Asiatic Owners, Come Talk with Me!

[AussieBird]

So, not knowing of anyone else with a Slaty Head (in a non breeding situation) I am gathering most of my care information from similar species. So if you own any Asiatic parakeet, from an Alexandrine to a Plumhead, I'd love to hear about them and how you care for them! Anything and everything from training/behaviour to diet.
And of course


@fashionfobie @Parutti @MnGuy @MiniMacaw

 

[SumitaSinh]

I can tell you a lot about wild Indian ringnecks

 

[Mist.N]

I've had an Indian ringneck for about half a year. She'll be 1 y.o. in a month.
She's inquisitive and independent, but likes to hang out on my shoulder, sleep on me and cuddle on her terms. Kinda like a Husky XD a bit stubborn, I guess, you have to find the right way to motivate her to do stuff (like go to her cage to sleep for the night) . She has some cranky days when she won't do anything (train, play, hang out), but then I just let her be. So far she's not had many of those, but you can definitely tell when she's in a bad mood.
Her diet is a bunch of different veg, fruit plant material and some nuts, grains and seeds. Occasionally some protein too. Pretty similar to what birdtricks.com recommend in their Diet + Nutrition article. She also likes Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse parrot pellets. She often won't eat new food until she sees me try it and she will eat food she doesn't really like if I start eating it with her.
She gets to free fly around the whole house, has a corner bird tree gym and only goes into her cage at night or when I'm not at home.
I work from home so she isn't alone much and my mom comes to babysit when I'm away for longer than 24h. She prefers to spend most of her time outside of the cage, although I keep the door open. So far she has not been overly territorial over her cage or tree gym, she may get fussy sometimes and fake-strike at my hand, but will let me finish what I started doing.
She likes new people and isn't afraid of them at all.
She's not too vocal. She does the usual morning high-pitched screaming session xD and contact calling, but that doesn't bother me much. And she always screams when I leave the house.
She likes rubber and foraging toys most and enjoys solving puzzle feeders to get treats.
We had a rocky start. The first month she used to bite quite a lot, draw blood etc. but we worked through it as she became more trusting. She's pretty open for communication if you figure out the right language. She was a hand-fed baby from a breeder, but the man who first bought her left her at a pet store, so can't blame her for being angry at first.
Still waiting to see what changes parrot adolescence brings xD Hopefully it won't be too bad.
Hope some of this helps

 

[Pixiebeak]

I've had an Indian ringneck for about half a year. She'll be 1 y.o. in a month.
She's inquisitive and independent, but likes to hang out on my shoulder, sleep on me and cuddle on her terms. Kinda like a Husky XD a bit stubborn, I guess, you have to find the right way to motivate her to do stuff (like go to her cage to sleep for the night) . She has some cranky days when she won't do anything (train, play, hang out), but then I just let her be. So far she's not had many of those, but you can definitely tell when she's in a bad mood.
Her diet is a bunch of different veg, fruit plant material and some nuts, grains and seeds. Occasionally some protein too. Pretty similar to what birdtricks.com recommend in their Diet + Nutrition article. She also likes Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse parrot pellets. She often won't eat new food until she sees me try it and she will eat food she doesn't really like if I start eating it with her.
She gets to free fly around the whole house, has a corner bird tree gym and only goes into her cage at night or when I'm not at home.
I work from home so she isn't alone much and my mom comes to babysit when I'm away for longer than 24h. She prefers to spend most of her time outside of the cage, although I keep the door open. So far she has not been overly territorial over her cage or tree gym, she may get fussy sometimes and fake-strike at my hand, but will let me finish what I started doing.
She likes new people and isn't afraid of them at all.
She's not too vocal. She does the usual morning high-pitched screaming session xD and contact calling, but that doesn't bother me much. And she always screams when I leave the house.
She likes rubber and foraging toys most and enjoys solving puzzle feeders to get treats.
We had a rocky start. The first month she used to bite quite a lot, draw blood etc. but we worked through it as she became more trusting. She's pretty open for communication if you figure out the right language. She was a hand-fed baby from a breeder, but the man who first bought her left her at a pet store, so can't blame her for being angry at first.
Still waiting to see what changes parrot adolescence brings xD Hopefully it won't be too bad.
Hope some of this helps

So glad she is with you now!!
She is precious!!

