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Post by rainbowfeathers77 on Mar 9, 2008 8:36:30 GMT 10
Hi all
Well my IRN dilema aka bird frenzy has been solved, at the end of March I am getting four beautiful IRNs....all males, a green one, blue one, lutino one and a grey one. Although I would've liked them tame (but I couldn't find all the colours coming from one same breeder plus way to high in price) , these are failry calm and not flighty and I am REALLY looking forward to them.....at the moment I'm busy looking for an indoor aviary.... I'll probably need a custom built one but it's a real bummer finding one....but anyway....I just wanted to ask other IRN owners on here about their IRNs and wheter yours are tame or aviary raised or do you have both ...and any stories & experiences you want to share??
Cheers guys ;D
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Post by vankarhi on Mar 9, 2008 11:07:03 GMT 10
I owned 2, both lutinos and I suspect the first one was a hen and I know the second one is a male.
They were both handraised but the first one (Tiki) ended up becoming a very nippy and territorial bird who bit anyone who put their hands near enough to her while in her cage. I was the only person who would take her out of her cage for some attentiona and I did it daily. While out of her cage she was ok. But they are not normally scratchy feely birds either, but do love to sit with you if they have bonded to you.
The second on is a male as I gave him to my daughters boyfriend who liked him. He got his ring last year and apparently all of his family spoil him. He talks and whistles and likes to sit on shoulders but "dont touch the merchandise please".
That is all I can tell you about my experience with them.
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Post by rainbowfeathers77 on Mar 9, 2008 13:09:33 GMT 10
Thanks Tracey! Cheers for that!
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Post by vankarhi on Mar 9, 2008 14:45:54 GMT 10
I do know of a couple of people who own them as pets, one especially was a lovely girl (blue too) but her owner spent a lot of time with her. The other one is a lutino hen of an internet friend in the USA. Aparently she has "great days" when she loves to be handled, then for no apparent reason will "nail" her owner (sounds like my female ekkie ;D )
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Post by avinet on Mar 9, 2008 17:44:47 GMT 10
Hi Kat, I own two lutino ringnecks as pets, have a breeding pair out in the aviaries, and have had more, lots more, of aviary and pet birds. In general I would never recommend even trying to tame an aviary raised ringneck, and even more so if you have more than one bird. It is possible but very difficult and you need a ready supply of Elastoplast handy - and Betadine (always put on a bite to stop inflammation). Even hand raised ringnecks can be a bit bitey - sometimes a lot bitey. And most ringnecks go through a "terrible twos" stage when they get quite nippy for a while, usually from around 3 to 6 months old. My two house ringnecks are Sasha and Jello. Sasha is about 15 years old, a complete sook, just about the best nature of any ringneck I've come across. Jello (about 13 years old) is more your typical ringneck, especially hens - she will step up but try to touch her at your peril. Sasha will lie on his back in my hand and have his tummy tickled, or preen his feet as he is in the photo below. Jello will try to bite your finger off if you tried to do the same - much more typical of a ringneck. If your ringneck will lie on it's back as Sasha will then it is a good ringneck in temperament.  I've hand raised hundreds of ringnecks, up to 50 in a good season when ringnecks were worth breeding (these days they are so cheap it is hard to justify the time needed). Most ringnecks that are hand reared are reasonable but there is always a number that basically don't want to be pets. I have found that the temperament of the parents has a big influence on the outcome of the babies - Sasha and Jello produce marvelous babies, as do the only pair I have in the aviaries currently. I've had other pairs in the aviary that produce nasty bitey babies no matter how much effort you put into them. A couple of years ago we had a grey baby that would rush out of the cage when it was time to hand feed and first up give my finger a good solid bite, before getting down to eating. To keep me concentrating he would give an occasional bite if I wasn't paying attention - and it wasn't due to his upbringing since the other babies with exactly the same attention were fine. He was just a nasty bird. Having four ringnecks in a cage is going to be a challenge if you aim to get them tame - to stand a chance they will need clipping first. If they are not to be tamed then it needs to be a BIG cage to stop any squabbling (although four males can get on OK) and most importantly to give them enough space to fly. cheers, Mike |
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Post by vankarhi on Mar 9, 2008 18:05:12 GMT 10
Great advise again Mike. ;D
Love the way you describe your birds sometimes. lol sounds so much like my Skye at times. ;D But your bitey grey sounded like an alex female I had and I finished raising her too, but she was a bitey (nasty) bird and even as a baby would "nail" me. she has been rehomed and has a hubby now. ;D
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Post by rainbowfeathers77 on Mar 9, 2008 19:26:24 GMT 10
Thanks for that Mike!! I appreciate the time you always give to answer my questions in great detail!! Thanks heaps!!
Re the IRNs...I don't think I'll try to tame them - I can guess that would be a very hard job. I'm fine if they stay aviary as long as they aren't too flighty and timid and this breeder that I'm getting them from, says they are not.
