Help with Male Eclectus

[JuneMaddox]

I'll try to make this short but my male eclectus has been acting really odd lately.

He has a daily schedule. I uncover him in the AM and I give him his food (broccoli, pomegranate, carrot, jalepenos, cilantro, bell peppers), I open the windows, turn on his light, and turn on some music. He comes out of his cage each day at around 4 pm until we all go to bed. He also gets some pellets later in the day, and a treat here and there. Sometimes I let him out earlier if I have time. He had his yearly checkup about a week ago (bloodwork including) and all is fine.

So the odd part is that lately when he is in his cage and we are not around he has been producing a high pitched BEEP. It is annoying as all hell. When he does that I turn off the music and cover the cage for five minutes until he stops. This has been helping somewhat.

Now a new thing he is doing is when I am playing with him he is doing the beep and he is flapping his wings at me. So, for example, I tell him to "step up," he steps up, I click the clicker, and right before I give him his treat he flaps his wings and goes BEEP. I tell him no and put him down.

For more information, I only touch his beak, head, and feet. I do not stroke him or pet him anywhere else. He is about to be 4 years old in February. We are expecting our first baby in 7 weeks. Maybe he can sense that?

I feel like this is hormonal but it's not springtime. Any ideas as to what is going on? I am getting a little frustrated. I love him but he is making me bananas.

 

[Owlet]

eclectus can experience hormones year round if triggered. And lemme tell you, anything can trigger these horndogs. Cut fruit from his daily diet for a bit and see if that helps any. Still give it 2 or 3 times a week but not daily. Also he could just be having fun

 

[saxguy64]

Spring time or not is really irrelevant to Ekkies, so if it's a hormonal thing, it can happen any time of the year. Sounds to me like more of an attention seeking behavior/contact call. Mine has a loud noise that he attempts to use, which I ignore completely. He'll then give up and change to a "yooo hoo" whistle, which I respond back to. He's just saying, "I'm here, where are you?" A very normal communication in the wild. We just try to encourage a more pleasant sound for the call, and discourage the annoying ones. Ignoring is a much preferable response than covering the cage, which can be really confusing for him during daylight hours. Once he realizes that you're answering him and knows where you are, he's more likely to calm down. Keep communicating with him. "I'm in the kitchen", "I'm going to the bedroom". That kind of stuff, as much as possible. Mine will call for me all morning if I forget to tell him I'm going to work when I leave.(just ask my daughter) Once I tell him, he's good until about 2:00 when I stop home and give him his afternoon treat. "I'm going back to work" and he's all set til I get home.

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[chris-md]

All great advise above. I’ll agree That I don’t think it’s hormonal, and I’ll take it a step further and say I know this sound. I’d love to hear a recording of your boy doing it. Is it like of like Mariah Carey belting a LOUD whistle note?

It’s hard to describe, My boy makes it whenever someone walks through the door, maybe when someone comes around a corner. I think it’s somewhere between an alarm call, or expression of surprise/startle.

Many would find it annoying. I just kind of embrace it and laugh. It’s funny quirky.