 

[Mist.N]

@Pixiebeak Thank you

 

[SumitaSinh]

I've had an Indian ringneck for about half a year. She'll be 1 y.o. in a month.
She's inquisitive and independent, but likes to hang out on my shoulder, sleep on me and cuddle on her terms. Kinda like a Husky XD a bit stubborn, I guess, you have to find the right way to motivate her to do stuff (like go to her cage to sleep for the night) . She has some cranky days when she won't do anything (train, play, hang out), but then I just let her be. So far she's not had many of those, but you can definitely tell when she's in a bad mood.
Her diet is a bunch of different veg, fruit plant material and some nuts, grains and seeds. Occasionally some protein too. Pretty similar to what birdtricks.com recommend in their Diet + Nutrition article. She also likes Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse parrot pellets. She often won't eat new food until she sees me try it and she will eat food she doesn't really like if I start eating it with her.
She gets to free fly around the whole house, has a corner bird tree gym and only goes into her cage at night or when I'm not at home.
I work from home so she isn't alone much and my mom comes to babysit when I'm away for longer than 24h. She prefers to spend most of her time outside of the cage, although I keep the door open. So far she has not been overly territorial over her cage or tree gym, she may get fussy sometimes and fake-strike at my hand, but will let me finish what I started doing.
She likes new people and isn't afraid of them at all.
She's not too vocal. She does the usual morning high-pitched screaming session xD and contact calling, but that doesn't bother me much. And she always screams when I leave the house.
She likes rubber and foraging toys most and enjoys solving puzzle feeders to get treats.
We had a rocky start. The first month she used to bite quite a lot, draw blood etc. but we worked through it as she became more trusting. She's pretty open for communication if you figure out the right language. She was a hand-fed baby from a breeder, but the man who first bought her left her at a pet store, so can't blame her for being angry at first.
Still waiting to see what changes parrot adolescence brings xD Hopefully it won't be too bad.
Hope some of this helps

Awwww! Such a cutie.

 

[Mist.N]

Awwww! Such a cutie.

@SumitaSinh Thank you!

 

[Parutti]

Cotton from what I've been told is pretty typical for an Asiatic species that hasn't had good socialization during his formative development. Quite suspicious but also curious and watchful. He was about 18 months old when I met him, and had been purchased from a not-great shop at 9 months old, so not the best early start :/
Tomorrow I'll have had him home for one year
and he's trusting me more now - he still doesn't like when I get too close without explaining what I'm doing, and even if I do explain he'll move away about half the time.

He's also pretty typical in that he's always sizing up everything around him, and he won't do anything that doesn't have something in it for him. I adore the independent personality of the Asiatic parakeets, but I think it does add a layer to developing a relationship.

For instance, Opie (Quaker) learns super fast and is usually ecstatic to do a trick for a "good boy!" He'll keep working on training as long as I'll let him. He will get obviously frustrated if something is too challenging, but he'll get right back to it if we back up a step and let him have a win.

Cotton, on the other hand, half the time will look at me for a couple of seconds while deciding whether he wants to participate, then 'Ok sure I'll take that walnut', then maybe repeat and maybe not. He doesn't get frustrated because he's ended the session long before that point LOL

He does NOT respond to lots of praise and excitement and thought I was completely cuckoo the few times I tried - I swear he thinks it's undignified and he refuses to stoop to such a basic level so it really has been all about figuring out what incentives will work for him.

He is usually keen to investigate new foods and new toys, so I often forget about how he's still a species that is more neophobic than others - I have to literally write down small step by steps for myself with him so that I don't push too far too fast.

My understanding is that most of these species are from areas with the highest variety and number of predators, so they are naturally more suspicious/fearful, and even if we have a good trust relationship it can work better to always assume they'll be a bit anxious about new stuff and introduce slowly at first (and then move forward based on the reaction).

Cotton's body language is a lot more subtle than my Quaker. And of course the lack of body feathers means I mostly have his posture and head to go by - but now that I can read him better it's pretty incredible how expressive he is without moving anything but feathers! He looks like a little Mandalorian cartoon when he's happy.



