Considering IRN, tell me the good, bad and ugly.

[TheofficialParakeet]

Let's hear it.

I want everything, Good, Bad and ugly. $$ costs and damage. Noise... ECT, ECT, ECT.... You get it.

Go ahead and spill it!

 

[wrench13]

As you start to get responses, keep in mind there will be 2 types. One are anecdotal in nature, the others will be firsthand, actual experiences. Both have value. Anecdotal are just that - Someone told me about someone else's blah , blah, blah. The responses with actual experience are going to be colored with all the emotion that a 'story' type could be missing. I guess what I am saying is - Consider the source! All of these points are anecdotal in nature.

IRN's are more timid than other species might be,
IRN's have a tendency to revert to an almost wild state, if not handled on a daily basis,
IRN's are not great talkers.
IRN's do not like being scratched.
IRN's have to be kept in flock type environmental conditions.

Plus all of the misconceptions and old wife's tales about parrots in general (not to say that age or gender are responsible for these). These are far too numerous to list here.

 

[Cottonoid]

I have a rescued African Ringneck. He was about 18 months old when I met him. My impressions of the species are based on my bird, who was not hand-tame when I got him, and on talking to a few other ringneck owners.

Before I brought Cotton home, I visited a few Indian Ringnecks in a really great store, and also got to meet some different conures, a Caique, and some Quakers, so I think I got a pretty good feel for some of the normal sounds and behaviors of each type of parrot.

In general I would say that ringnecks are more independent in the sense they aren’t going to need to be right on you all the time.

Mine is still a hands off guy, but he loves when people come over and hang out in the room where he lives. He does not want attention ON him, but he likes being at the party.

He LOVES destroying toys, and foraging puzzles. I think the bulk of the money I regularly spend on him is on balsa chunks and toys. He’ll go through a sola stick in 20 minutes, and a 6 inch cube of balsa in half a day. He has a wide variety of other toys he enjoys too, but I always have at least one fresh balsa toy and one fresh sola toy every day. He does need a lot of enrichment – he likes to be busy working most of the morning and for a good chunk of the afternoon.

I’ve had him home for 10 months now, and it took months to build trust. He will take treats from my hand, but if I don’t practice this every single day, he’ll be reluctant to do it for a day or two. He also will make it very obvious that he’s NOT going to work with me if something happened that he doesn’t like – for example, he is not a fan of my Quaker playing on his favorite tree stand, and if I haven’t intervened but just let the two of them work it out, my ARN will snub me for a while. He’s incredibly smart, and is almost always ten steps ahead of me when it comes to training or building our relationship.

I think ringnecks in general are friendly in the sense that I think it’s rare for them to be aggressive towards other birds or people. I honestly can’t imagine a scenario where mine would bite. He threatens sometimes when he’s upset about the Quaker being in his space, but never gets close to actually making contact. When he’s in situations like at the vet, he’s very cooperative even when he’s scared and yelling.

Cotton’s normal sounds are different from an IRN, but he has a very similar alarm call. I don’t find the calls unpleasant, but they are quite piercing so it’s something to make sure you’re okay with if certain pitches bother you. He is pretty chatty most of the day, but especially first thing in the morning and also before bed. I can hear him easily from outside my house with the (brand new double paned) windows shut. Thankfully my neighbors think he's adorable and just say hello when he's yelling at airplanes or the mail carrier

Some things with Cotton are likely to be his individual personality and his history. He is VERY routine. Way more so than any of the other birds I've watched in my home. He puts himself in his roosting spot whether the lights are on or not, at 530pm. In the summer 630pm but only because of our time change - he really hasn't deviated from this more than 10 minutes since he came home. I suspect this is a Cotton thing more than an every ringneck thing.

 

[Bluberrytheparakeet]

Ok, that was very helpful! I have 2 budgies, would i be able to let them out with the IRN or not? my male budige likes to roughouse with other birds..

