Parrots are addictive. Our first bird was so wonderful that it made perfect sense to get another. Besides, Callie was so attached to Jordan that it made me want my own cuddly snuggly sweet bundle of feathers. I again went to the Internet and decided on an Indian Ringneck. I read many different pieces of information about these beautiful birds as pets. Some claimed that ringnecks were tempermental and impossible to tame while others praised them as wonderful intelligent pets. I didn't have any luck finding one available close enough to drive to so I settled on an aviary in Virginia. The bird would be shipped to me via Delta Airlines. The breeder that I worked with assured me that the bird I had selected, a beautiful gray male, was hand fed and tame. She said that he would be a little unsettled by the trip but that he would tame down again just fine. She advised me to wrap him in a towel and carry him around. I was so excited I could hardly wait. I sent my payment and anxiously awaited her email with the shipping info. Days went by with not a word from her. Finally she gave me a date only to cancel it the next day. I became frustrated and almost cancelled my purchase. Eventually the day arrived and I drove to the airport to pick up my new pet. He was just as beautiful as his pictures. I couldn't wait to get him home and begin interacting with him. I had purchased a very large cage to accomodate his long tail and equipped it with toys and perches. The first few days I left him alone except for talking softly to him and refilling his food and water bowls. He was very nervous and plastered himself against the back of the cage when I came near. If I stuck my hand in the cage for any reason, he flapped around crazily and broke off all the feathers in his gorgeous long tail. In fact, he refused to even look at me, turning his back any time I approached the cage. He was terrified of my hands and my voice. He appeared to be a bird that had never been handled in his whole life and I have come to believe that he has not.
Over time he has made small progress. He will now sit very near the opening of the door that I put the food bowl in and wait for me to slide it in there. He is a great eater and has lovely smooth glossy feathers. I can get him to step up on a wooden perch but it takes several times to get him where you are going because he will flap to the ground repeatedly and try to run away. He is very intelligent and loves to vocalize. He will come up onto his play top when I put the other birds on theirs but I just open his door and he comes out on his own. When I put the birds away for the evening I will say "Night night!" as I go around putting each one back into the cages and he immediately goes back into his cage on his own. He has learned to do these things to avoid being asked to step up on the stick. I unfortunately took the breeders advice about wrapping him in the towel and he was completely traumatized and probably set back in his taming by months.
Lessons learned from this experience?? Number one: Never purchase a bird sight unseen. I cannot say if the breeder was dishonest or not for sure. She does not answer my emails. He may have been tame for her but part of me suspects that he was an aviary bird that had never been handled. Number Two: Never force a bird to let you handle him by using a towel unless it is an emergency. It may take months (or years??) to form a bond of trust but it will be worth it. I have not given up on Caezar. He constantly delights me with his noises and his beauty. Although I would love to hold and pet him, I respect his space. The rest of the flock are all cuddle bugs and love to be held. Caezar sees this daily and I hold out hope that he will one day take the plunge into a more friendly relationship with me.
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