I was just wondering, around here there are always a TON of Indian Ringnecks in need of rehoming. I dont know of ANY breeders in the area and yet it seems like there is a constant supply of tons of them. Are they just difficult birds to handle, or cheap, or noisey.

Just wondering really.

Hi! Hmm, I may be completely off here, so if anyone else knows IRNs in a different way, I'd be interested to know. My experience of IRNs is that a good one is wonderful but they can be very hard to tame, are independent and not particularly loving. They look great and some can say a few things or mimic sounds. I've known one friendly one who is lovely - very like an Alexandrine, but the many others I've seen seem to be unresponsive and sadly wasted as a cage bird. Aviculturalists breed them in all sorts of colours and they seem happy and attractive aviary birds.

It may not be true but their aloof behaviour makes them look like they are selfish pets who eat and cost money but don't give a darn about their owner. If they are housed with others they will flock and ignore an owner. They bite like billy-o, too. They can be noisy but I think the main reason people dump them is they fail the expectations of a sit-on-your-shoulder, talk-to-me companion.

I agree with Joseph in that they really aren't as a whole species a real Snuggly bird, yes there are a few, but that's not the majority. They are noisey and very flighty. Beautiful to look at as they come in about every color you can imagine. But again, you know what mutations can do to the over all quality of birds in the long run.

When Andie was in the breeder business she had several pairs and they were the noisiest and most flighty of all the birds she had. I'd take a pair of screaming cockatoo's of a pair of ringnecks. But again those who have them and like them will tell a different story.

As for myself, they aren't a bird for me.

Wow! I never new all that. Thanks for the info!!

We are fostering an IRN.

I agree that she is not particularly snuggly, and is very independent. She definitely likes the other birds here better than she likes the people. However, she was not handled much at all before she was 9 months old, so that could explain that. She is also more intelligent, I believe, than any other bird in the house!

I have an Alexandrine, she is about 13 years old and we adopted her when she was 9 months old from a pet store that had her in a cockatiel size cage. She is way OVER bonded to me and me only, she will bite any and everyone else in the house if they try to mess w/ her. She can compete w/ a cockatoo when it comes to screaming, chews wood as good as one too! lol But I would never give her up! (cant say as though I would buy or adopt another one either though) lol

Joseph gave a pretty darn good description of the average IRN. I had to laugh at some of what he wrote, but it's the truth. I have two IRN's and an ARN. My female IRN is an exbreeder bird and was 5 years old when I got her. When I bought her the guy took her out of her crate with gloves on. He said "You just want her to look at right, not handle" LOL I found out soon what he meant. She took quite a few chunks out of me back then. I've had her about 5 years and although I've never been able to hand tame her, she rushes over to me when I come in the room and does her trance thing. Even if we have a room full of people she will seek me out. I can give her kisses all day long. I'm able to check her body, wings and all that when she goes into this trance. I"m not giving up as one day that bird is going to step up. I know she wants to but is afraid still. My other two ringnecks only like each other and I'm chopped liver to them. My male IRN has decided however that he loves my mother in law. She is worthy of his kisses and attention, but I am not. LOL. All of my ringnecks were adults when I got them so it would take some work to hand tame them. Ringnecks need to be handled daily for the most part to keep them tame. And yes,Animal Quackers hit the nail on the head when she brought up their intelligence. They have eagle eyes and ears and I can guarantee they are watching what you're doing and know exactly what's going on. I truely enjoy my ringnecks for their beauty and intelligence. They're also quite comical.
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