Considering a Male Eclectus

[Fiwi]

We've been exploring the idea of adding a bird to our family. We began thinking we wanted a small parrot like a parrotlet. However, after visiting a wonderful bird farm, we fell in love with a 5 year old Eclectus. We have 2 children (6&9) who both spent time with him and he was the sweetest and calmest parrot. We spent well over an hour with him.

Now, this is a much larger investment in many ways and I don't want to make a mistake. The price of the bird is $1200. Financially, we can afford the bird and his care without concern, However, we don't want to buy things that are not necessary for him. The store owner has laid out an adequate cage, accessories and food that come in around $600. The food alone was $200. Does this sound right?

What must we buy to get us started?

 

[usamimi]

How much food are you buying for 200$

 

[MissyMe83]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The price of the bird seems a bit high for being 5 yrs old. I did a search and was able to find electus babies- hand fed and tame from $800-$1200. But, if this bird is exceptionally tame and in great health I think the price is alright. The cage and accesories could easily come in at $600 alone depending on the style, size, and brand of cage. The food costing $200 seems a bit high, but I would need to know the quantity and what all it is you are actually getting.

What kind of cage/size have they reccomended for you?

I forgot to add that I believe the Vosmaeri's are a bit more expensive than the Solomon Island Eclectus, however, I don't know much at all about Eclectus's and this is just an observation from looking at breeder's listings.

Do you know which kind your 5yr old is?

 

[JensFlock]

$200 for food seems a bit much, depending on what you're getting. You're going to need a lot of fresh food for him, and not just a diet of pellets.
I have a male ekkie, and I think you will LOVE having one. He is so smart, and so sweet.

 

[Fiwi]

Well, we got the pricing all worked out. There was some confusion about the breakdown. The most important thing is that Emmitt is coming home this week! We are so excited. Even better is that we got 2 large cages for $150. One is a California King Cage! The other, just a bit smaller we'll take to our home in Maine for our summer vacations with Emmitt!

 

[JensFlock]

Congratulations on your new fid!!!!!

 

[BillsBirds]

Congratulations, welcome to our flock and the Bird World!

 

[Fiwi]

Thank you! Looking forward to being an active member of the group!

 

[mtdoramike]

Congrats on your new addition. You will LOVE your Eclectus. But, male Eclectus like to be in a more calm environment than females. So with young children, that could be a problem.

They like to be in the biggest cage possible. Yes, $1200.00 is a might steep for a 5 year old bird, if it were just the bird alone. But if he comes with two cages then that isn't bad. You can get an eclectus baby in Florida from a breeder for $850.00-$1000.00. But a 5 year old bird is still quite young since they can live 30 + years.

I wouldn't do the food for $200.00 though. All Eclectuses need is fresh fruit and veggies and a small amount of seed as a treat. $200.00 food bill should feed your family for a week.

By the way, Eclectus parrots talk a lot and will pickup words at an alarming rate. All they need is to hear the word or phrase once or twice. So a word of caution, be careful what you say around them hahahahahahahaha.

 

[elkeddeh]

Those prices are reasonable, especially if the cage is around 3 feet width.
But the FOOD? 200???? seriously?

He's 5 years old.
He'll eat what you eat, or SHOULD be eating what you eat at home, otherwise he's not raised healthy and should not be costing this much.

 

[Fiwi]

Congrats on your new addition. You will LOVE your Eclectus. But, male Eclectus like to be in a more calm environment than females. So with young children, that could be a problem.

They like to be in the biggest cage possible. Yes, $1200.00 is a might steep for a 5 year old bird, if it were just the bird alone. But if he comes with two cages then that isn't bad. You can get an eclectus baby in Florida from a breeder for $850.00-$1000.00. But a 5 year old bird is still quite young since they can live 30 + years.

I wouldn't do the food for $200.00 though. All Eclectuses need is fresh fruit and veggies and a small amount of seed as a treat. $200.00 food bill should feed your family for a week.

By the way, Eclectus parrots talk a lot and will pickup words at an alarming rate. All they need is to hear the word or phrase once or twice. So a word of caution, be careful what you say around them hahahahahahahaha.

The food wasn't $200. As it turns out, my husband thought the a cage was less than it was, so when we broke the costs down it seemed like the food was $200 which is not the case. As for his price, I'm happy to pay more b/c as a 5 year old, his personality in general is a known factor (I ended up getting him for $1,150). I'm going to meet his previous owner who had to give him up b/c she fell on hard times and had too many birds. The owner of the bird farm where I'm getting him speaks very highly of his previous owner's ability to raise, tame and train birds. She wishes she could hire her! It's Emmitt's fabulous disposition that sold us on him. We're bringing him home tomorrow. I can't wait! Tomorrow I will post an official introduction and pictures in the new members section of the forums.