...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UnkTob]

I think I'm going to just bite the bullet, and let the little guy out to fly around. I've done quite a bit of bird-proofing, but I'm still a little nervous, of course. But I am hoping he or she will come out, fly around then find a place to hang out for awhile in the living room where I can see him, so I can get some stuff done in his home.

On a side note, I searched but didn't find anything. How do you birdy proof hanging lights? If I were a bird, those look like perfect places to hang out and perch... nice and high up with a view of everything!

 

[SilverSage]

Nohea isn't a cord chewer and these cords are actually hard to get to, so I just hang toys from it lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UnkTob]

Haha! Might as well! One of my light fixtures has bigger bulbs so I'm a little worried, and want to make sure he can't get to them somehow. Chicken wire? Not sure...