Arnie the African Ringneck

Hi everyone! I just got my first bird in a very long time so I’m essentially a newbie here. I bought Arnie at a bird store... I was thinking about adopting and had been checking online, researching, and trying to make a final decision on what type to get. I went to a local bird shop to check out some different birds in person. It was loud in there but one bird looked at me with his head cocked to the side and quietly seemed to say “this is madness, let’s go”. I left and thought about it for a while and went back to get him the same day. The owner said he was 6 months old.

That was a week ago and he is settling in well. He loves grapes and strawberries and is willing to try most fruits and veggies I offer. He will not yet step up or take treats from my hand.

I’m currently trying to get him to accept people coming close to his cage. He is very curious and interested in my voice when he is calm. He still jumps away when I change out food bowls or move toys around but he is progressively less frantic about it. He seems to enjoy attention and when I praise a behavior he does seem to repeat it and watch me for a reaction.

He’s super quiet and hardly makes any noise. He grinds his beak at night and sometime seems to make a similar chattering noise. I try to encourage this. He had otherwise only screamed or squawked when I was frightening him by moving stuff around in his cage (sorry, buddy!).

I’ll stop short of writing a whole novel, but hello and thanks for the information I’ve gotten here so far. Any tips or tricks are welcome.

Oh! And which species section do I belong in with an African Ringneck?



Tess

Welcome Tess! Seems you were chosen by Arnie, a superb method when confronted by many candidates. Glad you were perceptive, seems a good match.

Not familiar with the species, so others can give better advice for specific forum of discussion. There are many techniques for bonding closer to Arnie and better socializing him. One of our favorite threads: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html Please be patient as his first few weeks are a "honeymoon" process of acclimating to new surroundings.

Welcome and be welcomed. Arnie seems like he is well on his way to becoming tamed. Ringnecks need to be interacted with every day - they go quickly back to the wild state. If you'd like to see how tame and smart they are look on you tube for videos of Bundi and others on Sky both ringnecks that talk and do tricks etc.

Welcome to the forum!

Technically, Arnie fits into the "Indian Ringneck" forum.... since Indian Ringnecks are a subspecies of African Ringnecks.

Welcome to you and Arnie.

You can already see that you two are fitting right in here.

About that pet store pick-up? Yep, been there, did that, 34 years ago. I wish your relationship equal longevity.