 

[Cottonoid]

I don't have any experience with mixed size flocks, but mine has been out with 2 different cockatiels and my Quaker and just does his own thing. At a parrot sanctuary where I volunteer, they had an IRN for years that lived in the cockatiel/lovebird room and he did great with them.

From what I've read, I think ringnecks are really well suited to an aviary type of lifestyle, probably even more so than as a single companion parrot. So my hunch is that with careful introductions and shaping good behavior, they could fit well in to a mixed flock.

I don't know from experience, though.

 

[ctwo]

It depends on the particular bird. I heard humans are grumpy and by watching the news, are unethical thieving creatures...

My IRN, Mango, has phases where he loves me, he loves me not. When we had Kiwi the budgie, we tried to keep him away from Mango, but Kiwi would fly down the hall, across the living and dining rooms, and zip through a cracked door to be part of the flock, where he would bully Mango and Peach. Budgies are fast, but if Mango ever got a hold of him, he'd be done.

IRN's may typically be harder than other popular species as they may require a pinch more persistence, attention, and patience.

Oh, and when mine screams from my shoulder, it's painful, and I can hear him outside from a block away, but fortunately mine does not scream that often, and when he does, it's because he wants something, sees something, or is having a premonition or something like that...

And also, they have a long, pointy beak that can be quite sharp. You may bleed some here and there, especially during their bluffing stage.

Also, the articles here are fantastic: http://silversageaviaries.com/

 

[skunkmonkey]

• The good:
  • They have hypoallergenic feather structure similar to an Eclectus, so if you are allergic to dander these birds will bother you much less than other parrots
  • They are small birds so they are:
    • Less destructive than larger parrots
    • Less noisy than larger parrots (though they can still be loud for apartments)
    • Less expensive toys
    • Less expensive cages
    • Less expensive to buy
  • They have tons of personality in a little body
  • They sound cute (in the unlikely event that they learn to talk)
  • They come in many different colors, and can be quite pretty
  • They are smart, and can be trained to do a myriad of tricks
• The bad
  
  • They can be a little too noisy for apartment living
  • They aren't cuddly
  • They don't like to be touched
• The ugly
  • They tend to revert to a wild state if you ignore them for days on end. This can make vacations difficult if you don't have a family / friend that is willing to interact with them
  • They don't really bond with you the way that other parrots will. They are largely indifferent to humans, though I've noticed a very minor bond in my birds

I have 2 Indian Ringnecks. One is a 5yr old female, the other is a 1yr old (I'm guessing male by behavior.) I also owned a Rose Breasted Cockatoo (Galah.) For comparison to the Galah, which is a medium sized parrot, the Galah is:

• An excellent talker, he knows dozens of words and phrases
• Extremely intelligent. He can even talk in context at times
• Loves to cuddle
• Loves to be touched
• Loves to be tickled
• Much noisier than my Ringnecks. My wife literally has to wear ear protection because it bothers her so much
• Much more destructive than my Ringnecks
• 5x more expensive to buy
• More expensive cage
• More expensive toys
• Almost impossible to bird proof the house. He even pulls nails out of the floor boards

 

[Keet_Krazy]

You may bleed some here and there, especially during their bluffing stage.

I dont have first hand experience with IRNs, but I researched a crazy amount in preparation for my Slaty head. IRN do not have a bluffing stage! IMO the phrase needs to stop being repeated.

Do Animals Bluff?

Have you ever thought about the word bluffing? Some synonyms are conning, tricking, faking. When people use the word bluffing in rega...

goodbirdinc.blogspot.com

 

[ctwo]

I dont have first hand experience with IRNs, but I researched a crazy amount in preparation for my Slaty head. IRN do not have a bluffing stage! IMO the phrase needs to stop being repeated.

Do Animals Bluff?

