1st Time Eckie Owner - Need Advice

[RobEckie]

Hi All,
We have recently brought home our 3.5 month old Eclectus male and am in need of some advice. After we brought him home from the breeder we took him out of his travel cage and put him straight into his new cage. He was obviously very frightened from the travel experience and the fact he doesn't know who we are.
The problem we are having is he doesn't let us near him. If we try and feed him a treat like an almond with our hand, he will snap at our hand and puff his feathers up. We understand it will take time for him to trust us but he's been with us for about 4 days now and not much has changed.
We have also opened his cage door so he can come out but he doesn't seem interested at the moment. Our breeder had him in an aviary with his brother eclectus of the same age. He is definitely beautiful and flawless except for the fact he is still very scared of us.
Any advice on what we should do here and if this is normal?

 

[astar86]

Patience patience patience.
That is the best advice. Keep trying to give him treats, talk to him in a soft and calm voice, explain what you are doing when you are near him, make sure his cage is in a part of the room where he feels secure etc.. You will have many many years together and it is best not to rush the relationship.

There is also a wealth of info on this site (although some needs to be taken with a grain of salt)

With my boy I would sit with my computer near him and watch parrot videos and talk to him about the videos, i would show him things, eat my meals near him, read near him etc and within no time he was curious and wanted to be included.

Good luck and keep us posted with the progress and pictures

 

[RobEckie]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Yes patience does seem to be the key, my wife just wants to hug him now! hehe. I understand it will take time and he does seem to be coming around slowly. He still doesn't like us entering his cage though, but he is happy to eat from his bowl while we are quite close to him.
One other question I have is with regards to beak strength. We saw an Eckie at the pet store climbing around his cage, hanging upside down etc.. but our little guy isn't as active at the moment. He did climb up with help of his beak once but doesn't seem to interested at the minute with climbing around.
We also notice he struggles to even eat an almond. It appears as though his beak isn't strong enough to crush the almond. Is this normal? He grabs the almond (out of his bowl for now, but would like to hand feed this to him) but he ends up dropping it to the bottom of the cage and it is gone.
Once again thanks for the response.

 

[mrob]

hello
My eccie was like that when he was a baby, very 'unco' unsteady on his feet and not much of a climber. Now he is an acrobat!!
Patience is also the best advice, just spend heaps of time sitting next to his cage, talking to him, eating next to him etc. It could take months but it will happen.
eventually he will learn to climb down and eat the almonds that he 'saved for later'. my boy couldnt grip things with his feet till he was about 7 months - and they dont have a very strong 'bite' at first. as long as he is eating (and not losing weight, weigh him often, he should be gaining at that age, but they do lose a bit at weaning) and alert and happy then your all good. Remember he is a baby and its a big adjustment. Good luck (we love pictures!)

 

[RobEckie]

Hi mrob, ok that makes me feel better
Yes he is actually eating very well, eats a lot (his favourite is corn on the cob) and drinks water on the odd occasion.
I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait until he comes around. We just feel he needs a bit of exercise instead of just standing on his perch all day. It will also give us a chance to re-arrange his cage a bit, we've realised we've placed a few things in the wrong places. I also want to install a new perch that I made out of a gum tree branch (apparently he will like this, well that's what I was told).
I will post some pics up soon, he doesn't like the big camera much so it's not easy to get a good snap.
Thanks again for your help

 

[kc_y0]

As others have said, its all normal!
don't worry about his exercise at the moment, he sounds very very nervous and he won't do much for now. My girl was exactly the same, and it took her quite a while to come out of her shell. She wouldn't take treats either, just puff up, lunge at them and drop them. Just keep doing what you are doing (Soon he will realise you are the food giver hehe) and always speak to him in a nice hitch pitch calming voice. Even sing to him.
I dont know if others would agree, but I was told to take my girl from her cage after a couple of days, even if she resisted. I would take her out, let her sit on my lap and then put her on her cage play top. She resisted coming out and I found a towel helped a lot, or even try using a small wooden perch just to get him to step up on it. After he see's that his cage is his safe place, you need to show him that the rest of the home is a safe and fun place too When he is out of his cage you can change the inside stuff around a little bit but do it gradually or it might scare him even more, they don't always like sudden changes in their cage.
Soon enough you will have a beautiful confident little family member who will follow you everywhere and not leave you alone lol!!

 

[lene1949]

Was he hand raised or raised by the parents?

 

[maillet]

Just remember how you would feel if giants towered over you. It will take time, patience is important. It could take a day like mine did, it could take a month like other users from this forum. If he does not scream with you nearby, try sitting in the room gently talking.

Feed him his FAVORUITE through the cage bars. Pomagranite and Pine Nuts are big ones on the list, and do it with a smile. Let him see you eating first few till he tries one. This will help him build trust, and eventually you can use treat by holding out of reach until he will be willing to step up onto your hand and you can bring him calmly out of his cage.

