Baby Eclectus - Watch him grow![Photos]

[Anansi]

Awww Stephen, so Bixby was the 'lil tyke' hey?

Yes, indeed. Bixby was appreciably smaller than his brother, known affectionately as Sir Chomps. He was also the scruffier of the two, as he seemed to thrive on the practice of preening as infrequently as possible. (Which, sadly, hasn't changed. Lol!) This set him apart from his bigger brother, who was definitely a pretty boy. Never a feather out of place. But it was the scrappy lil' fella that captured my heart. Haha!

Well, Pazu has developed some bad behaviour, thanks to our 17 month old son... -_-
Pazu is now a screamer...because it's fun... He's louder than any Macaw I've ever heard (which is LOUD! Ear-splittingly so). And he takes hours to quieten down... He never does it at the same time, so it's just random fun, apparently, to drive every single member of the family up the wall... He does however seem to enjoy screaming his head off around 11pm so now we have his smaller 'weaning' cage in another room at the end of the house and he goes in there every night (around 8-9pm) and then he comes back into his normal day cage/loungeroom after his formula feed, or else he shatters the ears of everyone. *lets out a big sigh* And with all the stuff going on with me at the moment, and our 5 months old son being colicky (screaming inconsolably, sometimes for 3 hours straight), I've had a rather short fuse, and not a whole lot of patience.

Was oh so fun when 3 mornings ago the 5 month old, Chad, decided to gouge out the front of his throat within 5 minutes of one FINGER being free of his wraps...so when i walked back into the room to check on him, the neck of his singlet was drenched with blood... so I was having a heart-attack, Chad was screaming and Pazu was screaming and the 17 month old was screaming because his 3 and a half year old sister was smacking him on the head for touching a toy that he apparently wasn't allowed... This has been pretty much what my entire day has been like, each day the past 3 days.

Fun times...

Pazu is also back to having morning formula feeds because his weight dropped down to 350grams form being 470grams... He is a moron! :headwall: I swear if I refused to feed him any formula he would literally starve himself to death. He will only start eating his own food immediately after he's been fed formula... Nut of a bird.. I always seem to have soft spots for the moronic birds.

We will manage.. Pazu is just trying my patience at the moment.

Aw, Liana. Sounds like a hectic three day period, there! Very frustrating, I know. And seeing the neck of Chad's singlet all bloody must have been a cardiac event in and of itself! Colic eventually passes in babies, my friend, as well as their frightening tendency to pull free of their mitts and tear furrows in their skin. (Then they find other ways to mess with you. Smh.)

And Pazu's screaming fits are likely something of a phase as well. Do you remember me asking you much earlier in this thread whether Pazu had begun his screaming fits? It happens sometimes when ekkies are weaning. Bixby was EXTREMELY loud! Painfully so. Yet he was a good weight, and he wasn't being force-weaned. He would just make these random, ear-piercing outbursts that would come out of nowhere. Shockingly loud to be coming out of so relatively small a frame!

But by the time he was around 4 months old, (right around when I took him home) the screaming fits had become a thing of the past. Bixby is now rather quiet, only giving the occasional flock call... or indignant shouts when Maya's whistling has gone past his tolerance threshold. Lol!

So as long as you don't do anything to encourage or reward the screaming behaviors, it will probably just pass.

 

[Anansi]

If bird training is in any way similar, I would suggest using a humane, but relatively unpleasant for him, "de-stimulator" for hi similar to a squirt bottle for a cat when Pazu starts screaming, and then give him a tasty treat and plenty of praise and pets soon after he stops. Though wait for a few seconds to make sure he stays silent before rewarding him, so he learns "quiet down, and stay quiet" instead of just "quiet down, get treat, start screaming again." He sounds really smart and highly motivated by positive reinforcement, so I have a feeling he'll be a great learner!

Actually, while there are some similarities, bird training is quite different from dog or cat training in a number of ways. Most notably, in my opinion, in terms of the efficacy of even "humane" punishments like squirt bottles. Such measures more often serve to break the trust between a fid and their person, rather than achieving the desired behavior. Birds just think differently, and you can't really go into a training session with them in the same mindset that you might with dogs or cats.