Have you ever thought about the word bluffing? Some synonyms are conning, tricking, faking. When people use the word bluffing in rega...

goodbirdinc.blogspot.com

Is your concern related to the nuance of the term? I agree, it's an odd reference and there is certainly nothing about the traditional definition that applies. Call it what you want but there is often a period where there will be no aggression and then a period of aggression. I mean, not always and I've read each bird has their own individual personality, but this behavior is often cited and mostly does not involve any sort of abuse. The article you reference seems filled with preconceived notions and negative connotations. They pretty much blame this aggressive behavior on coercive handling and reference other inappropriate tactics such as flooding. Well, if you think about it, holding a bird in captivity is coercive by matter of fact. Perhaps I also consider that our tamed pets are really just suffering from some form of Stockholm syndrome. The point is, IRNs are more prone to become less tolerant as they mature than other kinds of birds.

 

[Cottonoid]

I love talking about this concept and always enjoy discussion about it, especially in regards to ringnecks I didn't read the article, but to me, "bluffing" is too often used in a dismissive way and we lose sight of trying to improve communication with our ringnecks.

For example Cotton will posture and lunge, and it could be easy for someone who's read about "IRN bluffing" to dismiss his behavior as a "ringneck" thing even though he's an adult and is simply communicating he wants space. For Cotton this is the last behavior in a line of smaller more subtle cues he displays first, some as subtle as the feathers around his eyes shifting and a 1° tilt of his head lol

I totally agree with your statement about tamed pets - for me the fact they can do well in captivity is a testament to how well parrots can adapt to their circumstances.

I think "taming" itself as a concept can cause misconceptions. Cotton is not "tame" in the way the word is normally used, but we do have mutual respect and trust.

I actually love that he's not as tolerant of me and my silly ideas - it makes me work harder

 

[wrench13]

100% agree w/Cottonoid. Tame is a relative word with parrots, as they are still "wild" animals. Salty is 'tame' ie he will let me pick him up (when he wants or allows it) and to give him scratches, but he will and does bite when I am not observant enough. TO dog and cat people, this is not tame. But as parrot people, we know this is likely as tame as one gets.

 

[Keet_Krazy]

I think people saying IRN "Bluff"does them a huge disservice. So many times I've seen people say "I am interested in IRN, but... Bluffing phase"
I agree with Cottonoid, RN behaviour gets passed off as "Bluffing" instead of people trying to understand  why they're behaving like they are.
And I agree IRN are prone to becoming less tolerant as they mature, because a lot of people don't understand that they are quite different from other parrot species. The amount of IRN owners I've seen videos of who seem oblivious to the fact Asiatic parrot don't Allopreen!

Sorry if that doesn't make a whole heap of sense, I often struggle to put my thoughts into words.

 

[Cottonoid]

It makes sense to me.

I do admit that having met some younger/adolescent IRN, and having adopted an 18-month old post-puberty ARN, I can see why that stage of development became known as their bluffing stage. I think it gets a little lost in translation when there is such a huge range of "typical" behaviors across all parrot species.

@ctwo I really like what you said about ringnecks needing a little more persistence/persuasion/attention. Cotton doesn't ask for attention the same way my Quaker does, but he still needs to be part of family life. He loves when I have people over even though he hates anyone but me looking at him.

And of course I think we've all seen that personality is such an individual thing, for any living creature.

 

[Terry57]

My IRN, Kodee, bluffed all the time with my Alex, Xander. He would use it to bully Xander.

He was never tame at all, he'd much rather hang out with his flock. Kodee also followed our directions better than any of the other birds.
When he started to talk, he sounded just like Xander. Sometimes they would be in each others face and just say "How are you?" over and over to each other. He also learned to say Hello, and that was the extent of his talking.

I love IRNs and ARNs and I think that sometimes they get a bad rap for going wild without attention every day. My friend who runs the rescue has had many IRNs, some who stayed for a long time. I just texted her to check and she never had an IRN go wild at the rescue.

I know that some do go wild pretty quickly, but I believe there are just as many who don't. My guess is that it has a lot to do with the breeder.