Indian Ring Neck Parrot

Indian Ringneck Common Problems

Why Is My Indian Ringneck Biting Me?

This is one of the most common behavior problems with Indian Ringneck parakeets. Biting generally occurs as your Ringneck reaches maturity, around two years of age. When this happens those hormones take over and they can become grumpy, possessive, jealous or simply frustrated. First make sure your Indian Ringneck is getting plenty of sleep, exercise, and proper nutrition. In this way your parakeet is a lot like you or me and a deficiency in any of those areas will likely cause grumpiness.

I know when I don’t get much sleep I’m likely to bite when someone invades my personal space!

Assuming your Indian Ringneck parakeet has an ideal environment the next issue to look at is one of trust and socialization. Often parakeets will bite out of stress or fear. The best way to deal with this situation is to train your bird with patience and kindness.

Proper Training will help to establish a very strong bond of trust and it will also teach your parakeet to problem solve and thus become more adaptable in stressful situations.

If your Indian Ringneck is still biting then a little detective work is in order. When are they biting? Is it in the morning when you’re playing with them? Is it when you wear your orange and green sweater?

Is it when your spouse or new puppy is in the room? Begin to pay attention to any patterns of aggression and they will likely give you strong clues to why your Indian Ringneck is biting. If it’s because of that orange and green sweater I’d suggest not wearing it. No one looks good in orange and green.

Kidding, sometimes colors can cause stress in a bird and it may be that a certain color is a trigger for your parakeet. Moving furniture, adding new people or pets to your family, moving the cage and even construction equipment outside the window can all cause stress and irritability.

Modify the situation as much as you can and always spend time training your Indian Ringneck. There is no better solution to biting and aggressive behavior than training.

The next most common behavior issue you’re likely to find in an Indian Ringneck is screaming. The reasons are often the same as any biting behavior. If your parakeet is screaming, the worst thing you can do is react to it.

Don’t throw water at them, don’t scream back and don’t give them what they want. If your Indian Parakeet is screaming because they want your attention, don’t give it to them. If they’re screaming because the dog just walked into the room, don’t chase the dog out.

The key here is to train them to perform an acceptable behavior in place of the screaming. If you react, you are instead training them to scream. The same holds true for any undesirable behavior including biting. Reacting only serves to reinforce the behavior.

Feather Plucking isn’t an overly common Indian Ringneck behavior however if your parakeet is plucking their feathers, make certain they aren’t caused by any medical reasons first by taking them to an avian veterinarian.

Once medical issues have been ruled out it is again time to play detective. Make certain that your Indian Ringneck’s environment and diet are ideal, rule out stress, boredom, and other behavioral issues and spend time training your parakeet each and every day.

Behavior problems with the Indian Ringneck are generally resolved through ensuring proper care and nutrition and careful and patient training. Training accomplishes several key things which are important to the health and happiness of your parakeet.

On top of providing mental stimulation, building a bond of trust, and teaching your parakeet how to problem solve, training also establishes you as the ruler of your home, teaches your ringneck the rules of your home and establishes day to day expectations of behavior and routine. It’s good for your Indian Ringneck and it’s good for you too.