When he's mad, he gets really flat feathers and stout body, and when he's really mad he gets a little beard where his ring sticks out under his mandible and it looks like he plops his head down onto the middle of his chest LOL - these photos were taken from across the room when I walked in after bedtime:



When he's nervous, he gets flat and tall - my dog walker took this photo and said Cotton walked to that spot and wouldn't look at him (Cotton usually "greets" him by walking toward him and just watching, but we figured out he was wearing a bright hat that day).



I can definitely see how Asiatic parakeets do well in an aviary setting compared to a home. Cotton really could care less if I'm there or not. He LOVES seeing and chatting with songbirds outside, and he and a visiting Senegal would call back and forth from their rooms. He doesn't mind my Quaker flying around but doesn't always want him on his cage- I think if Cotton could fly this wouldn't be an issue though; he fell the first time Ope landed nearby. They've had a few sessions now where they're sitting a foot apart for a while. Ope is persistent in his friendship attempts Opie wants to be in everyone's face Hi Wanna Play where Cotton is more Yes Ok I See You So What

I don't know anything about Slaty personalities (but gosh Nautilus is already so pretty) but I've read that African Ringnecks are more docile than IRN and that seems to be true of Cotton. I can't imagine a scenario where he would bite. I also don't know Slaty voices, but now I want to look it up! Cotton sounds quite different from an IRN and I absolutely love his sounds and speeches!

I've been feeding a mix of different pellets, some seed, and then rotating veggies/grains in different ways over and over to see if he'll eat something besides mini sweet peppers He was very ill when I got him so I've been too complacent with his diet and he's gotten less exercise than he should get (since he can't fly), so that's my motivation for starting way more foraging now. Fingers crossed!

Ok I'd better stop here because I could go on for hours

 

[Parutti]

@Mist.N Your girl is adorable! Sounds like she's made great progress being home with you!

 

[AussieBird]

I've had an Indian ringneck for about half a year. She'll be 1 y.o. in a month.
She's inquisitive and independent, but likes to hang out on my shoulder, sleep on me and cuddle on her terms. Kinda like a Husky XD a bit stubborn, I guess, you have to find the right way to motivate her to do stuff (like go to her cage to sleep for the night) . She has some cranky days when she won't do anything (train, play, hang out), but then I just let her be. So far she's not had many of those, but you can definitely tell when she's in a bad mood.
Her diet is a bunch of different veg, fruit plant material and some nuts, grains and seeds. Occasionally some protein too. Pretty similar to what birdtricks.com recommend in their Diet + Nutrition article. She also likes Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse parrot pellets. She often won't eat new food until she sees me try it and she will eat food she doesn't really like if I start eating it with her.
She gets to free fly around the whole house, has a corner bird tree gym and only goes into her cage at night or when I'm not at home.
I work from home so she isn't alone much and my mom comes to babysit when I'm away for longer than 24h. She prefers to spend most of her time outside of the cage, although I keep the door open. So far she has not been overly territorial over her cage or tree gym, she may get fussy sometimes and fake-strike at my hand, but will let me finish what I started doing.
She likes new people and isn't afraid of them at all.
She's not too vocal. She does the usual morning high-pitched screaming session xD and contact calling, but that doesn't bother me much. And she always screams when I leave the house.
She likes rubber and foraging toys most and enjoys solving puzzle feeders to get treats.
We had a rocky start. The first month she used to bite quite a lot, draw blood etc. but we worked through it as she became more trusting. She's pretty open for communication if you figure out the right language. She was a hand-fed baby from a breeder, but the man who first bought her left her at a pet store, so can't blame her for being angry at first.
Still waiting to see what changes parrot adolescence brings xD Hopefully it won't be too bad.
Hope some of this helps

Thank you for your reply! She is so beautiful and you sound like you've done amazing with her

@Parutti
I just love Cotton! Thank you so much for the body language part! I keep finding myself baffled by Naut, he seems complete opposite to Quarter.

I don't know anything about Slaty personalities (but gosh Nautilus is already so pretty) but I've read that African Ringnecks are more docile than IRN and that seems to be true of Cotton.