The positive reinforcement aspect of your advice, however, I agree with completely... for regular screaming issues. Not sure how effective it would be against this kind, though. She might just have to wait it out while being careful not to accidentally reward the behavior.

 

[Kinny]

I have actually found that feeding a little formula stimulates all eclectus babies to eat more of their grown up foods. I have also found that they will wean at very different times my longest was Jolly and he would just cry and cry until he got that little taste of formula then he would pig out in his cage. I let him and the others wean at their own pace even though sometimes as in Jolly's case I thought I would be feeding that boy forever!

Oh! Really? Haha what a stubborn little boy! What’s annoying me about Pazu is that he WAS fully weaned... then decided, *Mr Osbourne’s sinister voice* “Back to formula..?” Thank you so much! It’s great to hear that my Pazu isn’t ‘troubled’ :heart:


Thanks Julie :smile015: Haha yes! He’s a big boy.. now officially the same size as his nearly 10 year old daddy!


Thanks Pin ^^ Judging by what the others have said, I’m sure it will pass. In fact, today he’s been really well behaved.. Put a new toy in his cage and he’s been having fun play-growling and mauling it hehe. Yep, every time he’s been quiet for a full 30 minutes today I’ve given him some pinenut...he’s already getting the idea!

Yeah..squirt bottles... Tried that once a number of years ago.. *cough* One of my biggest mistakes... That bird forever on hated showers and any sort of object that had a cylinder shape... :S Works wonders with my old cat though haha. Yes yes yes Pinny! Positive reinforcement is the way to go with all parrots, ESPECIALLY Pazu! He’s responding extremely well to it.

Awww Stephen, so Bixby was the 'lil tyke' hey?

Yes, indeed. Bixby was appreciably smaller than his brother, known affectionately as Sir Chomps. He was also the scruffier of the two, as he seemed to thrive on the practice of preening as infrequently as possible. (Which, sadly, hasn't changed. Lol!) This set him apart from his bigger brother, who was definitely a pretty boy. Never a feather out of place. But it was the scrappy lil' fella that captured my heart. Haha!

Well, Pazu has developed some bad behaviour, thanks to our 17 month old son... -_-
Pazu is now a screamer...because it's fun... He's louder than any Macaw I've ever heard (which is LOUD! Ear-splittingly so). And he takes hours to quieten down... He never does it at the same time, so it's just random fun, apparently, to drive every single member of the family up the wall... He does however seem to enjoy screaming his head off around 11pm so now we have his smaller 'weaning' cage in another room at the end of the house and he goes in there every night (around 8-9pm) and then he comes back into his normal day cage/loungeroom after his formula feed, or else he shatters the ears of everyone. *lets out a big sigh* And with all the stuff going on with me at the moment, and our 5 months old son being colicky (screaming inconsolably, sometimes for 3 hours straight), I've had a rather short fuse, and not a whole lot of patience.

Was oh so fun when 3 mornings ago the 5 month old, Chad, decided to gouge out the front of his throat within 5 minutes of one FINGER being free of his wraps...so when i walked back into the room to check on him, the neck of his singlet was drenched with blood... so I was having a heart-attack, Chad was screaming and Pazu was screaming and the 17 month old was screaming because his 3 and a half year old sister was smacking him on the head for touching a toy that he apparently wasn't allowed... This has been pretty much what my entire day has been like, each day the past 3 days.

Fun times...

Pazu is also back to having morning formula feeds because his weight dropped down to 350grams form being 470grams... He is a moron! :headwall: I swear if I refused to feed him any formula he would literally starve himself to death. He will only start eating his own food immediately after he's been fed formula... Nut of a bird.. I always seem to have soft spots for the moronic birds.

We will manage.. Pazu is just trying my patience at the moment.

Aw, Liana. Sounds like a hectic three day period, there! Very frustrating, I know. And seeing the neck of Chad's singlet all bloody must have been a cardiac event in and of itself! Colic eventually passes in babies, my friend, as well as their frightening tendency to pull free of their mitts and tear furrows in their skin. (Then they find other ways to mess with you. Smh.)