Just remember: patience

 

[RobEckie]

Thanks heaps for all the advice guys, it is greatly appreciated
He was hand raised by a registered breeder. I shopped around and our breeder was excellent, he doesn't form a close relationship with the birds he breeds so they don't get attached and they are kept in a walk in aviary with only 1 or 2 other birds.
He makes sure they are fully weaned and doesn't take any risks so they don't fall back to their pre-weaned state when they are released to their owners.

 

[RobEckie]

I've got one more question. Considering our Eckie doesn't even feed from our hand yet, is it wise to try and get him out of the cage? I would think he will be extremely scared of us if he is out of his cage and won't let us go near him. His wings are not clipped so I don't want him to get hurt either. Advice on this one would be great.

 

[kc_y0]

This is a tough one Rob. I took my girl out of the cage on the second day, even though she was scared and nervous. I only had her out for short periods so it wasn't overwhelming, but I was trying to show her that I was meaning her no harm. I gave her little head scritches and gave her sunflower seeds (only treat she would take from my hand). I know others say to let the bird come out in their own time, but I think if I didn't get audrey used to me it would have taken so much longer, and maybe she wouldn't have been so bonded with me now if she was so independent and came out of the cage on her own terms. Thats just my theory and what worked for me though.

 

[astar86]

I wouldnt force him out. I would leave the cage open and maybe hang a toy on the outside of his cage to entice him out. But letting him do it on his own time will let him know that you arent going to force yourself on him and that he has choices to go out of his cage or stay inside. In time he will be clinging to the door looking at you like LET ME OUT! lol as soon as you walk in the room.

 

[Boogie]

Your baby boy sounds gorgeous! Good luck with him. I have a male eclectus who's 5 years old now...also purchased from a breeder at 7 months. It took my guy around 3 weeks to feel brave enough to come out of his cage by himself, we would leave his cage door open everyday and try to coax him out with treats and food, like others are saying on the forum, it really is patience, just carry on with your normal household lives and he will soon realize that your home is a safe and secure place to be. He will gain his confidence and come out to you when he feels ready. My advice would be not to force the issue. Good luck with him and please keep us posted on his progress

 

[mrob]

this is a bit controversial and a sensitive subject.....but some people believe that clipping wings lightly encourages bonding faster. Its entirely up to you though, and if he is too scared to even come out at all, it will probably traumatise him if you suddenly jump on him and clip him! but it is something to bear in mind for the future if you are that way inclined

 

[RobEckie]

Thanks for the advice all, you guys are great
I think I will leave him in his cage until he actually let's us feed him from our hands. At this point, we really can't get near him let as he will just "fake bite" and flap his wings to get away etc..
If we leave the cage door open and he flies out, I really can't see an easy way of getting him back in..
Just in case he does decide to come out before he's ready, are there any tips/tricks on getting him back in? Would covering him in a towel be a ethical method if he does not want us to go near him?

 

[mrob]

yep towel as a last resort
but before that, bribes! put his favourite treat in his cage and hopefully he will go back in by himself. Usually they see their cages as their 'safe place' - also it may help if he doesnt have food avaliable 24/7. Routine is good - feeding time at say, 9am for half an hour, then 12pm half an hour, then 6pm or dinner time. Keep treats for bribes!
favourites of my eccie are almonds, sunflower seeds (treats only - very high in fat), dried wholemeal pasta (little weirdo), pieces of macadamia nuts, grapes, chillies....etc etc

 

[RobEckie]

Ok great. We have regular feeding times but when you say "don't have food available all day", should we give him time to eat then remove his bowls?
He will eat for up to an hour but there will still be food left. He will then go back on regular occasions and snack.
We have 1 bowl with pellets (he doesn't have much of this), another bowl for water and the other for vegies/fruits/pasta/rice etc..

 

[mrob]

yep give him time to eat then remove the bowls. Make sure he is getting enough though. He still gets fed, but he sees a routine with the feeding which will help you no end if you need to get him back in the cage by himself. Also, he will be more receptive to treats from you if you do this. I do this with my eccie because he has a bad habit of eating then throwing his dish as far as he can, food and all, all over the floor! Also it avoids the problem of spoiling, but I do leave a 'food toy' like a carrot for him to destroy, im pretty sure he eats some of it. Give it a go, it may help as he will start to associate you and importantly your hands with feeding time. Every bird is different though, so just see if it works
for you

 

[RobEckie]

Hi Everyone,
Finally we have our 1st proper pics of our baby eclectus! He still isn't accepting food from our hand and it's been 1 week since we brought him home, but he is a lot more active bouncing around his cage and hopefully he will feel safe with us soon
Enjoy the pics.

 

[Chikoo]

Beautiful! Do you know what subspecies he is?