Introducing Ruby Red

labell · Mar 31, 2015

Dopey said:
Been doing the reading...forgot to make chop this past weekend...I was busy building a fence (still am). Seriously, she needs all of that variety everyday? I thought I could give it to her throughout the week. So the best thing to do would be to forget what her owners told me and do it the "chopped" way?

I guess since her feathers need some cleaning up I answered my own question.

Yep, you did!

labell · Mar 31, 2015

Actually it is great for all your birds to get that kind of variety of fresh foods. Brady my nape gets the same great stuff and she is now stunning compared to when I got her.

One note of caution even after quarantine keep her cage away from your cockatoo. Eclectus do not like that powder getting on them and will begin to over preen.

See fresh does wonders for every one!

Dopey · Mar 31, 2015

Don't you freeze that chop?

Dopey · Mar 31, 2015

labell said:
Actually it is great for all your birds to get that kind of variety of fresh foods. Brady my nape gets the same great stuff and she is now stunning compared to when I got her.

One note of caution even after quarantine keep her cage away from your cockatoo. Eclectus do not like that powder getting on them and will begin to over preen.

See fresh does wonders for every one!

Thanks for the caution. I didn't know that.

I know fresh does wonders for all of us.

labell · Mar 31, 2015

Yes I make it in big batches. I leave out some in the frig to cover a couple of days and the rest gets portioned into freezer bags and thawed out as needed, I don't microwave. I always add one or two fresh items into it as well. Whatever I have on hand could be mango's or strawberries or celery, beets just depends. You don't have to get the more strange or unusual items on my chop list I just really like having that much variety. There are simple ones on land of vos that are great to get your feet wet when first making chop.

Dopey · Mar 31, 2015

Ok - here is where I get confused. You say fresh...to me...frozen isn't fresh. Not even when you thaw it or microwave it. So now that I have been straightened out...that helps a lot.

Dopey · Mar 31, 2015

labell said:
Dig that scale out, diet changes it is really necessary to weigh regularly.

On My "to do" list...hopefully I will get it done tonight.

Taw5106 · Mar 31, 2015

She is beautiful, congratulations! Get ready, I anticipate she is going to be super smart, I'm surprised and impressed with Venus every day.

RavensGryf · Mar 31, 2015

She is beautiful

Dopey · Apr 1, 2015

She weighs in at 444 grams.

I hope the pictures are clear enough for you. I still can't find my camera so I'm using my phone and it is four years old.

labell · Apr 1, 2015

At that weight and blue eye ring I am going to say Solomon Island.

Dopey · Apr 1, 2015

She seems like a big girl to me. But she is so sweet.

labell · Apr 1, 2015

The females always feel more weighty even when you pick them up than the boys and even in the same sub species while the males look bigger they are not as stocky as the red heads.

4dugnlee · Apr 1, 2015

Congrats! She is beautiful! I was just saying to hubby yesterday how beautiful the Ekkies are...especially the females (Males are beautiful too!...)

Doublete · Apr 1, 2015

Was she on craigslist? I think I came across her if so

I felt an eclectus was too much work for me.

I would say I made a large batch of chop and I LOVE how easy it is! Chiqui thinks it is phenomenal now that she knows what it is. Loki picks through it but I didn't "purée" it's pretty large pieces.
I still add fresh fruit daily. And if I'm having veggies they can eat they'll get some.

Dopey · Apr 1, 2015

She was on Craigslist.

I debated about an Ekkie for a while and finally someone who owns an Ekkie told me that I would do just fine taking care of one...now I'm starting to doubt my decision. I know I love the red. I can't do much smaller because I'm not confident about my cats leaving a smaller parrot alone. I tried the Scarlet and Catalina Macaws and they were too big for me to handle all of the work (poop and food). The Ekkie was a better match for me.

I'm not sure when I will get a big batch of chop made. I have to build a fence for my dog first and then I have burp cloths I need to make for my grandson who is due any day and THEN I can do a batch of chop. Meanwhile Ruber will just have to deal with veggies and fruits and the little bit of seed and Ekkie pellets I have for her. It's not a perfect diet for her but I'm not perfect.

Can you PM me where you live in Maryland? I'm always looking for fellow fid owners.

JerseyWendy · Apr 1, 2015

Yes, I agree with Laura, and believe your pretty girl's a Solomon Island. A big SI, as they are generally between 390-425g, but I believe her blue eyering is the give-away here.

Solomon Island Eclectus

JerseyWendy · Apr 1, 2015

Dopey said:
.....
I debated about an Ekkie for a while and finally someone who owns an Ekkie told me that I would do just fine taking care of one...now I'm starting to doubt my decision. I know I love the red. I can't do much smaller because I'm not confident about my cats leaving a smaller parrot alone. I tried the Scarlet and Catalina Macaws and they were too big for me to handle all of the work (poop and food). The Ekkie was a better match for me.

I'm not sure when I will get a big batch of chop made. I have to build a fence for my dog first and then I have burp cloths I need to make for my grandson who is due any day and THEN I can do a batch of chop. Meanwhile Ruber will just have to deal with veggies and fruits and the little bit of seed and Ekkie pellets I have for her. It's not a perfect diet for her but I'm not perfect.
...

Most Ekkis make an enormous mess with their food, especially the fresh stuff, which truly is quite important for them to have on a daily basis.

Please be sparing with the pellets, they 'can' lead to wing flipping and/or toe tapping.

Here is an awesome and extensive link on proper Ekki care (and yes, they do require more care than many other parrot species):
Land of Vos - General Care and Information Articles/Talk/Weaning/Aloe/General/Entertainment

Doublete · Apr 1, 2015

I sent you a pm.
I went with an amazon. I would have went with another
CAG if I had found one.
Macaws, cockatoos, or ekkies wouldn't be a good match for me.

Well I also went with a GCC because I couldn't say no to either.

I will say my chop took an hour to make including cook time. And has saved so much more time than that. I used a premade organic brown rice, lentil, etc mix and put that on the stove. Then I had a bag of frozen green power veggies (organic kale, broccoli and edamame), added a bag of regular frozen veggies with the corn and carrots... Baked a sweet potato while the rice was cooking, added that cut up and it was done. Took longer to cool out and bagged up about 8 bags each with two days worth of my 3 birds food. Also made a loaf of birdie bread at the same time. So 1 1/2 hours and I have morning feed and a snack for days all set.