SO proud of my little baby bird!

[Viatrixa]

This isn't a very deep or a fascinating story, but I thought I'd share it anyway!

Unfortunately I had to get emergency surgery and thusly had to spend a few nights at a hospital. This was the first time ever that I've been away from Simo, my young little IRN. Of course he wasn't alone, my husband was with him. But still, I'm proud to say he didn't have any excessive separation anxiety. My husband did say that he didn't "misbehave" or wasn't noisy like some parrots may be; he did however, state that he wasn't as happy as he usually is and spent a lot of time searching for me, both in and out of the cage.

Needless to say he was completely overjoyed when I was homed and hobbled back into our house. He kept "peeping" at me - he has this habit of peeping three times in a row in a certain pattern when he's really liking something or when he's happy. He sat on the perches closest to me and just stared at me affectionately. (anyone who has ever owned a parrot, new or old, knows that stare!). I'm so proud of him for being so good even when I was gone <3 Not only that but shortly after I came home I continued with our stick training sessions and got to the point now where I can make him touch the stick while my hands are inside the cage - and he will also now grab a treat like that too. Before he'd only dare to do either through the rungs of the cage.

This may not sound like much to many, but to me it means the world! The next step is doing that while he's outside of the cage, and then stepping up, etc.! It will be his hatchday in two months - I feel I have learned a lot from him and he from me. He's no longer anxious or scared around us. If all goes well, he will soon have a little mate too. I just feel we've come a long way since he came to our house, overwhelmed and frightened.

Oh and as for myself, I'm recovering! Slightly sore, but okay.

[Wolf]

It has been a while since I last saw you here and really hope that you are recovering nicely. Loved your story about you and Simo especially the peeping part. I would suggest that you hold off on getting Simo a mate until after he has gone through puberty and has rebounded, because this is a rough time for both the parrot and its human. First the bird has to deal with the initial onslaught of hormones for the first time in its life not to mention the physical changes going on inside of its body. And then there are the mental and emotional changes that he will go through as he transforms from thinking like a baby bird to thinking and acting as an adult. It is a time of changes and one of them is that he releases his baby bonds with you and must make a new adult type of bond which is also the mate bond and it is hard to know which direction that will go as he may rebond with the same person or he may bond with a different person altogether, there is simply no way of knowing until it happens.

[Pajarita]

Glad to hear you are doing OK, my dear. And yes, we, parrot people, all know that affectionate gaze you are talking about... Can't explain it to non-parrot people though

Great progress! Kudos to you!

As to getting him a companion... well, I think that, although Wolf has a point, it depends entirely on what, exactly, you expect from this companion. If you want Simo to mate-bond to a bird of the same species and opposite gender, I would say that getting it soon is the answer because that hormonal surge that happens when they go through puberty will be a great help in the bonding process. If, on the other hand, you are getting another bird but do not want him to mate-bond with it, then wait until the first season is over (not that this means that he will not mate-bond for sure with the other bird!).

[Wolf]

I think that giving him a mate is a wonderful thing to do, but you must also take into account the human/ bird bond that you are looking for in this relationship, because it will be affected to some degree when he has a mate of his own kind.

There are so many birds that have lost their homes simply because they switched the human they were bonded with or because they bonded to another birds and were not bonded as tightly to the human. This is why I suggested that you wait a little bit and think it through carefully before you act.

Speaking specifically from a bird friendly perspective, as best I can, the sooner that you provide him with a mate of his own the better. Some birds will not bond with another bird if it is delayed for too long a period of time. Everyone deserves someone of their own and birds are no exception to this and are never as happy as they could be without a mate of their own.

I could easily make all of my suggestions based soley on what I feel is best for the bird, but I feel that by trying to consider the relationship that the birds humans is looking for is also just me trying to consider the birds well being.

[Viatrixa]

I was honestly wondering if a male ringneck, or perhaps even another species of a bird would be good for him. Reason for this is that I've gotten the impression that female ringnecks when mate-bonded can be extremely hormonal? I also read that ringnecks are one of those few parrot species that do not form bonds with a mate for "life", so perhaps as pets this may be the reason why. Once again please be kind to me if I'm completely off the track there is a LOT of information out there and I'm not exactly sure which of it is correct and not! (except any that recommend wing clipping.)

So maybe a male buddy might be a good idea, or another species? I'm in no hurry to get him a mate of course; as things are CURRENTLY (and they might always of course change) he is pretty friendly to both me and my husband. He seems a bit more bonded to me, but he most definitely behaves well with my husband too. We actually both make sure to give him equal amounts of attention. That having said, I'm more than aware of a possible bluffing period and of course puberty.

Another unusual factor may be that he's seldom alone in the house. It's a reasonably small apartment and his cage is in such a place that he is "with" us all the time, weather we are eating, watching things, or even sleeping. He nearly always has eye contact with us; and while we as humans will never be as good as other birds when it comes to actual flockmates, I feel this is also a reason why he is doing as well as he is.

It would be interesting to know if it would be a good or a bad idea to possibly get a male ringneck buddy for him or perhaps a cockatiel. I recall that a while ago someone mentioned how getting a hand fed ringneck as a friend for him might be a good idea, but hand fed birds are extremely difficult to get a hold of here in Finland (we like our pets wild ) though ones that are a bit of both are an option. Unfortunately this only applies to budgies and cockatiels!