Adopted IRN - wordy Backstory, Question on his size, & other tidbits

[Cottonoid]

Awww that’s so cute!
My mom and I struggle so hard. Watching a very serious movie scene of emotional impact—

And then, from the other room, little beeps and clucks and MUH HEAAAAARRRRTTTTTTT. TOO CUTE.

Real wild difference after living with a sun conure and then a green cheek conure for the last… goodness, six or seven years now? I’ve had Bongo three or four now.

How old is your little beeper?

He'll be two this month! He is verrrrry slowly coming around to the idea that people aren't trying to eat him, so every time I hear him beep-trill-chortling away melts my heart! I hadn't met any ringnecks before him, so I didn't expect I'd be so entranced with all the sounds they make

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

He'll be two this month! He is verrrrry slowly coming around to the idea that people aren't trying to eat him, so every time I hear him beep-trill-chortling away melts my heart! I hadn't met any ringnecks before him, so I didn't expect I'd be so entranced with all the sounds they make

D’awwwwwww!! Has he hit the dreaded puberty? If so, i’m curious what your experience with that has been? My first two birds were both older, one was 14 and Bongo was almost 5 so just on the tail end of it and most her issues were from poor handling/training.

And OMG YES THAT’S BEEN OUR EXPERIENCE WITH ECHO

They are so stinkin cute sounding! My mom’s face when she heard him for the first time was utterly priceless, and I’m sure mine was too.

Bongo is less impressed. She likes to boss him around and steal whatever food dish he was eating from and if he makes noise she plays aloof

 

[Cottonoid]

I'm not sure if he's gone through puberty - he does have his ring but I've read that ARN get theirs around 18 months where IRN are a bit later - he hasn't shown any signs of being extra hormonal yet either, so maybe I still have that to look forward to 😁

 

[HeatherG]

I bet that extreme stress and illness could delay puberty.

How is Mr Fuzzbottom doing? Are you going to throw a hatchday party for him?

Do you know for sure Cotton is a boy?

 

[Cottonoid]

I bet that extreme stress and illness could delay puberty.

How is Mr Fuzzbottom doing? Are you going to throw a hatchday party for him?

Do you know for sure Cotton is a boy?

Definitely a boy and I better decide a Hatchday quick so I can plan a party!

 

[HeatherG]

I bet that extreme stress and illness could delay puberty.

How is Mr Fuzzbottom doing? Are you going to throw a hatchday party for him?

Do you know for sure Cotton is a boy?

Sorry, squeeing onion. I got confused. Was looking for Cotton’s thread.

But I read through your thread again and your guy looks great and is surely eating a varied diet. He is beautiful but big and his beak seems kind of dark, if that could give a clue if he’s a hybrid.

I can’t remember much about IRN vocalizations; the one parrot I had that never warmed to me, no matter how many peanuts and treats I fed him, was my IRN Kermit. I mostly remember a very loud blast of alarm call/ you’re not paying attention to me call. This was over 20 yrs ago; I’m kinda old now, and I was very young back then. A local pet shop owner had the NICEST blue ringneck so I was disappointed.

I think the psittacula are GORGEOUS and elegant birds. I don’t know why Kermit despised me; eventually I wrote a personals ad for him (single green male seeks…) and the nice woman who answered took him after two years of him/ her! hating me. I told her I wasn’t beating him but I don’t know what she thought.

Thank you for taking such good care of this mistreated baby. I’m glad he’s happy with you. He looks really good and the photo on the tree wall hanging is very nice.

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

Sorry, squeeing onion. I got confused. Was looking for Cotton’s thread.

But I read through your thread again and your guy looks great and is surely eating a varied diet. He is beautiful but big and his beak seems kind of dark, if that could give a clue if he’s a hybrid.

I can’t remember much about IRN vocalizations; the one parrot I had that never warmed to me, no matter how many peanuts and treats I fed him, was my IRN Kermit. I mostly remember a very loud blast of alarm call/ you’re not paying attention to me call. This was over 20 yrs ago; I’m kinda old now, and I was very young back then. A local pet shop owner had the NICEST blue ringneck so I was disappointed.

I think the psittacula are GORGEOUS and elegant birds. I don’t know why Kermit despised me; eventually I wrote a personals ad for him (single green male seeks…) and the nice woman who answered took him after two years of him/ her! hating me. I told her I wasn’t beating him but I don’t know what she thought.

Thank you for taking such good care of this mistreated baby. I’m glad he’s happy with you. He looks really good and the photo on the tree wall hanging is very nice.

Awww thanks for taking the time to comment on my boy while you were looking for Cotton’s thread!

I have been wondering about the beak - I know it can take time for colors to change, most the wild IRN I saw look like they have cherry bright beaks while my guy looks pretty dull. Hard to say if that’s its natural color or if diet and handling from the store caused it, I figure in a year or two I should be able to know for certain.