And Pazu's screaming fits are likely something of a phase as well. Do you remember me asking you much earlier in this thread whether Pazu had begun his screaming fits? It happens sometimes when ekkies are weaning. Bixby was EXTREMELY loud! Painfully so. Yet he was a good weight, and he wasn't being force-weaned. He would just make these random, ear-piercing outbursts that would come out of nowhere. Shockingly loud to be coming out of so relatively small a frame!

But by the time he was around 4 months old, (right around when I took him home) the screaming fits had become a thing of the past. Bixby is now rather quiet, only giving the occasional flock call... or indignant shouts when Maya's whistling has gone past his tolerance threshold. Lol!

So as long as you don't do anything to encourage or reward the screaming behaviors, it will probably just pass.

It has been..today has been a lovely relief though ^^ Indeed! Haha. They do that >.> Hahaha...Maya and her whistling *sigh* poor BixbyBoy

Great to know! Ahh yes actually I do. Precisely what’s happening here! Pazu started something today though... Every time Chad starts crying or grizzling, Pazu starts making all these kissing and “weeeoooh weeeoooh wraaaaaah” noises LOL. He did a really loud one not long ago, earsplitting noise level, but so cute! Just a great big 2 second “WEEEEE-OOOH!”

Actually, while there are some similarities, bird training is quite different from dog or cat training in a number of ways. Most notably, in my opinion, in terms of the efficacy of even "humane" punishments like squirt bottles. Such measures more often serve to break the trust between a fid and their person, rather than achieving the desired behavior. Birds just think differently, and you can't really go into a training session with them in the same mindset that you might with dogs or cats.

The positive reinforcement aspect of your advice, however, I agree with completely... for regular screaming issues. Not sure how effective it would be against this kind, though. She might just have to wait it out while being careful not to accidentally reward the behavior.

Agreed. Yep.. I’ve done that in the past... negative reinforcement..worked for a while then the bird turned on me and never fully trusted me again Now that I look back I just want to slap myself!
*nodnod*

Thanks for that, reminding me not to accidentally reward the behaviour. *Spirited Away quote* “Everbody bow down! Welcome Rich Man!” I wanted it to be 'Thankyou Rich Man'..but i realised they say Welcome EH! It'll have to do!

I have a whole bunch of new photos to post, but Loki is off playing video games which require much internet usage... so I’ll have to upload them later tonight. Also have a video of Pazu doing his very first Flight Recall!!! So proud!

 

[Kinny]

Oh yes! I forgot to mention that the lovely lady who bought the 2nd youngest female yellowsided green cheek conure, last year I think? Came around on Wednesday to get Molly''s 'hair cut'. Wings clipped. SHE IS SOOO CUTE NOW!!! She'd be pretty close to a year old now. She loves getting belly rubs and every time Molly's owner says "Play Dead", Molyl drops on her back and sticks her legs high in the air and waits for a belly scratch. Molly is still as sweet as ever. *puffs chest out proudly* So proud of her! Pazu was spying on her form his a metre away in his cage making ever so soft, hardly even audible weee noises. He wanted to clean her I think... He makes that specific noise every time he preens himself haha.

Pazu looked like a GIANT compared to Molly! Her entire body was the size of Pazu's head! @.@ So nice to see one of my birdies is a very beloved, very well behaved, well trained family member of someone elses family! Her owner has 3 young boys (sons, all under the age of 10). Just can't get over how big Pazu is... I just got used to him being a 'normal' size haha.

I remember her like it was yesterday, being such a little baby! (only a few photos of her, then it's back to Pazu ^^)

 

[RavensGryf]

That's so nice to hear about one of your past babies! It's a good feeling to know one of your babies that you put your hard work and love into, has gone to an excellent home .

 

[Kinny]

The chick, almost 3 weeks old! :O Taking her out for rearing in the next day or 2. I have a feeling it's a her.. we'll see!

