Hello From India!! Need Help.!

[Raja]

I have recently buyed two IRN, But i couldn't able to find which is male and female..

Is good to keep 2 parrots ??

Shall i give it back one? or shall i keep both?

Because i heard that its hard to train with 2 parrots...

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

An adult male IRN has a ring around it's neck.

Are you really going to give up before you try. Each one has a different personality.

[JessiMuse]

If you think having two birds is hard, try having six. granted, only three of mine are actually parrots, while the other three consists of one dove and two finches, but I digress.

Do you know how old these birds are? I'm pretty sure makes won't develop their ring until after their juvenile molt. I could be wrong though.

Here is a picture of both a male and female IRN side by side. As Liz said, the male is the one with the ring around his neck.

[Pajarita]

Yes, Jessi and Liz are correct. Male IRNs develop a ring around their neck only it doesn't happen at the juvenile molt, it takes longer (sometimes up to 3 years).

Now, personally, I think that everybody who has IRNs should have two, preferably a male and a female. Not to breed them! But because they are happier than way as they tend to get very aloof with people once they reach sexual maturity. Is it harder to train two? Yes, I guess it is because, for one thing, you would have to start off doing it each bird separately but, in my personal opinion, if you base your relationship with your bird on nothing but training, you are going to fail as a parrot keeper because it should mean much, much, much more than that. By the way, IRNs are not really good parrots for training and it's illegal to keep them as pets in your country.

[Raja]

Hello All,

Thanks for your reply. I guess you all taken my question wrongly.

It's not about male or female...

I should explain my story... Which is happen.three years back....

Before this new parrots ...some 3 years back I was owned two parrots ( both are females) for 6 years and in mid of 4th year I have added one more male parrot which I got from road side ( I guess he escaped from his owner). For one year they where very good friends, But unfortunately one female killed that male IRN badly

They 3 are like my family members for six years... After this incident.. I deside to give up that 2 female parrotsg with eye full of tears and my heart broken.....


Now I come to my question...

After 3 years...Last month again i have buyed 2 parrots ... But now I remembered that old incident and want that same should not happen again.... So I am asking you guys to help me in this matter... Whether I keep one or two parrots... Which is best? Explain me please.....


I know its illegal to keep IRN in India.... But I like my native IRN parrots and I like to keep them as like Amazons, African grey..etc....

[Wolf]

If I have read this right you first had two female IRN's for several years and then you found a male IRN which you put with the two females and about a year later the male was killed by one or both of the females.
Now you have two IRN's and remembering what happened before you don't want it to happen again. You don't know what the sexes of your two current IRN's are at this time.

Ok I don't know if the male that you had was an adult when he was added to the two females. If he was immature at that time they may have just left him alone until he matured. It could also be that he was an adult when they when put together and in either case I think that breeding season began and that was when he was killed. If I am right the reason that he was killed is that there needed to be either one less female or you needed one more male so that both females could have a mate. Three birds in any cage is not good they need to be in pairs. I do not have IRN's myself, but three is never a good number in an enclosed area you need to think in pairs as well as the sex of the birds. I do not know how well two males will get along and am not sure that you could keep two pairs in the same caged area. But if you have two females as before or 1 male and 1 female you should be fine with your new pair of birds,

[Pajarita]

Well, I don't agree with keeping indigenous birds captive, I have to tell you. It's not a matter of what you like, it's what's best for them and, when they are illegal, you can't even provide medical treatment for them -and that's a BIG problem.

Now, birds don't kill other birds of their own species unless something is VERY wrong with the way they are kept so you either kept them all in a cage too small for them or they were constantly hormonal and one female got jealous or the diet was inadequate - something must have been wrong. I don't know what went wrong but if the conditions are the same, you might end up having the same problem. But, if you had had this problem in the past and was afraid of the same thing happening, why did you get two?

[Raja]

Well, I don't agree with keeping indigenous birds captive, I have to tell you. It's not a matter of what you like, it's what's best for them and, when they are illegal, you can't even provide medical treatment for them -and that's a BIG problem.

Now, birds don't kill other birds of their own species unless something is VERY wrong with the way they are kept so you either kept them all in a cage too small for them or they were constantly hormonal and one female got jealous or the diet was inadequate - something must have been wrong. I don't know what went wrong but if the conditions are the same, you might end up having the same problem. But, if you had had this problem in the past and was afraid of the same thing happening, why did you get two?

Dear Pajarita,

It not a big deal to give medical treatment... 2 of my friends are veterinary doctors and even other government doctors also ready to give medical assistance (Because i have treated my Ex-IRNs before without any problem) .... India is not as you think.. its very common to find IRN as pets India...

Now i come to the point...

I agreed It's my mistake .. i have added one more male with two females, Because at that time i lack of knowledge in owning pets...

The thing i get two IRN again is.... Now i getting some idea regard parrot owning... through internet and forums like this... So i decided to get my pets again.... Is that wrong....

Just buyed 2 new IRNs 20 days back and they are in good environment & eating well... Please give me some suggestion to bond those 2 IRN... I dont want my old story should happen again...

[Raja]

If I have read this right you first had two female IRN's for several years and then you found a male IRN which you put with the two females and about a year later the male was killed by one or both of the females.
Now you have two IRN's and remembering what happened before you don't want it to happen again. You don't know what the sexes of your two current IRN's are at this time.

Ok I don't know if the male that you had was an adult when he was added to the two females. If he was immature at that time they may have just left him alone until he matured. It could also be that he was an adult when they when put together and in either case I think that breeding season began and that was when he was killed. If I am right the reason that he was killed is that there needed to be either one less female or you needed one more male so that both females could have a mate. Three birds in any cage is not good they need to be in pairs. I do not have IRN's myself, but three is never a good number in an enclosed area you need to think in pairs as well as the sex of the birds. I do not know how well two males will get along and am not sure that you could keep two pairs in the same caged area. But if you have two females as before or 1 male and 1 female you should be fine with your new pair of birds,

Thanks Wolf...

your understanding is right.. 3 years back i didn't have knowledge on parrot owning... so that incident happens...


So u r saying.. i should wait for a year to know... which one male and female. right?

For current IRN, I dont know the age... Is there any way to find age of my IRN's??

[Wolf]

As far as I know there is really no way to tell the age of a parrot. With the IRN's you can tell if they are fully adults by the rings that develop around 3 years of age. If you have friends that are avian vets then I would get them DNA sexed as it is the most reliable and the least invasive.

I will say for the record that keeping these birds is against the law, one that was made in the attempt to help to save these birds in the wild. I do not agree with you breaking this law, but I will not presume to tell you that it is either right or wrong, that is something that you must deal with. My concern is that you have them and it is doubtful that they can be returned to the wild, so I have to try to help keep them healthy, for me not doing this would be wrong and I just can't do that to them.

Please tell us about the conditions that they are being kept in. Things such as the size of their cage or aviary, are they indoors or outside, what and when do you feed them.