I’m thinking about getting a pet bird- more specifically, an Indian Ring Neck. However, I’ve never owned a bird nor been interested in owning one until recently. I started working in a pet shop, and over the past several months, our male IRN has been growing on me so here I am doing my homework before making a final decision.

What I’d like in a bird is a companion: a bird I can handle every day, possibly take him with me to run errands (like going to the atm, depositing a paycheck, getting something through drive-thru), and one with an interesting personality. At the same time, however, it would also need to be okay with being alone with its toys and possibly some background music as I work two jobs and only have a day and a half off every week. So my ideal schedule would be to wake up, get it out while I give it fresh food and water, and a treat. When I get home from work, take it out again, give it fresh fruit/vegetables and more fresh water. Depending on if I have to turn around and go back to work or not would determine if I keep the bird out the rest of the evening or put it back up. Either way, I plan on spending a lot of time with my bird. Would this be a good schedule to provide enough attention for an intelligent bird?

Provided that the time I can allot for a bird is adequate, let me tell you about the bird in question:
He’s at least two years old as his neck marking is fully developed; he also has not been handled as he refuses to be touched. However, he is not aggressive as he does not actively try to bite, hiss, or otherwise harm me. I’ve tried to catch him before for customers but he simply runs from my hand, always keeping his head well away from my flesh. If he can’t run, he will walk backwards, beak open, and watching me intently, but as said, he won’t lunge for me unless I get in easy striking distance. He does not scream for attention as far as I can tell. We have a section for birds and we always have at least 15 budgies, varying amounts of finches, parakeets, and larger birds and I can rarely hear this bird over that raucous. Every once in a while, he will scream, but only once. The rest of the time he keeps his noise to mutters, reer-reer-reer sounds, and tiny chirps. He’s not messy. He did tear a perch to ribbons once, stringing it apart like a stick of celery. After that incident, we gave him toys to destroy. However, he doesn’t poop in his water, sling his food everywhere, or try to poop on things outside his cage.

Here is some more information about me:
I currently live in a house and the boyfriend and I have three snakes, about to acquire a fourth; however I don’t intend on keeping the bird in the same room as the snakes. We are possibly going to move into an apartment and we really don’t need the bird to earn us an eviction notice. I don’t have a lot of patience and I’ve never owned a bird. However, I will have at least 30 minutes a day to work with a wild bird. I learned yesterday that the bird in question likes apples and this is the only food I can hand feed him.

And this is where I need input from anyone who has more knowledge than me.
Will being in the same house as snakes cause problems for the bird? Will the bird need a companion? Will 30 minutes a day be adequate for a wild bird or would I be better just buying a tame one from a breeder? Is the fact he will eat apples out of my hand a good indication that I can tame him?

I’ve also been getting mixed signals from the internet. Half the articles I read say these birds aren’t good for apartments, the other half says they won’t get me evicted. Also, these articles say the birds are messy. Based on what I’ve typed, is this bird an exception to the rule, or are his problems getting lost in the noise and mess of the other birds? Is this even a good bird species for a first time bird owner?

Any help is deeply appreciated! =)

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