The new purely paper toy containing 8 pumpkin seeds (not de-hulled) and 4 pinenuts!

 

[Anansi]

Sweet pics all around, Liana! That last shot of Pazu really showcases the beauty of his wings! And I love his new foraging toy! (How long did it last? Wouldn't have had a very long life expectancy in either of my ekkies cages. Lol!)

My question? Why has Pazu already lost more of the black around his beak than my 1 year+ Bixby?!? Sigh. Poor Bixby just sets his own leisurely pace for EVERYTHING! Lol!

 

[Kinny]

Sweet pics all around, Liana! That last shot of Pazu really showcases the beauty of his wings! And I love his new foraging toy! (How long did it last? Wouldn't have had a very long life expectancy in either of my ekkies cages. Lol!)

My question? Why has Pazu already lost more of the black around his beak than my 1 year+ Bixby?!? Sigh. Poor Bixby just sets his own leisurely pace for EVERYTHING! Lol!

Thank you Stephen! Indeed it does Thanks ^^ (It's still in there! There is a small tear down from the top opening, and 2 of the 'jellyfish stingers' are half destroyed... but he's had a lot more fun just banging and throwing it around, then chasing after it while doing his playful growling noises LOL. He's not very destructive. Haha! That's because unlike Mr Pazu, they are REAL birds!)

Actually, I have no idea.. I wasn't expecting his beak to go this light until he was 6 months +... Hmm... might be connected to his 'almost weaning' early? Maybe it's the Vetafarm Neocare..? has a tendency to quicken (but not too quickly..) the growing of my birds and/or greatly improve their health to the point where it is NOT POSSIBLE to get any healthier.. So I don't know.. could it be he's getting the full perfect amount of nutrition in every way? Though I'm sure Bixby is getting his great full nutrition diet..so I'm officially confuzzled! Hahaha...well, that;s something Bixby and Pazu have in common

 

[RavensGryf]

Pazu sure is a big boy now . What a cutie.

It always makes me laugh (funny in a cute way) when chicks are too young to hold themselves up and just flop in whatever position they land lol. Well, I guess it's amusing to me since it's not something I'm used to seeing . We'll see if you have a girl this time. It will be interesting to see.

 

[drlisaort]

Beautiful pictures...Pazu has stunning color...

 

[Kinny]

He sure is Julie! Haha yes it amuses me too, to a degree. A sort of "Aww *giggle* the poor thing... *giggle* SO CUTE!"

Thank you Lisa! Here's some more photos for you all!

10/11/2014 - Tai, Sen and the chick

11/11/2014 - Pazu and Chad having a quiet conversation and snuggle

13/11/2014 - Toy and beginning of naptime on the shower perch

13/11/2014 - Going for a walkabout

The second photo was taken the day before Pazu went 'nuts' and bit both Loki on the thumb(drew blood) and our Daughter on her toe (bruised but didn't draw blood). So now he isn't allowed too close to the kids (a maximum of an arms length away, unless I'm holding him) and must be very closely supervised when he's out of the cage.

Pazu seems to like the boys and I the most now. Our daughter is getting a little too rough and is going through another tantrum stage, so instead of listening to my 'be gentle's she yells and either throws whatever she's holding, or slams her hands down. Pazu is hating that of course. And for some silly reason he has daggers for Loki.

However, we have figured out that if Pazu is perched on me while Loki scratches/touches him, he behaves. You can clearly tell he does NOT like it and he leans away with a "What the heck are you trying to do to me!?" look, but since he's on Mummy he looks at me as if to say "..I'll do it for you Mum.." and behaves himself.

His screaming has gotten a LOT worse. You can hear him down the street at 3am! Added to my current personal struggles and his screaming for everything most of the day, along with a colicky bad eczema-y screaming 5 month old, unfortunately, if this isn't a phase and it continues once he's fully weaned...he will have to be sold. If we had a larger property where even many macaws could go off at once and not be heard by neighbours, then we'd be able to keep him.. but out of courtesy for our lovely neighbours he'd have to go.