I am so amazed by how his colors have absolutely EXPLODED! His undertail has turned a brilliant yellow with a cyan blue backing on the long ones like macaws get, his wings have turned a lovely, rich emerald green, and his lime color has really brightened especially after his first shower/bath.

He hasn’t figured out the bird fountain I have yet (he seriously looked at and investigated it yesterday, that’s a step forward squeeee!) and keeps trying to take “baths” in his water dish.

It’s so funny and sad-pathetic looking, because he’s so big, all he can fit in his water dish is his face and he just kinda… smacks it against the water 🤣 He’s been mostly okay with me using my fancy pressure mister, opened his wings up and danced under it once he realized he wasn’t being eaten alive or attacked.

I bet that extreme stress and illness could delay puberty.

I definitely believe this; i got my green cheek Conure, Bongo, when she was a little over four and a half years old. By rights, she should have been through or at the very tippy tail end of puberty.

I brouht home one of the angriest, poofiest, grudge holding, snippy, miserable, horribly misunderstood and mistrained little conures I have ever met. She wasn’t cared for well in housing and in food, but her family save the wife adored her so she priorly had a good relationship with two household members especially until she the husband on an ear and the he took it personally and wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Goodbye what training she had left at that point!

She had been kept in so tiny a cage she didn’t have good coordination; she’d take a step and fall off a perch legit because she judged the distance wrong. It was heartbreaking and adorable at the same time to watch her struggle to learn how to move like a normal playful bird.

But her mishandling also meant… no one was consciously focusing on teaching her anything through puberty! She was bounced through home after home after home until I adopted her.

Heh… hijacking my own thread with my other bird 😂🤣 sorry, Echo!

🦜More Echo updoots:🦜

We’ve been very entertained by his cute beeps and burbles. His previous owner is delighted to see him so healthy and happy; she asked me if he’s said any new words and I got to tell her I haven’t heard a single one! I honestly forgot he talked. Now I am wondering if he’ll be like one of those toddlers who suddenly unleashes a torrent of words they picked up you had no idea they had picked up on 🤣 he uses a few of my whistles, especially when he wants my attention or to contact call.

We hear his loud “bir alarm” at least once a day when he is first let loose. I call it the Echo Zoomies - he flies back and forth to different perches and ESPECIALLY by the windows, i think he’s vocalizing to the wild birds outside and announcing his state of looseness to the household xD

HE IS NOW TAKING TREATS FROM OUR FINGERS SQUEEEEEEE MY BABY BOY I’M GONNA CRY I SO HAPPY! He has grabbed our fingers a few times instead of the treat on accident, it happens so fast i honestly don’t even have time to react except my eyes widen a bit I know xD very gentle, he didn’t bite just held and let go and tried again for his treat, usually more slowly and carefully tehee.

He has reached out and touched my arm and my palm to see if it would then idk turn into a dragon or a surprise net or i’m actually three racoons in a trenchcoat about to spring on him. I’ve been very careful on how we encourage that so he is exploring with gentle touches not a nice hard chomp, at least for now. I know the bites are likely to come eventually 😖 Still, such a nice change of pace from bringing home Bongo who bit me bloody every day at least once, for over a year!

He is becoming more comfortable with people, and handled his first roadtrip and camping event with us absolutely splendid. He was a little stressed during loading and unloading once we got there, but he was SO happy to see Mama was already thereand that calmed nim down a lot. He loved being outside (in his cage ofc 💚) in the sun and light breeze, then he was safely tucked into the back in our private space, so he wasn’t overwhelmed by people. I only let very trusted people in back to be introduced to him, and no one touched his cage or tried to give him treats (this was right when he began accepting them from us so we didn’t want to push his comfort zone with too many new things at once)

I just learned last night that I am definitely not crazy and he is growing more comfortable with me - my friend was watching him part of the camping event, and noticed that when I’m gone, E ho is a lot more withdrawn, quiet, and cautious. When I am around, he settles considerably, and if I am talking to a person and seem okay with them, then he relaxes and is okay with them too. So he’s taking cues from Bongo and I which is WONDERFUL, and a really good help for training him.

So far, so good on house training. He is obsessed with the stained glass butterfly that hangs over our sink and likes to try getting on it when he thinks I’m not paying attention. He’s mostly been popping on the birdie areas so that hasn’t been a hassle, I have to clean up dead bugs in the windowsils or he will eat them 😬

He was so stinkin’ adorable when the new birdie toys came in the mail. I opened the package right in front of him and he just did that “hopefully curious” birdie headtilt-waddle-waddle-sidestep thing birds do. He LOVES the ones I picked out 🥹🥰 which also means they won’t last terribly long butbhey that was the point xD i got him some nice hardwood chewables, mixed with easier shreddables, since he likes both.

