Buying an Eclectus - advice?

[JJones1719]

Hello, wecome to the forum, The Male Eclectus are known to be sweeter then the Females but not in all cases. Most Eclectus will have small bouts of screaming, mostly in at dusk and dawn. For the most part they are pretty quiet compared to most Parrots. The SI Eclectus don't scream as loud as other species of Eclectus, there are many species of the Eclectus.
My Guapo is 4 and will talk and whistle more then scream but this is due to me working with him since he was very young.
As far as having cats and dogs around the Eclectus, this is never a good idea. Just the spit in a cats mouth can be deadly to a Parrot. If the cat were to bite the Parrot, their chance to survie is very slim.
If I were you, I would never allow the cat and Parrot in the same room together. The size of the Eclectus is not big enough to threaten a cat.
A Macaw on the other hand would threaten a cat or dog.
The Eclectus do require a special diet and can be costly. They also require lots of baths, specially when they molt. Hard boiled eggs without the yoke are very good for the Eclectus. When they molt, My boy gets 1/2 hard boiled egg 2 times per week.
Best of luck to you. Joe

 

[Robyn]

Hello there,
My jack eats fruits, veges and some seeds. But I do find he just more or less eats the same as us. I actually dont go out of my way to find specific foods. But I do know what he shouldnt eat. He loves passionfruit and peanuts in a shell especially, he likes the crunch I think of the shells. He also likes kiwi fruit, grapes.
He eats pea sprouts that can be bought from your local supermarket, apples , cherry tomatoes, all sorts of fruit and veges. He even eats the food we eat ( I make sure he rarely eats anything fatty ), believe it or not he loves bones , chicken legs, so he is a bit of a cannibal. He actually mashes the bones to a powder. He loves lamb ( no fat ) , loves gravy with it and loves bolognaise sauce when we have pasta. He loves pizza , but try not to give much cheese or anything dairy. Definitely never any chocolate, lettuce ( gives diahorrea ) , avocado or apple seeds. Pretty much anything else they will eat the same as you , no fats or not much , and about 20 % of their diet with some seed.
We got jack at 14 weeks old , he was still being weaned ( our very 1st bird !! ) so the breeder told me how to feed him from a spoon. We were terrified at first wondering if we made a mistake in getting him. He did squawk very loudly and we were worried about the neighbours hearing him. BUT .... he started to learn to talk , this replaced the squawking in no time . But you have to spend time with them so they learn to talk. The only time we ever hear him squawk now is when he flies madly across the room and lets out a huge squeal and you can tell its a happy one. He has never screamed since learning to talk. He is nearly 2 yr now. His vocabulary because Im talking to him ALL THE TIME would have to be about 90 - 100 words. He never shuts up now ! As Im writing this he is trying to attack the mouse and yelling " Where's my kiss ! " So I have had to fling him across the room , one of his exercises lol to get rid of him for 2 seconds.
I guarantee if you got an eclectus you will never regret it. He is the best that has ever happened to my husband and I since our kids.
He comes out with the most hilarious things ... he has a shower sometimes on his own shower perch and I shouldnt be saying this but it is hilarious and he somehow copied this from one of my sons ... He was on his shower perch and loving the water and all of a sudden he says " I farted " and starts laughing his head off !!! I had an argument with my older son in the kitchen and all of a sudden Jack flew to my shoulder and looks at me and says " Are you alright ?" that was the only time he ever came out with that one. But with time and talking to them all the time, you would never look back on ever getting an eclectus.
Not only that , we also have 2 cats, he has been raised with our kitten we got at xmas , our other cat is going on 3 and they have no interest in each other whatsoever, but you do have to monitor cats and birds living in the same house. Jack and our kitten play ( under extreme supervision ) and our Jack grooms lily all the time.
We have video of Jack and Lily and Jack eclectus has his own facebook if you want to see what he has been up to, he has more friends than me :-(

 

[MikeyTN]

Jack sounds so cute!!! And rotten at the sametime...lol

 

[Robyn]

You are soooooo Right Mikey. So we are never mad with him for more than 10 seconds lolol.
He is soooo naughty but nice if that makes any sense haha.
The things he comes up with is amazing. My husband and I were at a club last night waiting for a huge raffle draw and we found that we were sitting there comparing photos and videos we each have in our phones of Jack hahahah
I think my husband and I need therapy !!!

 

[erictheviking]

I have a two months old eckie, but find it far less active compare to my sun conuer. And it's reacts very clumsy when teaching to step up. Is this normal?