His screaming is because he wants more cuddles, but I will not give him cuddles when he screams otherwise i'd be rewarding that behaviour, however when he behaves really well I'll pick him up and start to give him cuddles, but then he will scream so loud in an attempt to have a conversation but obviously that noise level is not ok at such close proximity to my ears, and i am temporarily deafened, so I have to put him down and ignore him until he quietens down again, but by that point the kids have cracked it form the noise so yeah, bit difficult at the moment. He's been EXTREMELY well behaved today and I've made him a few more paper toys etc so he's very content.

 

[Kinny]

Loki and I took the other Eclectus chick out an hour ago and it's another boy! (Drats! I was hoping for a girl) He's got some coloured feathers and a little bit of down, but not much, so he's pretty much BALD! I think Sen has been plucking him because of the warm weather. He is around 4 weeks old, I'll do the proper counting later. Just thought you all deserved a little update

 

[Taw5106]

He's kid number 3 and wants to be number 1. But 3 AM???? You poor thing. I got my Buddy and he's 24 years old, never handled a baby parrot. I hate to hear he may have to go to another home, totally understand, but is there a train him quick or get the point across faster that he needs to stop screaming. Mental image, you, Lokie, the babies and Pazu all in bed sleeping together, lol.

 

[RavensGryf]

Aww Liana those are some beautiful pictures . Thanks for the update! Congrats on your newest little boy! Maybe next time it will be a girl... Good luck with Pazu. You're doing about all you can. Hang in there!

 

[Allee]

Thanks for the update, Liana. Lovely photos. I'm sorry you need to consider a new home for Pazu, but I understand. Good luck with the new little one.

 

[Anansi]

Don't worry, Liana. It most likely is a phase. Bixby was a veritable banshee while he was weaning! I'm talking right through to the end and even for a little while afterwards. But it eventually ended.

Don't give up on Mr. Pazu just yet. Just keep pushing through and stay consistent with not rewarding him for any screaming behaviors. I get the feeling everything will work out just fine.

 

[Kinny]

Taw: Haha! No I don't think so... just patience patience patience and persistence.. *eye twitches*

Julie: Awww thank you I was REALLY hoping for a girl, so fingers crossed it's a girl next time! Thanks again.

Allee: No worries ^^ Yeah I really don't want to have to sell him, but sometimes it ends up being the best thing to do for everyone. Thanks

Stephen: Oh I most certainly hope you're right! Hahaha that pretty much explains Pazu perfectly at the moment!

I won't just yet. I'll give him a little bit of time once he's weaned. So we shall see I suppose. Thanks ^^


PHOTOS!

Chick weighs 275grams - He has a big build but he's very boney

Pazu this morning - he got a lot of cuddles for being well-behaved and quiet

Having a good ol' chat - Of course i just had to wear a dress this morning instead of my usual t-shirt and trackies. It was hot... I hate hate hate Summer!

 

[Anansi]

Beautiful pics, Liana! Look at the new little guy! Remember when Pazu was that tiny? Lol!

Hahaha! In that last pic, Pazu looks like he is either serenading you... LOUDLY, or was caught in the moment right before he eats your entire face. I'm assuming the former, here. (Fervently hoping, in fact! )

Lol! Funny to hear you complaining about the heat when we're in the middle of a cold snap over here! Wanna trade? Brrrrr! (Grass is always greener, right?)

 

[Kinny]

Thanks Stephen. Haha yep.. the good ol' days.

Bahahaha.. Let's call it a serenade! (Haha don't worry, you are correct! )

Haha. Well Aussie heat/sun is EVIL! It likes to cook you EVEN when you are wearing heavy-duty sunscreen, and depending on the location in Australia, it likes to burn you EVEN when you're in the shade. he Aussie sun = NASTY!!! And i despise humidity.. glad I'm not up north!!! *wants the cold back, so much that i cry pathetically*

YES! YES! TRADE!!!

 

[Allee]

Awww Liana! Precious photo of the new bony baby. Pazu has grown into such a handsome fellow. Love Pazu's pics. I thought the photo of Pazu with his beak wide open looked like he was giving you your orders and instructions for the day.