We can learn together

I also don't know Slaty voices, but now I want to look it up! Cotton sounds quite different from an IRN and I absolutely love his sounds and speeches!

The website ebird (if I am remembering correctly) has a few tapes of slaty calls.
I can also try to record Nautilus, but he's still very quite around me.

I haven't done alot with Nautilus this past week due to wet weather, still working on getting him comfortable around me. I do need to give his aviary a good clean, so we might go backwards a bit. But I am sure over time we'll get there

 

[Parutti]

Oooh I thought of something else! Cotton had a REALLY hard and FAST molt last summer - i freaked out when his face turned black thinking his respiratory symptoms were back and I even tried to get him in to the emergency vet for a couple days when his beak got bright orange streaks that looked like the whole thing was fractured! until someone I know looked at photos and said their IRN looked the same during a few hard molts.

 

[AussieBird]

Oooh I thought of something else! Cotton had a REALLY hard and FAST molt last summer - i freaked out when his face turned black thinking his respiratory symptoms were back and I even tried to get him in to the emergency vet for a couple days when his beak got bright orange streaks that looked like the whole thing was fractured! until someone I know looked at photos and said their IRN looked the same during a few hard molts.

View attachment 425705

View attachment 425706

View attachment 425707

Oh yeah, I know about the intense molts! I saw pictures of @fashionfobie 's Pi as he went through his incredible adult molt!

Naut is starting a molt currently.

 

[AussieBird]

And this is Nauti calling me a liar
Being active and vocal around me! On camera, so there's evidence!!!

And tell me if I am wrong, but I see this as positive, if not curious, behaviour!

 

[SumitaSinh]

View attachment 425694

Cotton from what I've been told is pretty typical for an Asiatic species that hasn't had good socialization during his formative development. Quite suspicious but also curious and watchful. He was about 18 months old when I met him, and had been purchased from a not-great shop at 9 months old, so not the best early start :/
Tomorrow I'll have had him home for one year
and he's trusting me more now - he still doesn't like when I get too close without explaining what I'm doing, and even if I do explain he'll move away about half the time.

He's also pretty typical in that he's always sizing up everything around him, and he won't do anything that doesn't have something in it for him. I adore the independent personality of the Asiatic parakeets, but I think it does add a layer to developing a relationship.

For instance, Opie (Quaker) learns super fast and is usually ecstatic to do a trick for a "good boy!" He'll keep working on training as long as I'll let him. He will get obviously frustrated if something is too challenging, but he'll get right back to it if we back up a step and let him have a win.

Cotton, on the other hand, half the time will look at me for a couple of seconds while deciding whether he wants to participate, then 'Ok sure I'll take that walnut', then maybe repeat and maybe not. He doesn't get frustrated because he's ended the session long before that point LOL

He does NOT respond to lots of praise and excitement and thought I was completely cuckoo the few times I tried - I swear he thinks it's undignified and he refuses to stoop to such a basic level so it really has been all about figuring out what incentives will work for him.

He is usually keen to investigate new foods and new toys, so I often forget about how he's still a species that is more neophobic than others - I have to literally write down small step by steps for myself with him so that I don't push too far too fast.

My understanding is that most of these species are from areas with the highest variety and number of predators, so they are naturally more suspicious/fearful, and even if we have a good trust relationship it can work better to always assume they'll be a bit anxious about new stuff and introduce slowly at first (and then move forward based on the reaction).

Cotton's body language is a lot more subtle than my Quaker. And of course the lack of body feathers means I mostly have his posture and head to go by - but now that I can read him better it's pretty incredible how expressive he is without moving anything but feathers! He looks like a little Mandalorian cartoon when he's happy.

View attachment 425695 View attachment 425696

When he's mad, he gets really flat feathers and stout body, and when he's really mad he gets a little beard where his ring sticks out under his mandible and it looks like he plops his head down onto the middle of his chest LOL - these photos were taken from across the room when I walked in after bedtime:

View attachment 425697 View attachment 425698

When he's nervous, he gets flat and tall - my dog walker took this photo and said Cotton walked to that spot and wouldn't look at him (Cotton usually "greets" him by walking toward him and just watching, but we figured out he was wearing a bright hat that day).

