New baby boy

[coral3]

Our new 10 week old baby boy, Ringo. (Possibly the least original name around I know, but we like it)

He's the most adorable boy. We've only had him a couple days, so far he's settling in really well.

 

[ann]

what a cutie! congrats on the baby boy and best wishes for a wonderful life with him

 

[antoinette]

Ringo is so cute, beautiful colours
I wish you all many many enjoyable years together
Thanks for sharing

 

[Thingamagigs]

awwww look at his gorgeous innocent bubba eyes! They wont last long
He is gorgeous and looks beautifully healthy!!! Alexs are the sweetest babies!

 

[aliray]

awww very very cute congrats on your new baby

 

[BradGC]

Nice!

He'll soon grow into his huge beak and googly eyes =)

 

[lene1949]

Congratulations...

My alex, Max, is also a boy... He's 1.5 years old, and just started to get his ring...

I have never seen a ring on an alex this young... I did see one on Gumtree, though...

 

[coral3]

Do you think that IS the start of his ring? I thought he was way too young to be getting it, so I guess I thought it was just a darker 'tinge' on some feathers there...those feathers don't seem to be solid black, they're GREEN feathers with little tips of black around the edge. ??

Do you think he'll get his full ring earlier than is usual? I admit I'm impatient to see it, so I'd be happy if he did!

We adore him, he's the most beautiful little boy. He had a shower with me this morning & loved it. I've been talking to him all the time since we got him (only a few days ago) and already I could swear he's trying to say hello...he was making the cutest little talking noises all afternoon today, trying SO hard to say it!

 

[wenz2712]

Congrats.. Ringo is adorable

 

[lene1949]

Do you think that IS the start of his ring? I thought he was way too young to be getting it, so I guess I thought it was just a darker 'tinge' on some feathers there...those feathers don't seem to be solid black, they're GREEN feathers with little tips of black around the edge. ??

Do you think he'll get his full ring earlier than is usual? I admit I'm impatient to see it, so I'd be happy if he did!

We adore him, he's the most beautiful little boy. He had a shower with me this morning & loved it. I've been talking to him all the time since we got him (only a few days ago) and already I could swear he's trying to say hello...he was making the cutest little talking noises all afternoon today, trying SO hard to say it!

I really wouldn't know... Are you sure he's a boy? Has he been DNA sexed? The ad I saw on gumtree for a baby alex said it was a boy, due to the 'ring', just like yours.

 

[MonicaMc]

He's adorable!

I don't own a psittacula, but I have heard from breeders and owners alike that some may get a ring before they are a year old, and even rarer yet are some getting the ring as soon as they feather out. It's uncommon, but not completely unheard of.... however, this was geared more towards IRN's than AR's.

Any way you could ask the breeder/shop you got him from about the ring?


There is feather bronzing, which is the pigment on the feathers being rubbed off, but this doesn't look like feather bronzing... unless someone used a marker on him? Occasionally done on young birds to distinguish them at first glance.

 

[coral3]

His neck marking is definitely not marker pen!! (Seriously? some people do that!?)

Yes he's DNA'd male. The ID on the DNA certificate matches the number on his closed leg band, and I bought him from a very reputable breeder, so I'm pretty sure it's all legit.

Today he's been having LOTS of fun tearing apart a paper bag, which I filled with shredded paper with some air-popped popcorn mixed in (which he LOVES). Seriously it looks like so much fun - I wish I could stick my head in the paper baggy & search for treats, lol.

And I've started training him to turn around... so far so good!

 

[BradGC]

Nice! Ours also learnt turn around pretty young. You'll find after a couple lessons, you'll both get tired of it, but they remember it and after a week or so when you give them a lesson again, they seem to be better! Almost like they've thought about what they're supposed to do.

The ring is called a shadow, ours had one as well until his first moult, then it'll go away and comes back a year or so later

 

[BradGC]

Here's an old video where you can see our Alex's shadow, it lasted a couple months and now you can't see any dark feathers at all
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIsAmnkqPro&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Monty's first trick after 2 weeks of training. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[008kenichijouji]

Awww. Very cute. I love alexandrines!

 

[MonicaMc]

His neck marking is definitely not marker pen!! (Seriously? some people do that!?)

Yes he's DNA'd male. The ID on the DNA certificate matches the number on his closed leg band, and I bought him from a very reputable breeder, so I'm pretty sure it's all legit.

Today he's been having LOTS of fun tearing apart a paper bag, which I filled with shredded paper with some air-popped popcorn mixed in (which he LOVES). Seriously it looks like so much fun - I wish I could stick my head in the paper baggy & search for treats, lol.

And I've started training him to turn around... so far so good!

Usually, it's marker on the top of their head where they can't reach it... and I've seen it done just to mark a bird in a store. It's not a big deal since the feathers will molt out anyway! When my brother in law bought his quaker, I believe Sparky had a green spot on his forehead to mark him differently than the other quakers.

Have fun with the training!

The ring is called a shadow, ours had one as well until his first moult, then it'll go away and comes back a year or so later

I wondered if that was it! Wasn't sure since I didn't recall if the partial ring disappeared or not!

 

[coral3]

Thanks for the info

He's been with us a week today. He's loving his food - can't believe how much he eats - and when he's not eating, he's 'eating' wooden toys...he does seem to love chewing! Or perhaps he just loves biting...

I am a tiny bit cross with him right at the moment.

He bit me when I went to get him out of his cage earlier. And we'd been doing SO well, & he'd been stepping up beautifully. So he ended up staying in his cage - even though I'm not sure if I should have MADE him come out, because if not coming out was what he wanted then I kind of rewarded the biting by letting him have his own way I guess didn't I? Anyway. I waited a little while then tried again, and he bit me a second time. This time I just very firmly repeated the 'step up' command (while he was very firmly latched onto my wrist) and I guess he realised the bite wasn't having the desired effect and he gave up & stepped up. Am at a loss to know what brought it on though

 

[BradGC]

Sometimes they just get a fright from a sudden movement or they're just testing the boundaries.
It's good that you ignored the bite and went on with making him step up.

I have a big problem with mine, he never ever let's me put him away in his cage. I bribe him with treats and he still doesn't step up.
He would sometimes lunge at me like he was going to bite and I'd turn away and ignore him for a bit... which us a big no no! I really should have taken the odd bite to show him whose boss

 

[MonicaMc]

Does the bird have to do what you want them to because you want him to? Or would you prefer it if the bird does as you want because he wants to?

Sometimes, birds need alone time, too. They may not always want to come out, and often because the reinforcement of coming out isn't as great as that of staying in the cage. The same can be said when trying to get a bird back into the cage! If it's not rewarding enough to go back in as it is to stay out, then why go back?


The trick is to teach the bird to enjoy doing as you ask rather than forcing him to do it. In this way, it will build a better relationship and a stronger bond.

 

[coral3]

I have been rewarding good behaviour (eg stepping up, letting us pet his back) with praise & food treats (half sunflower seeds or little bits of pistachio - which he LOVES & doesn't get in his normal food.)

The first two days we had him he would 'growl' at me and not step up...so I'd leave him where he was. I asked the breeder about this and she said that if you show any fear of them, Alexes learn very quickly that they can put one over you and will become bossy...if I ask him to step up I should firmly insist that he does it & not let him growl me away.

When he bit me yesterday he didn't growl at me, he just went straight for the bite.