This picture shows the chick being held firmly whilst the ring is slid along three of the bird's longest toes. The fourth toe, the shortest, is placed in a backwards direction alongside the bird's leg. At nine days old the toes are very flexible and no force or unnecessary pressure should be applied to achieve this.

Note: Should the ring prove not to be large enough, the attempt should be abandoned. Cockatiel chicks grow at varying rates and it is always better to fit the ring early rather than late. Some Cockatiels can be ringed at 12 or even 14 days old, but this rare and even if early ringing means the loss of the ring because it comes off, it is always better to apply safety first. Forcing a ring, when the leg has grown too big can cause serious damage to leg and bone tissue and the effect of shock has been known to end the birds's life.

The following photos are available:

Title	File Size	Download Time (avg)
Ringing stage 2	21 Kb	4 secs