# Help with taming my Albino Ringneck Parakeet?



## closer (Feb 11, 2008)

Hey ive had Kirby for 6 months and he was just over 2 months old when i purchased him from a pet shop, so that makes him just over 8 months old. I dont know his sex so i just call him "him", id love to know his sex, ive heard females have round faces, is this true? Any ways as i said ive had him for 6 months and would of thought we would of made progress with him by now but he hasnt, hes always came out of his cage by himself and he's always taken treats from my hands but when i put my hands without out any treat by him he either flys off you goes to the back of his cage. I know it takes time but the amount of time im with him i would of thought he would be used to my hands by now. It makes me upset as with all my animals i want to be able to touch them and cuddle them so its upsetting i can't do that with him  If anyone could give me advice on how to tame him .. oh and ive been clicker training him and thats getting nowhere with him . 
Im going to put a picture to see if anyone can give me simularities in male and female ones they have seen







. Hope someone can help me Thanks Harley


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Firstly, your Ring-Neck is a lutino, not an albino. : victory:

Unfortunately, Ring-Necked Parakeets are not the best species to be kept as a cage bird companion. They rarely take to close contact with humans, & even hand-reared ones who are cuddly-tame when bought as babies more often than not revert to a wilder state when they mature.

You will have to wait a bit longer to be able to sex your lovely parakeet, as it is around 18 months - 2 years of age when the male gets his ring-neck (which will look red in your lutino bird).


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## closer (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi , i knew i'd put something wrong  Thanks for your reply, but ive read that ringnecks are a great parrot to have as a pet ?? 

My dad said the other day that he proberly hasnt been hand reared 
Thanks anyways


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

closer said:


> Hi , i knew i'd put something wrong  Thanks for your reply, but ive read that ringnecks are a great parrot to have as a pet ??
> 
> My dad said the other day that he proberly hasnt been hand reared
> Thanks anyways


If you bought the bird as a hand-reared baby, you would expect him/her to be used to being handled by humans. 

I don't recommend Ring-Necked Parakeets as cage birds. They don't normally enjoy human company, they are strong flyers & need plenty of room to fly (an aviary is a better home), they can be noisy, & they are flock-living birds.


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

closer said:


> Hi , i knew i'd put something wrong  Thanks for your reply, but ive read that ringnecks are a great parrot to have as a pet ??
> 
> My dad said the other day that he proberly hasnt been hand reared
> Thanks anyways


Ringnecks are popular as "pets" because they are relativly easy to maintain and breed, but this is in an aviary situation, not as a cage bird. Ringnecks, along with Rosellas, Red rumps and many other small parakeets are well known for being very nervous and flighty indoors, and very difficult to tame down to become a handlable pet. Unfortunetly the combination of their relativly low price and large size tempt a lot of people to attempt keeping them this way, rairly with good results. Your best bet for your bird would be to get him an aviary and a mate, and if you are still after a companion bird, look into a more apropriate species. Both Budgies and Cockatiels are more resonably priced than the larger parrots but can be very easily tamed, especialy when hand reared, and can make much better pets. Conures can also make fantastic pets, although are a little more expensive. All parrots are highly sociable birds however, so whichever species you chose, I would always get at least a pair so that they always have interaction when you are not around.

Also, on sexing your bird, Experienced keepers can guess at the sex of imature birds by the shape of the face, but this is never garunteed. The only way to be sure is to wait until the ring apears on a male or get a DNA test.


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## *mogwai* (Feb 18, 2008)

where did you read that ringnecks are good as pets? because they really aren't. your dad is probably right, it's unlikely he'd be hand reared, ringnecks rarely are and if they are they don't stay tame.

i've had 2 ringnecks, both rescued, one in a pretty bad way. i planned on keeping them knowing they wouldn't really become tame but i had a large avairy style cage and interacted with them when i needed to. in the end though, i knew they needed more space so re-homed to a lady that i knew through my involvement with parrot rescue. she has a plethora of avairys for all diferent birds and they were both much happier.


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## Mei190 (Apr 11, 2011)

Generally pet shop birds are hand reared even if they say they are. My local sets different prices for hand reared and parent reared birds, and even then I still think it is doubtful. 

If you can I would definately get a companion and make them aviary birds. They really don't make good pets, as someone has previously said they generally are very flighty. Occasionally you find ones that are exceptions, but they truely are that, exceptions. 

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.


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## closer (Feb 11, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the information, i feel bad for him now  If i knew he needed to be in an avairy i would of thought twice about getting him  I dont want him to be unhappy. I dont have no garden for an avairy, do you think it would be best to sell him to someone who has an avairy ??? as i dont want him to be unhappy for most of his life in a parrot cage. 

Thanks again though everyone


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## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

My mum has an Indian ring neck she lives in our living room with our cockateil they are best friend but she will sit and look and chat to us but won't let us go anywhere near her cage is open all day so she can fly if she wants in my opinion she is happy I wouldn't put her in an aivry


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## Nike_T7 (Jun 14, 2010)

closer said:


> Thanks everyone for the information, i feel bad for him now  If i knew he needed to be in an avairy i would of thought twice about getting him  I dont want him to be unhappy. I dont have no garden for an avairy, do you think it would be best to sell him to someone who has an avairy ??? as i dont want him to be unhappy for most of his life in a parrot cage.
> 
> Thanks again though everyone


They are al'ight in cage unless you provide them a lots of flighting times like I did with my old IRN and he was pretty happy to interact to me. I disagree with some of them above. You're better to be off to look for advice on this forum (IndianRingNeck.com • Index page). Even I know lots of people who keep IRN in a cage and they're pretty happy. : victory:


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Nike_T7 said:


> *They are al'ight in cage unless you provide them a lots of flighting times* like I did with my old IRN and he was pretty happy to interact to me. I disagree with some of them above. You're better to be off to look for advice on this forum (IndianRingNeck.com • Index page). Even I know lots of people who keep IRN in a cage and they're pretty happy. : victory:


I take it you mean AS LONG AS, not unless ^^^

I disagree - I have yet to meet a happy caged Ring-Neck, & I've seen plenty. All the ones I've seen have been flighty, easily stressed, anxiously loud, & have not shown any eagerness to seek human companionship.


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## draco23 (Oct 31, 2011)

I have personal experience of keeping IRN's .... both in an aviary and caged, and would like to say that all of the comments are true. I had one as a caged pet for 15 years, and can honestly say I couldnt of asked for a better pet. He was handtame, talking, loved his cuddles and would come out of his cage regulary, coaxed or not. When he'd had enough he would return to the safe haven of his cage himself. People will argue that he was a rare example, but I am of the belief that with alot of time and patience you can keep an IRN as a handtame pet. I have read in this thread that they tend to revert back to their wild ways with age ...... I disagree ..... It is more likley that the owners have got bored of the pet, or cannot give it the time and effort they first did in the early days of ownership.


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