Getting a baby eclectus!!! Yay!!!

[CRYROLFE]

Well, after tons of back and forth in my brain as to whether to get a baby Eclectus or a Illiger Macaw.....I bit the bullet and got the Eclectus! I plan on eventually getting a 3rd bird and the Illiger will be tops on that list.

I have a CAG at the moment. He is a 9yr old cage bound bird who would rather you not touch him. He is pretty quiet and loves to just watch us and he does talk a lot.

We met up with a breeder who is about 30 min from us. We have heard a lot of good things from previous owners of her birds and she is a very nice lady who does seem to know her birds.

Here are some of my immediate questions.....I will have tons more later, but I want this to be as good of a start as I can get.
This will be boy and we met him and his brother who really seemed pretty similar but one of them seemed to get more irritated with me if I tried to stroke him and bit me pretty good a couple of times. The other one didn't do this at all. So really having nothing else to go off of, we picked the one who didn't bite. I'm sure this will change from week to week but I had to pick one.

They are now weaned (Born 7-20-12) but she says she will still give them a nightly feeding if they want one. I only put down a deposit so really he will be there another month or a little less than that.

She is feeding them veggies/fruit/a cooked bean and pasta type mix and Pretty Bird pellets (the Eclectus blend). I'm not a fan of the pellets and we feed our CAG Harrison's and I planned on giving my new baby some of that as well along w/ everything else....just not many.
She says they are not eating the veggies that well yet, but love the bean mix and oatmeal...and they are eating their pellets.

MEET VINNY - Since we got him on Halloween he's named after Vincent Price.

*

* Should I ask her to give Harrison's until I get him or just worry about it once I get him home and wean him onto my diet here?

* I also asked her about the Polyoma vaccine and she does not offer this. She does give a gift certificate to visit a well known bird vet for a basic health checkup though.
She will refund money if he finds any diseases also (but I would have to pay for the testing).

* He lives with his brother at the moment in a large cage. There are lots of toys in there and a boing to play on. Should she separate them now to get him used to being alone before I take him home?

Also, is it normal for the babies to have yuck feathers like they do?

 

[antoinette]

Congrats.........
Vinny is a beautiful bird

 

[mtdoramike]

The warranty sounds great, but make sure it's in writing. If not, take a piece of paper with you to make sure you get that in writing. I would expect you to have to pay for the testing because it can get expensive depending on what they test for. An average is like $300.00. This is why the breeder doesn't cover it.

WOW, your going to have a little Christmas miracle of your own. Lucky you.

 

[KalJ]

He is so cute!! Love the name!!! Congrats!

 

[CRYROLFE]

Thanks guys!!

What do you think about his ratty feathers? Is this normal? He had good weight and he was alert and perky and his vent/nostrils and eyes looked good as well.

 

[wenz2712]

Congrats.. Vinny is beautiful

 

[Pedro]

Congrats. He is lovely. Please follow all your breeders instructions when you take baby home. She knows her birds & any info you may get from the board here may not be in your babies best intrest. Besides your breeder is only 30 minutes from you.

Eclectus feathers never look at their best until the birds are matured at 3 years. To me his feathers look beautiful. He has a couple of stress lines but that happens.

As far as diet goes check this link out. I feed my eclectus much the same.

diets

I would also recommend googling a few sites on Parrot behaviour. You have already made your first mistake & got a bite from Vinny's brother.He didn't want you to pat him & was probably scared. Baby parrots usually will nip when scared.

I don't separate my babies, if you do all the right things when you take your baby home there should be no problems. You have to make the transition go as smooth as possible.

I think your breeder is being fair. Welcome to the wonderful world of eclectus.

 

[CRYROLFE]

Thanks so much Pedro! I know why I got the bite....he doesn't know me and I was moving too fast. I am a Macaw personality at heart...so I need to calm myself more and go very slow with them. We recently got to visit some Illiger babies who were completely different and they climbed all over our heads and we had to keep plucking them off...lol.
These babies were more like little owls....just hold and pet their backs and go slow.

 

[kc_y0]

He is GORGEOUS!! Congrats!!! His feathers look great to me! Baby feathers always have darker patches in them, as do the beaks.

 

[Birdlover11]

They look so cute ! I just love it when they're eyes shine , they look so preciouse !

 

[moni.k]

Congrats!! You will not regret your decision, eclectus are amazing!!

Pellets: I feed my eclectus TOP (totally organic pellets) I have heard that Harrison's high potency can be a bit much for the eclectus, whom are sensitive to vitamin supplements, etc. I have also been referred to the TOP pellet my other breeders, but research and more research. I am not too sure if Harrison's actually has a negative effect.

Biting: Nalani hasn't actually bit me, but she definitely is not the most cuddly bird. She tolerates my attempt at petting and cuddling with her, but would honestly prefer if I left her alone. haha. She does give me very gentle warning nibbles to tell me when she's over being pet. I don't know about males too much but I am pretty sure the boy bit you out of fear.

PS: he is SUPER adorable.