Indian ringnecks are not the most popular or widely kept parrot, but that’s not for lack of beauty or a fun personality.
They are great parrots that are very rewarding pets to keep.
Knowing whether a certain species is a good fit for a first-time owner can be tricky—so are Indian ringnecks good for beginners?
Indian ringnecks are not the best first-time parrots. They can be quite difficult to keep, and it’s much harder to keep them happy without experience of owning parrots in the past. They can be nippy and are difficult to tame, so it’s best to get some experience with an easier species first.
As beautiful as Indian ringnecks are, it’s not a good idea to get one without knowing what you’re getting into.
Parrot ownership in general is very different to other pets, and it requires a lot of special preparation.
Indian ringnecks are even difficult within that context.
Let’s look further into this.
Are Indian ringnecks difficult?
In a lot of ways, Indian ringnecks certainly are relatively difficult.
They can be quite tough to tame, for one thing.
However, it’s worth clearing up that parrots in general are considered pretty difficult pets on the whole.
Compared with things like cats and dogs, they are high maintenance, needing a lot of stimulation and attention.
If you’ve never owned a parrot before, owning any species of parrot is going to be at the very least a learning curve.
So, if you’re considering getting a parrot for the first time, then an Indian ringneck would be perhaps prohibitively difficult for you.
They are uniquely difficult for a couple of reasons.
The first, as I touched on, is that they’re difficult to tame.
Any reputable breeder will do as much of the taming as they can when they are raising the bird.
But it’s still going to need to get accustomed to living with you, and that involves you being able to tame it as well.
The other issue is that they are comparatively very high maintenance, and when they don’t get their way, they can become nippy and aggressive.
It can be really hard to curb this behaviour once it starts, especially if you’ve no experience of what works with other species.
So, yes, ringnecks are difficult, and especially to new parrot owners.
Let’s look more closely at taming.
Are Indian ringnecks difficult to tame?
It depends, really.
For first time owners, yes, they can be difficult to tame if only because inexperienced owners tend to underestimate a parrot’s needs.
Certainly, for a ringneck, there are a lot of minute variables which can mean the difference between a well-tamed and an untamed Indian ringneck.
That said, if you do have moderate experience with parrots, then Indian ringnecks are quite easy to tame.
You’ve got to, on the one hand, keep up with all its basic needs.
Make sure its well fed, with a good balance and variety of food.
They like to bathe themselves in clean water, so make sure they have a clean bath with fresh water every day.
They will also need lots of toys and enrichment activities to keep them entertained throughout the day.
Finally, you need to be spending a good amount of time interacting and playing with them every day.
Taming them well goes somewhat beyond this, though, if only in a few small ways. going above and beyond to get them interesting new foods and treats to eat, always giving them new toys and getting them used to being near humans and interacting with you.
The ins and outs of this are difficult to lay out step by step, and exactly how to account for each small problem is mostly a case of experience.
So, yes, for an inexperienced owner, Indian ringnecks are relatively difficult to tame.
With all that said, are they good pets?
Are Indian ringnecks good pets?
Yes, Indian ringnecks are great pets!
Naturally, this depends on a lot of what I’ve already said, but for the right person, Indian ringnecks are fantastic pets.
They are happy, full of personality, incredibly curious and playful, and they will form deep bonds with you.
While owning any parrot can be a challenge, the rewards more than make it worth it.
So, it’s more about you, and what you want out of a pet, than the ringneck.
Again, if you’ve never owned a parrot before, you can’t know for sure that the reality of owning a parrot is right for you.
Of course, if you’ve done your research and are satisfied it would be, you’re probably right.
I just want to stress that parrot ownership is no easy undertaking.
Indian ringnecks, in and of themselves, are great pets for the right person.
How hard does a ringneck bite?
Indian ringnecks can bite, though, so this is something you’ve got to be prepared for as well.
As I said, when they aren’t properly tamed, they can become nippy.
And when they bite, despite their small size, they can bite quite hard.
They can draw blood if they want to, so you want to avoid a situation where they end up biting you!
This is also an important reason why you need to be extremely careful around children with a ringneck.
Kids who don’t know any better can far more easily aggravate a bird, and their bite can hurt a lot more to a kid.
Don’t take the chance, then—ringnecks bite hard!
How do I bond with my Indian ringneck?
Once you’ve got the basics covered, it comes down to how much time you’re able to spend directly interacting with the ringneck each day.
Teaching them simple tricks can be a good way to bond, although remember it’s the interaction that’s important—it actually learning the trick is really secondary.
Talking to it is another great way to form a deeper bond with your ringneck.
They are known to be good talkers, depending on the individual, so this is a great way to interact with it.
After all, in the wild, vocalizations are one of the main ways they will communicate with other birds.
If your ringneck is comfortable with it, allowing it to sit on your shoulder is also a great way to deepen your bond with it.
This allows you to spend more time together, too.
But the bottom line is that you just need to spend time with it, and do so as much as you can from the earliest point in its life.
Do Indian ringnecks talk?
Yes, they do! Indian ringnecks are renowned for their talking ability, and both the males and females are remarkably chatty.
If you put the time in to help it learn them, it can pick up multiple words and phrases that it will repeat throughout the day.
All parrots have the ability to talk, and whether they do is largely down to the individual.
Some are simply more inclined to talk, whereas others might be more inclined to whistle, sing, or chirp.
In any case, getting your ringneck to talk will take a bit of time and patience.
Can Indian ringnecks be left alone?
No, not for long periods of time.
Parrots are highly social animals, and they’ll get very bored and miss you when you’re not around.
You shouldn’t leave your Indian ringneck alone for more than a couple of hours, ideally.
Generally, it’s advised to keep more than one parrot at a time so that they can become bonded with one another, and you don’t need to be there all the time.
However, both parrots need to be introduced to one another at the earliest possible stage, in order to avoid territorial aggression when they mature.
If you are able to be with your Indian ringneck for most of the hours of the day, seven days a week, then it will be okay on its own—but most of us can’t do that.
So, this is another important thing to keep in mind, especially for beginners—two parrots is twice the maintenance!
So, while Indian ringnecks are not really the best parrot for a beginner, they are fantastic pets once you’ve got the experience and patience required to properly tame and look after them.
As tempted as you may by Indian ringnecks, and as much as you might have set your heart on one of these beautiful birds, they really aren’t right for beginners, and it’s best for both of you if you’ve some experience with parrots.