He is also a raven in disguise. I am CONVINCED. He flew down to my little incense area (i use only things bird safe and very occasionally- I don’t burn chemical incense or such, loose herbs and windows open, or birdies moved, etc), picked up one of my shiney rocks, and flew off with it after looking at me when I told him it was mine. He’s flown off with it twice xD

I busted open an old box of plastic shiney gems I used for an art gallery display years back, and he went nuts for them with delight. I HAS A BIRD WHO LIKES SHINEY THINGS AND JENGA BLOCKS. YAAAAAY.

So.., here’s some cute pics of the little green child I definitely don’t nickname Grogu in my head!

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

Update!

Echo has settled into our household very well -- We're really beginning to trust each other! He is taking treats much slower from my fingers and I've started teaching him how to do things like pull a grape off the vine or take a bite out of a fruit I'm holding onto.

He's also beginning to come towards me even when I don't always have a treat. He'll just waddle over to look at me, and he'll contact call when I'm not visible and it's been a minute.

I shared an apple with he and Bongo yesterday; I think it was really our first "flock meal" together. Bongo was so happy on my shoulder to munch away, and Echo would come waddling over to grab a bite of the slice I cut for the two of them to munch off of.

 

[Cottonoid]

This is so exciting!!! Yay Echo!!

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

This is so exciting!!! Yay Echo!!

Little guy is melting my heart, let me tell you!
I have to be careful not to fawn over him too much and make Bongo jealous 😅

Teaching him to get his own grape was so cute. He was VERY excited when I brought the bushel out.... and was clearly waiting to be given one. He didn't seem to know what to do at first when I offered him the entire clump.

He came over, looked, then backed away, trying to figure it out.

I let him watch me pull a grape outt, then held it back out to him. We did that about three or four times before he came over and tugged on one, then finally figured out how to get it off. He was so dang happy!

How are things going with your feathered floof, Cottonoid?

 

[Cottonoid]

Ok that grape picking is the cutest thing ever!!!

Cotton is doing ok! I made some little missteps relationship wise and he's now making it very clear I'm a dumb dumb 😆 so it's slow going but only because of me accidentally defaulting to how I'd treat a feral cat when I'm overtired. He's not at all impressed with vocal reassurances, especially when I'm doing it on purpose.

Wow, your write up of Echo's behavior in the other thread is SO spot on. I have a notebook to keep track of every little thing I notice in body language to help me learn faster, and my friend and I joke that Cotton has a notebook too. And he's better at it than I am!

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

Ok that grape picking is the cutest thing ever!!!

Cotton is doing ok! I made some little missteps relationship wise and he's now making it very clear I'm a dumb dumb 😆 so it's slow going but only because of me accidentally defaulting to how I'd treat a feral cat when I'm overtired. He's not at all impressed with vocal reassurances, especially when I'm doing it on purpose.

Wow, your write up of Echo's behavior in the other thread is SO spot on. I have a notebook to keep track of every little thing I notice in body language to help me learn faster, and my friend and I joke that Cotton has a notebook too. And he's better at it than I am!

I absolutely think there is so much we can learn from them if we let them be the teachers as much as our student! I'm so happy to hear it's all not just in my head, too 😂 I've certainly been learning a lot.

And awwww, if your buddy is anything like my Echo, you'll work through it!

Echo held a grudge -- a very serious one, at that -- against me for, oh, three weeks right after he moved in, because I removed his *favorite* toy from his cage..... it was a mirror toy, and he was mistaking it for a real bird, which I had been advised and saw was going to lead to problems. It was so hard not to get discouraged, because he and I had been progressing very well for the first week or two he'd been there. I think it was in the middle of the second week when I botched that up, I waited too long to take the toy out.

He would make warning signs at me (lunging at a nearby toy to show he was a viable threat, pinning his eyes and looking highly stressed and afraid) far more often and more readily than he had ever before, and more than he did to my mom for a while.

So, to him, he was a lonely, highly stressed, very nervous bird desperate for trustworthy companionship, and I was the evil human who came in and took that companion away by removing the "other bird" in his mirror toy. Big oops. I could see his perspective, so that made it a lot easier not to guilt myself over it, because I also knew I did what was best... though I should have acted on it sooner.

He's since gotten over it, and has been putting effort into interacting with Bongo and I and my Mom, and now lately specially chosen guests we invite to introduce him to that I trust won't freak him out.

I love the idea of a notebook to track behavior... Actually doing it is going to take some practice. I've been so frazzled lately, COVID hit me hard. (No longer sick, just dealing with the dang fatigue!) It'd be cool to make a Ringneck collective notebook, have folks compare their notes on working with the species!