Hello from Melbourne Australia

[mmeager]

A very big hello to all!

As a very proud new parrot owner, I purchased the book The Parrot Wizards Guide to Well Behaved Parrots. A fantastic book, which has brought me to this forum.

We are a small family of 3, my wife, myself and my son who is 15yrs of age, rather should I say, a large family of 6! When we include Sasha our dog, Simba our cat, and now Buddy, our parrot!

Buddy is the first bird we have owned, so we are very new, and amateur to bird ownership, although I have spent the last month plus doing as much research and learning as I can! There is so much to learn, but I'm really loving it.

We purchased Buddy from a pet shop on the 3rd of Jan '16. We were told he was a Ringnecked Parrot, and was 11 weeks old, not sure if he/she is Indian, or African, from what I have seen colour wise Buddy doesn't look like a traditional ringneck, but I know there are a lot of variations, I would love to know for sure.
Although Buddy can be vary naughty, and difficult! He has been an absolute delight! And we are all madly in love with him!!! He has been such a welcome, and wonderful addition to our family.
At first Buddy was terrified of us, definitely not tame, we couldn't go near him, his progression has been slow, not due to his intelligence which is amazing! but due to my mistakes and lack of knowledge. But we have come a long way, he is no longer scared of us at all! And loves our attention, we can now hand feed him, and have begun clicker training, he has not yet come out of his cage to be with us, we don't think we are ready for that yet, but cant wait for the day! Target training and stand up before we bring him out I think.

I am very proud to show off Buddy, our beautiful bird to everyone!

Buddy

Buddy

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I must tell everyone about my other special friend! He is a wild Cockatoo who has taken a liking to me personally! Very unlike all the other wild cockatoo's in our area, he has seemed to singled me out! He is so funny, on weekends he waits on the verandah until I get up, the second he sees me he comes right up to the window, does the silliest things to get my attention, asking for food of course! I can always recognize him apart from the others, don't know why he has chosen me, because he is not the same with anyone else.

My wild cockatoo

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Sorry pictures are sideways! don't know how to turn them around.

[Harpmaker]

Welcome to the forum, mmeager, Buddy, and flock. We are here to help each other, so if you have any questions, ask away!

[Chantilly]

Hello welcome to the forum!!
the photos were all the right way for me
Buddy us Reaaallly reaally cute , and it is great that he has gotten used to you and the family now. I love the size of his cage too!
Although I dont know allot about RNs, I think he is an indian (I think that the africans have a darker beak than that..) I really am not sure though. (sorry I keep saying Buddy is a boy )

Wow, your cockatoo is lovely too! It is really cool that he took a liking to you.
I would like to second Harpmaker
Welcome to the forum!

[liz]

Oh how I would love such a beautiful and intelligent bird coming to me from the wild. They seem to trust humans a lot faster than captive bird.

Welcome to the forum.

Fast suggestions. Move Buddy's cage so he is level with faces instead of hands. They seem to come to faces and not be afraid as they are with hands. His first trust will show by him climbing to the top of his cage and sitting there watching you. He has to have that freedom and you have to give him time to watch you in your daily routine while you are ignoring him. He is like a scared child. You would let a child sit quietly watching you rather than you try to interact with him when he is scared. It may seem hard to believe but he will come to you when he is ready.

Don't forget to eat with him. Specially with new foods. They eat in a flock and learn from the flock about everything. You have to be his flock.

I have no doubt that you are a good bird's human. You just need a few tips to get you going. Ask any question and someone will answer.

[mmeager]

Thanks all for a very warm welcome!
Chantilly- I think Buddy is reaallly cute too! And we all say Buddy is a boy too, but I guess we wont know for another 2yrs unless we get buddy sexed, Buddy might just be Buddina!!
I would love to have Buddy in an even bigger cage, But hopefully soon he will have the whole lounge room for play time!!!

Liz- Your advise is really appreciated! thank you. Buddy's cage sits on a stand, and is quite high, we talk all the time. Literally face to face, Its like a true conversation! I say something, then Buddy chatters, he listens, then chatters back! we take it in turns, its great!!!!
Our lounge room is very open plan, so Buddy can actually see our every move, which is good, he is truly a part of our everyday living. And I hope his trust has developed, as he does sit at the top of his cage, his favorite place is the top corner of the cage closest to us.
And yes, we do actually have an issue I would appreciate your advise, posted in a different area of the forum. here is the link.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=15193#p111940