Baby Eclectus Squawking

[Teammuffin]

Hey all, this is my first post.

I got my male eclectus, Shanks, 4 weeks ago. He is around 3 months old maybe 3.5 months.

He is really great. He loves coming out of his cage and can step up just fine without much training. I am still feeding him formula, he gets some for brunch and dinner (Around 10 am and 6pm). He has pellots and seed in his cage which he happily munches on during the day. I also give him some fresh fruit in small portions during the day. I usually cover him up at around 8pm.

He was pretty quiet for a while but about a week ago he started squawking quite a bit. He squawks once every 10 seconds or so, pretty loudly.

I am not posting because it annoys me, I am concerned. Is this normal? Am I doing anything wrong?

Thank you very much.

 

[greycloud]

Hi and welcome! Your baby sounds hungry. First if feeding any seed it should be specifically for eclectus and not be more then 10% of the diet. Several pellets have been know to effect eclectus also, especially artificially colored ones and those high in protien. Causing toe tapping and wing flipping. Check with your breeder and see what they feed. You mention offering some fruits and veggies. These are the mainstay of an eclectus diet. You should feed sweet potatoe baked, carrots, kale, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, mango, apples, bananas and pomegranites are fevorites, red and green peppers. Chop this all up fine. Mix some pellets with this and add some natural juice to just soften. Heat and stir to just warm. Offer with you fingers first till baby has shown an interest then offer in a bowl. You may have to add another handfeeding. Make sure baby is drinking. Do you have a scale? Baby should be weighed every morning after the first poop before eating. This way you can tell if baby is getting enough food to put on weight. Scales are pretty inexpensice at kitchen supply stores, they must have a gram weight function. I hope this helps.

 

[Teammuffin]

Thank you very much for the fast reply and thank you for the welcome. There is only a little bit of seed in with his pellet and it was provided by the breeder. There is so little that I shouldn't have even mentioned it.

I know this is a lot to ask but could you please maybe write up a daily eating schedule for me? I am just really worried and want everything to be perfect for little Shanks.

Sorry for the big ask but from what you said I don't understand how much of everything to feed him and when to feed him.

Thank you so much in advance.

P.S. If you do this for me I will make sure to give you some pictures of him

 

[parrotqueen]

Hello Teammuffin, Welcome to the forums! Pleased to meet you and Shanks. Have a look around, lots to learn. And please do share pictures!

I think that Greycloud covered it well, there is only one thing I may add. If the squawking continues even after taking Greycloud's advice, some have suggested before to try feeding the bird less each time. I'm not an experienced handfeeder, but I certainly have read this before.

Give Greycloud's advice a try, and let us all know how it goes. I wish you all the best!

 

[Spiritbird]

I agree with the 2 previous postigs. Your baby sounds hungy. I would stick to the feeding schedule your breeder had him on. The food suggestions are very good and young birds do like the soft foods. Nice warm cooked oatmeal is good too without the sugar. congrat. on the bird they are really a beautiful shade of green. How about a photo??

 

[HRH Di]

Nothing to add to this really, just welcome to the forum, congratulations on your baby and good luck with him!

 

[greycloud]

Teammuffin, 12 weeks is the age when most babies will start to cry and make noise for more food. Sometimes just to see if they can get it. If you know how to sprout that would be great and you can add this to finely minced fruits and veggies along with lentils, gains and mung and garbonzo beans. Beans need to be soaked over night and them boiled till tender. Off this mixture in a flat bowl on a table away from the cage. They seem to eat better with interaction.

 

[Mel]

Hi Teammuffin, I have a 4mth old Ecky and was having similar problems a few weeks ago, she wasn't overly-fussed on eating and would squawk constantly. After going though lots of different foods, I found sprouted beans - esp sunflower & mung & a good quality seed mix were a huge hit, she would almost run to the bowl when she saw it coming. Although I offered other foods she wasn't interested in them. After a couple of days (I think as she started to feel satiated) she ventured over to the other bowls and is now on a more balanced diet.
I read on another thread to try a skewer with f & V chunks with greens intertwined which has become a huge hit with Shadow & she now eats almost all of her F&V in the bowl which is so important to the eclectus diet.
I also like the idea of weighing, I used to do this every morning to ensure I'm on the right track, now I do it every 2-3 days.
You asked for a menu, I have put what I feed below. I am no expert and if anyone wants to tweak it please feel free:
Every day:
At least 5 different F&V chopped into small peices in a bowl - I make sure they are a variety of colours.
F&V skewer - usually harder foods in big chunks with greenery inbetween
TBSP of seed/nut mix (walnuts, brasil nuts, almonds, cashews etc)
TBSP sprouted bean mix
On occation:
hard boiled egg mushed with shell and chilli flakes
Weetbix with warm water & raisins
baked veges
A bit of human dinner depending on what we are having
If you go through the forum you'll also find some great "bread" recipes etc which I haven't tried yet
Good Luck, please let us know how it all goes

 

[Teammuffin]

Thank you so much to everyone that is helping out, I have taken the advice and feel like I am on my way to having a much happier Shanks

Special thanks to Mel and Greycloud.

I will report back with photos and news very shortly.

 

[greycloud]

I am so glad that Shanks is doing better. Can't wait to see photos and hear updates.!

 

[MisterBiscuits]

Yep. Hungry. Our Eclectus was not weened properly, the seller told us he was... but he was far from it, so we had to go back to regular and often feedings. Elclectus have longer digestive tracts than other parrots, so they need a steady stream of feedings.

Now, as a happy adult, all he does is eat... its his favorite thing to do. Ps. We have had better luck getting our electus OFF of pellets and strictly on seed mix and lots of fresh fruits veggies beans and pasta. Seems they are especially susceptible to metal toxicity in pelleted food... sometimes metal shavings get into the pellets. Pss. Eclectus need more Vitamin A than other birds - so up the sweet potatoes and carrots and kale.

 

[Mel]

How's Shanks going?