I just really love the bird and the colours they come in so I just want to stand back, admire them and have them near me. I have my little buddy mate, my GCC who's my tame companion and maybe later I'll get a tame sunnie - but thats for later. These are for admiration. I am now in the process trying to find a big indoor aviary so that they won't squabble. They come from the same cage and feed from the same plate so they already kinda tolerate each other.
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Post by vankarhi on Mar 9, 2008 20:06:07 GMT 10
well they sound lovely and they surely will be beautiful to admire too ;D
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Post by barkingowl on Jul 3, 2008 19:18:43 GMT 10
I know this is an old post but I just want to say thank you Mike for this as I was thinking of getting a couple of IRN's as pets for the kids and now I am thinking of something else.
They are beautiful bird (my dad had some) but I don't want my kids to be turned off birds. Maybe at a later stage.
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Post by meandem on Jul 4, 2008 10:33:59 GMT 10
I am amazed to hear that a hand reared IRN is bitey. I haven't yet had that unpleasant experience. I have two in the house, and they have NEVER EVER bitten me. Yoshi (the green one) is as gentle as. Howie is a little crazy at times, but very loving and gentle with humans. Maybe because they are in together they tend to follow suit, one doesn't bite so the other doesn't either? Yoshi is older by 12 months, and they still both haven't reach maturity yet. So maybe I am in for a good biting at some stage. My kids love Yoshi the most, probably because you get the most response when talking or touching with Yosh. And because Howie can bit a little skittish at times, they tend to favour Yosh more.
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Post by meandem on Jul 4, 2008 10:45:09 GMT 10
 Sorry I forgot to add the pic! |
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Post by courtzrocks on Jul 4, 2008 13:56:32 GMT 10
Aww they're cute!
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Post by silvercloud on Jul 5, 2008 12:25:19 GMT 10
They're both beautiful. Love the expressions ;D A lot of hand raised IRNs can be bitey, it sounds like yours are the exeption so far. My Sunshine wasn't bitey to me but anyone else had better watch out.
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Post by pinkdevil on Jul 5, 2008 18:09:28 GMT 10
Your ringies look very sweet meandem  I have 1 IRN which I handraised myself. She did go through the "bluffing" stage but all is good now. She hasn't bitten me for over a year.  All my others are aviary birds but 2 of them I think were handraised or at least tamed before. One will sit on my shoulder and says a few words, the other is more talkative, likes to get in your face, but doesn't allow touching. Will follow me all over the aviary and ask me what I am doin'? lol This is one of my babies I hand raised last year. She now lives with Shanes' mum and has learnt quite a few words and whistles. |
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Post by meandem on Jul 8, 2008 16:14:46 GMT 10
After a few hours of downloading...........(I walked away from the computer, went to work, come home, made a cup of tea, hung out washing, feed and water the birds, the dog, the kids, the husband, etc etc etc) I finally downloaded your video. Absolutely stunning. What dedication and devotion - Oh how it shows.
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Post by pinkdevil on Jul 9, 2008 9:22:03 GMT 10
lol meandem lol the joys of dialup!!!!! At least you make use of your dial up time productively, I used to just wait 'n' eat 'n' wait 'n' chuck a tanty 'n' eat 'n' wait.  |
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Post by meandem on Jul 9, 2008 10:23:26 GMT 10
We are finding out about satellite broadband. Hopefully in the near future we will be up to date with the rest of the world.......................we don't even get mobile phone service out here. Our dial up connects at 29.2kbs so it is like using a tincan and string. :)I used to just wait 'n' eat 'n' wait 'n' chuck a tanty 'n' eat 'n' wait And I do all of these things as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And a little bit of swearing sometimes too....................aaargh..........it is so frustrating |
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Karen
Addicted Member
Posts: 97
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Post by Karen on Jul 10, 2008 20:55:29 GMT 10
The Lutino IRN I had was mistreated and didn't trust people, she was just starting to trust me. She never bit me nasty like. It was more of a "hey, I don't want you to do that" warning. One time I pushed my luck and she pinned, hissed and ran up the perch towards my hand (inside I was shaking), reached my finger and closed her beak . . . and just held onto my finger with her beak! I was sure I was going to lose that finger! She was bluffing!  |
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Post by meandem on Jul 13, 2008 15:26:31 GMT 10
I think IRN's are the best at bluffing. The whole eye and wing thing keeps everyone guessing. Poor little Yoshi is a little deformed in the feet, so I am not sure if that makes him more reliant on me, but he is just delightful, he never seems to have a bad day, and is never irritable. Whereas Howie can get a little irritable, but it all seems to be forgotten when I get them out to play.
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Post by kireina on Jul 30, 2008 15:59:11 GMT 10
I've got three pairs in a three bay aviary. Various levels of tameness. First Bay is a tame pair that will sit on shoulders and give kisses and talk. Second Bay is a pair that will sit quietly when i'm in the cage but fly away if i get too close. Third Bay house the pair that 'freak out' if i go in their cage.
It all comes down to the individual bird
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