How much does a 6 month old eclectus sleep?

McKittrick

New member
May 10, 2011
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Hi I am new to this forum so please excuse me if this has already been posted before. Apologies for this being a bit of a lengthy story.
I adopted a 6 month old male eclectus a week ago. The previous owner, I believe mistreated him. He was hand raised originally by the breeder, then the guy I bought him from kept him in a teeny tiny cage in a darkened garage with a few other birds in small cages, no toys whatsoever and on an all seed diet with a few slices of apples occasionally. He was then put in an avairy with 2 untamed ekkies where he lost his toe and injured one on the other foot. The gentleman then decided to sell him and put him back into the garage cage. He came to me timid of humans, but able to be picked up from underneath and only held if hugged to the chest and he would snap but not bite hard. I have never had an eclectus before, only a couple of ringnecks (tame), but have been researching them for about 12 months because I wanted one. So very briefly in the past week he has been eating a Huge variety of fresh and thawed frozen fruits and vegies, sprouts, some (very very minimal) maintenance pellets - which i often feed my IRN, plus a few nuts and dried fruits, all of which he LOVES and took to immediately. He has been wormed and mite sprayed and has not yet had contact with my other bird. He comes in the shower with me. I have him in the living area where we spend most of our time because the rest of the house is often chilly, lots of toys in his cage.. although he never stays in his cage when we are home, but jumps across to his gym/stand or somewhere else he finds cozy. He now steps up (with a LOT of prompting) and is quite easy to be handled -i can touch/scratch him nearly anywhere on hes body and he is only upset by this sometimes. He has even started to coo, cluck and grumble. However, as of yesterday he has started sleeping HEAPS during the day despite getting 7-10 hours a night and his poos are very runny to the point where he is getting a mucky bum and tail. BUT he has bung feet (unless he is on a perch, his toes go sideways - which i think is from the previous owner, I have trimmed his nails slightly, but his toes are still strange) so he sort of sits on whatever he is standing on, instead of 'standing' so I dont know if his bum is from sitting in poo, or if it is dribbly. I have today stopped him from sitting on anything but a perch to try and eliminate him sitting in poo, but Im just not sure if it is normal or not. Is it normal for his poo to be runny sometimes and how much should he sleep? He isn't sneezing or shaking and only puffs up occasionally while he sleeps and he is still eating like a little monster! Im not 'worried' as such, otherwise I would take him directly to an avarian vet, but Im not really sure if this is normal ekky behaviour?
 
I would advise you to get him to an avian vet to get him checked out. My biggest fear would be that if he has something that is airborne your other bird could possibly catch it. But good luck with our new baby and we love pictures :)
 
No it is not normal eclectus behavior & i would get him to a Vet sooner rather than later. Given the poor condition he was kept in i would think he has serious Vitamin deficiency. Not to mention some other health problems as well.
 
Maybe the runny poo could be from never having veggies before?? and his tummy isn't used to all the different food, i would definately take him to the vet though
 
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Yeah I will have to hunt a bird vet down. I have recently moved and so my old vet is now a bit far away. He is really perky when he is awake and isn't showing any signs of being ill. I have to wait until im paid next, but I do think it might be a good idea to have him checked out.
 
Most times birds will not show signs of being sick they will hide it. Also usually when you see something wrong or they act like something is wrong it is usually almost too late. So please get him to the vet as soon as you possibly can.
 
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Yes, Bronte` didn't want his breakfast this morning, so I've hunted a place down and we are off to see them in about half an hour :(
 
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Bad news. We left at 11.35, he was sleepy but otherwise fine..still waddling around the base of his stand after having a few tiny tiny nibbles of his vegies. By 11.40 in the box, in the car on our way and he started sitting with his wings drooping a tad, by 11.45, he couldn't hold his head up.....got there at 11.55 and he went straight into Intensive care :( Im pretty worried. Iv only had him 7 days!!:(:(:(
 
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Bronte` passed away at 3.15pm :( and even though I only had him a week I cried and cried! At least I know he was happy in his last week....he had even started being cheeky and stealling food while I was preparing it! I will miss him....I accidently called my pup Bronte` this evening lol.
 
sorry to hear that, at least he had some love in his life, don't blame yourself in anyway keep your chin up
 
So sorry, I can only imagine how sad you are. He had a week of what life should have given him all along, I'm sure he was grateful for it. Do you know what was wrong?
 
Oh I am so sorry. Poor little guy. What a shame. You did all that you could. That makes me so angry what his previous owner did to him. At least you know he was happy with you for that one week.

I am interested to know what was actually wrong with him, and if it was directly due to him being mistreated. Did the vet have any ideas?
 
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Im not sure what he died of. We declined an autopsy because of the expense and because it wasn't 100% guarrenteed that we would get the results from it, and so I would rather him stay in one piece! Unfortunately I am trying to go through the process of getting my money back from the seller now, who does not want to agree. I know that might sound aweful but it is a lot of money and he got sick within a week of us getting him plus I am a uni student! I will get another boy one day, but not yet..I don't want him (bronte`) to think we have replaced him!
 
I don't think that you are wrong in trying to get your money back. It's the least the previous seller could do for you. Good luck.
 

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