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Advice for screaming and potential companion :)

gloworm

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Kayla
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?
 

MC_Hahn's

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Marie C.
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?
I'm not extremely familiar with the various ringneck species, but I have read a quite a bit about them and am considering one as a companion in the future... But yes, you did come to the right place for parrot advice!
Imagine you are your bird. You meet someone whom you come to know dearly, as a friend and perhaps a little more than that. Then, they abruptly leave you, with no goodbye. In your grief, sadness, and overall confusion, another bird shows up. If you were a bird, would you take kindly to that newcomer who also takes up a lot of attention from your favorite person? Wouldn't you become jealous? Would you trust another after your previous friend left? And as for screaming, another bird would soon learn this behavior as well if things don't go as planned. Maybe you could provide her with more mental stimulation to take her mind off of screaming--her reaction may be caused by boredom or wanting your attention. Foraging toys keep most parrots busy for hours. I don't know if this helps at all, but I hope that it provides another perspective on the situation :)
 

Shezbug

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I believe some birds become overly obsessed with their own reflection and I believe others get frustrated at the reflection....... birds do not tend to mirror behaviors to each other but they actually interact- I do think that some birds find mirrors confusing and frustrating.
I am not really familiar with the general behaviors of ring necks but @cassiesdad may be of some help and may also be able to tag some other members for you.
 

gloworm

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Kayla
Thanks for your input @Shezbug & @MC_Hahn's :) Really appreciated! I can definitely see how she might become jealous and another bird emulating her screaming is a huge concern for me too, definitely something I want to improve before ever bringing a new friend to the house.
I also appreciate the need for her to stay occupied and fortunately she's not suffering from boredom as far as I know, she has a varied diet and she gets plenty of out of cage time, is flighted and gets her exercise, and has more toys than I know what to do with! I make sure to move them around periodically which is no trouble as I'm fortunate she's not at all territorial (besides mirrors!! :sigh: ) and she has her own little play perch to hang out on when we move from room to room. It's this that makes me feel like it's a problem behaviour that I need to really work on, and the upside of the new isolation situation means that I'll be working from home with a lot of time, now that I'm cutting out travel (and incentive as I'm on the phone all day- a bit concerning with a shrieking parrot haha) to work with her on this.
I can absolutely understand her little heartbreak at the departure of our Lutino, so i try to make up for it and it's been something I've tossed up for years because I hate the thought of her being lonely :(

I'll invest in some more foraging toys rather than her usual shred and tear toys, hopefully that might redirect her, but she does have a tendency to hate certain toys I bring home so it's always a gamble haha.
It is good to know and I hoped it would be a different response to a real bird as opposed to a mirror, I do have faith that she wouldn't attack, but their safety is more important than anything to me.
Also just for an example of how calm this bird is when she wants to be, we had a mother possum straight up break into our house through a window recently, leaving her baby on top of the cage cuddled up in Inka's night cover blanket, and Inka acted like she could not have cared less!
 

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Shezbug

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@Monica gives out some really easy to follow (and very useful) tips on training, maybe she will be able to help you out some with her opinion of why your bird does what it is doing and also with some help for things to train that may be beneficial to your situation :)
 

Monica

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she's not very playful
.
.
.
has more toys than I know what to do with

When you say she's not very playful... what do you mean?

Does she play with toys???


she went through bluffing
Birds do not bluff - this is actually a form of communication



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
There's no guarantee that she'll get along with another bird... but honestly, your best bet would be another Psittacula species.

As far as reflective surfaces go? Honestly, I would recommend hiding them. If not in use, put a towel, sheet or otherwise over them so she can't view herself. Being able to see herself could be making the behavior worse. Don't encourage it by allowing the behavior.

Allowing her access to reflective surfaces may also decrease her chances of getting along with another bird...



Have you done any training with her? Training as in target training and station training?



She is a gorgeous bird! :) I love violet mutations!!! (any species)
 
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