View attachment 425699

I can definitely see how Asiatic parakeets do well in an aviary setting compared to a home. Cotton really could care less if I'm there or not. He LOVES seeing and chatting with songbirds outside, and he and a visiting Senegal would call back and forth from their rooms. He doesn't mind my Quaker flying around but doesn't always want him on his cage- I think if Cotton could fly this wouldn't be an issue though; he fell the first time Ope landed nearby. They've had a few sessions now where they're sitting a foot apart for a while. Ope is persistent in his friendship attempts Opie wants to be in everyone's face Hi Wanna Play where Cotton is more Yes Ok I See You So What

I don't know anything about Slaty personalities (but gosh Nautilus is already so pretty) but I've read that African Ringnecks are more docile than IRN and that seems to be true of Cotton. I can't imagine a scenario where he would bite. I also don't know Slaty voices, but now I want to look it up! Cotton sounds quite different from an IRN and I absolutely love his sounds and speeches!

I've been feeding a mix of different pellets, some seed, and then rotating veggies/grains in different ways over and over to see if he'll eat something besides mini sweet peppers He was very ill when I got him so I've been too complacent with his diet and he's gotten less exercise than he should get (since he can't fly), so that's my motivation for starting way more foraging now. Fingers crossed!

Ok I'd better stop here because I could go on for hours

You have explained ring neck personality so well!

 

[SumitaSinh]

And this is Nauti calling me a liar
Being active and vocal around me! On camera, so there's evidence!!!

And tell me if I am wrong, but I see this as positive, if not curious, behaviour!

Oh I remember the call of wild plum heads. They used to build nest in trees of my hospital.

 

[Parutti]

And this is Nauti calling me a liar
Being active and vocal around me! On camera, so there's evidence!!!

And tell me if I am wrong, but I see this as positive, if not curious, behaviour!

Ahhhhhh he's so cute!!! I love it!

 

[NBGwen]

This is Kyra - looking pretty and looking realllllllyyyy shabby pre-molt. She was sold by a breeder then returned - apparently for attacking the husband (LOL - she does fly bys, I think they just didn't understand her). She was then sold to me. After a year and in the midst of a stressful home sale/move - she attacked my smaller ones (a budgie and parrotlet). For a year, she stayed with a friend I thought would take good care of her. I got her back, and will never rehome her ever again. She is my shadow. When I am home, I have to be in sight. Love my girl.



Kyra doesn't talk - she's almost 6 now, so I don't think she ever will. That said, occasionally it sounds like she says 'hi'.

Kyra says 'hi'

My sweet Kyra doesn't talk, but I can sometimes get a 'hi' out of her.

youtube.com

 

[Tyrion]

Great pics

 

[MnGuy]

I've had my 7-year-old male Indian ringneck four months now, and I'm absolutely in love with him/ringnecks/Asian parakeets. I'd love to adopt a second ringneck or a mustache parakeet one day.

My guy is:

- Independent but likes to spend time on or with me. He loves to sleep on me.
- Quick learner and easy to teach with treats.
- Loves to fly laps around the house.
- Can be loud when he's complaining about wanting to come out, but is not loud for long stretches of time. It's in short bursts maybe a few times a day like when I come home from work.
- Doesn't really call at sunrise; he tends to wait until I'm awake and moving about to call to me.
- Has never tried to bite me. He'd rather back away if he's not in the mood.
- Has the steadiest and most reliable temperament of any parrot I've had (a grey and Meyer's).
- Really good at trying new foods and eats a more diverse array of veggies than any parrot I've had.
- Very acrobatic and nimble, so he gets into weird positions on my hand, the furniture, etc., which can be annoying sometimes.
- Hates cellphones and remote controls.
- Very low dander!

I'm a convert to the Asian parakeets even though he's my only one.

 

[AussieBird]

Doesn't really call at sunrise; he tends to wait until I'm awake and moving about to call to me.

Interestingly Naut loves calling in the morning, actually gave me a scare one morning when I didn't hear him call

I'm a convert to the Asian parakeets even though he's my only one.

Somehow I managed that before I even got one