Hi there! Forgive me if I'm using the wrong space I'm just figuring this one out
So I have a 6 year old female ringneck named Inka, she's a violet and was the most precious baby, I had her from the moment she was ready to go, she's not very playful but she is super affectionate with me.
For a bit of context and history, I lived on my own when I first got her with my absolute angel of a golden retriever, who has never minded her at all- although never not a little spooked by the baby birds insistence on landing on her head.
I never experienced any behavioural issues while we lived together as a trio, I socialised her well and she was and remains very affectionate, she went through bluffing and now doesn't anyone let but myself handle her unfortunately, but will occasionally land on friends and family and is content as long as they don't try to touch her- the complete opposite of her behaviour with me, which is basically if you're not patting me and kissing me we have a problem haha.
The real issue started when my sister moved in with me due to unforeseen circumstances, this would have been when inka was about 2 so a very long time ago now, she had her own ringneck, a lovely little lutino. The two actually got along quite well but unfortunately due to an unrelated and complex situation my sister ended up rehoming her bird (fortunately with a friend of mind who could not be a better match for her, just an exceptionally lovely bird mum)
Sadly I feel as though she'd bonded to the other bird, as since then Inka has screamed excessively at /any/ even vaguely reflective surface, clear or distorted, which you can imagine is extremely hard to deal with because in the average house.. its so many things! her patterns are really predictable and can be extremely frustrating- her favourite is to sit in front of the tv and scream at it, obviously you know the pitch ringnecks can reach- the mirrors trigger that in her and she will just alternate between staring at herself affectionately and screaming at top volume. Additionally, she becomes aggressive if you try to remove her from it! which is just so far from her usual nature, it only happens with mirrors. she loves to go straight to my makeup table and once shes done throwing everything off the table (lol) she will go back to screaming at the makeup mirror.
I've been considering getting her a friend, potentially not an IRN though (obviously if this weren't to work out, still equally a companion for myself regardless and separately housed even if they do get along haha) to try and combat the problem but obviously I have a lot of reservations because I don't want to make it worse, or potentially put another bird at risk of harm.
I don't know if her reaction to mirrors is something that would translate to the way she would act around another bird but theyre so unpredictable! I thought someone might have some insight into the best thing to do. She does often preen her reflection and cuddle up to it when shes not screaming and volatile towards it but it's mostly just a lot of screaming!
I guess long story short, my bird is a sweetheart in all respects until it comes to reflective surfaces which she goes between screaming at, attacking and preening- she has a history of being good with other birds, but has lived as a solo parrot for at least 4 years. Is a companion for her a worth a shot?
So I have a 6 year old female ringneck named Inka, she's a violet and was the most precious baby, I had her from the moment she was ready to go, she's not very playful but she is super affectionate with me.
For a bit of context and history, I lived on my own when I first got her with my absolute angel of a golden retriever, who has never minded her at all- although never not a little spooked by the baby birds insistence on landing on her head.
I never experienced any behavioural issues while we lived together as a trio, I socialised her well and she was and remains very affectionate, she went through bluffing and now doesn't anyone let but myself handle her unfortunately, but will occasionally land on friends and family and is content as long as they don't try to touch her- the complete opposite of her behaviour with me, which is basically if you're not patting me and kissing me we have a problem haha.
The real issue started when my sister moved in with me due to unforeseen circumstances, this would have been when inka was about 2 so a very long time ago now, she had her own ringneck, a lovely little lutino. The two actually got along quite well but unfortunately due to an unrelated and complex situation my sister ended up rehoming her bird (fortunately with a friend of mind who could not be a better match for her, just an exceptionally lovely bird mum)
Sadly I feel as though she'd bonded to the other bird, as since then Inka has screamed excessively at /any/ even vaguely reflective surface, clear or distorted, which you can imagine is extremely hard to deal with because in the average house.. its so many things! her patterns are really predictable and can be extremely frustrating- her favourite is to sit in front of the tv and scream at it, obviously you know the pitch ringnecks can reach- the mirrors trigger that in her and she will just alternate between staring at herself affectionately and screaming at top volume. Additionally, she becomes aggressive if you try to remove her from it! which is just so far from her usual nature, it only happens with mirrors. she loves to go straight to my makeup table and once shes done throwing everything off the table (lol) she will go back to screaming at the makeup mirror.
I've been considering getting her a friend, potentially not an IRN though (obviously if this weren't to work out, still equally a companion for myself regardless and separately housed even if they do get along haha) to try and combat the problem but obviously I have a lot of reservations because I don't want to make it worse, or potentially put another bird at risk of harm.
I don't know if her reaction to mirrors is something that would translate to the way she would act around another bird but theyre so unpredictable! I thought someone might have some insight into the best thing to do. She does often preen her reflection and cuddle up to it when shes not screaming and volatile towards it but it's mostly just a lot of screaming!
I guess long story short, my bird is a sweetheart in all respects until it comes to reflective surfaces which she goes between screaming at, attacking and preening- she has a history of being good with other birds, but has lived as a solo parrot for at least 4 years. Is a companion for her a worth a shot?