Are Ringnecks Friendly At All

[jhonyguy04]

I am really considering an indian ringneck. i currently have a conure and a chattering lory, and I am considering a third. but I wan't a bird that connects with me and my partner. i heard ringnecks could be hard to tame though.

[Nir]

no clue. but from what i heard, they tend to be a little standoffish in general but dont know how true it is since i have 0 experience with them.

[mrbowlerhat]

My IRNs are very friendly indeed, one being a bit more shy and "untame" than the other, but we're starting to get somewhere.
My old man ringneck Nicko was already very tame and used to people when I got them both, so after a few days he decided I was OK, and now he's probably the most affectionate of my birds (towards me).
Meg, on the other hand, is only almost a year old and spent her first 9 months in an aviary, with very limited human interaction, if any at all. Despite this, she's starting to come around pretty well, with the help of positive reinforcement and a lot of effort from and interaction with me, and also observing Nicko being all cute with me. Watching him, I think she realized maybe people aren't that awful after all - he seems to like them. (Though they're still awfully scary when they don't have treats in their hands, she thinks )

I however hear you do need to interact with an IRN a lot, and daily, to "keep them tame" - I don't know much about this since I always hang with them a lot every day already Something to think about though. They ARE a lot of work in general, and need a lot of work and attention, especially if they're not already tame (as in actually used to humans and being handled by them, NOT as in a handfed baby) when you get them.

[Pajarita]

They need the right kind of interaction every single day or they revert quickly to wild ways but, for what I understand (no personal experience), they are not cuddly birds.

[mrbowlerhat]

for what I understand (no personal experience), they are not cuddly birds.

Yeah, I think many IRNs do appreciate a good scritch now and then, but not more than that. Many of them aren't that hands-on, but I personally think they make up for that with being such adorable little goofs

Oh, and, a lot of, especially (possibly only? not sure) females, often get really hormonal if you touch them a lot, and act like this, and people will think "awww, she's being so cute and cuddly", when in fact all she wants is for you to mate with her. That's not a good thing and you shouldn't pet her anywhere that isn't her head or neck. Yes, her not being like this may lead to you not getting your "cuddles".

If one really wants a cuddly, hands-on bird, one should probably consider other species. IRNs are often affectionate in other ways instead.

[spiral71]

female ringnecks are sometimes considered less stand off ish than male birds i have a hand raised female who according to my calculations is six and 6 mounths now she can be nipy if she is not handled enough but i would consider that my own fault, she likes to sit on me and take a bath in a cup in my hand.

[Dave & Karen]

we adopted a female IRN at 6 months old from a fellow bird club member and at the bird show she was very tame and cuddly with my wife, she wanted her really bad but we left without her that day. The next morning this was all my wife could talk about so I told her we should go back and get her, she really didn't want to spend that much for her and since her wings were clipped, I really wanted to hold out for a fully flighted ringneck but she wanted her so I convinced her to go back and adopt her. She was also a very pretty cream color with hints of yellow in her wings with dark grey/brown flight and tail feathers so I knew she'd be beautiful once she got her flight feathers back.

What we found out when we got her home was that she was afraid of hands... I mean terrified, but she was fine just yesterday at the bird show. We worked with her on a daily basis using a stick to get her to step up on and using our other birds to show her our hands were ok, but she still prefers not to be touched, we can get her to perch on our shoulders and she will stay, but she still don't trust hands.

Fast forward 6 months and now she's fully flighted again but still semi tame, she don't like to be handled, but once she's on one of us she's tame as can be and very cuddly as well, but she will out of the blue fly off in a panic state. We still work with her and she did make friends with a quaker we adopted so she gets at least 4 hours of out of the cage time every day and she will fly back to her cage when she's ready to go back on her own so between giving her a buddy and getting her to fly again after her clipped feathers grew back, it really helped her to enjoy herself. She won't come to us willingly but she will on occasion let one of us pick her up and pet her, she will also cuddle for short times as well, but she does prefer her independance and the other bird's company over ours.

Over all we're glad we got her and she does love to be talked to and will cautiously accept a treat from us, she will cuddle but on her terms only, she's very playful and vocal, but she's definitely different compared to all of our other birds. Why she ended up so wild after we got her home, we still don't know and her breeder is puzzled to it as well, she came from a good home and is in a good home with us, but she's got her own ways, but we still love her and we wouldn't replace her for anything.