Is it normal for my eclectus to waste food like this?

[Graven]

Greetings everyone. I have recently brought a beautiful male eclectus home called Cody. He was born on the 15th of August and I picked him up on 29 November. My breeder said he was fully weaned and stopped eating his formula.

First of all I'm almost deaf by being in the same room as a cockatoo, 2 macaws and an African grey. Dear god what a noise. Don't know how you guys handle it

Anyways, once he was home I gave him time to settle in in his new cage and we immediately bonded. I can hear him screaming for me when I come home and he loves to cuddle. I'm really lucky with this awesome parrot. He already trusts me to lay on his back in my hand. We're making a lot of progress .

There's just one thing that worries me, because I've never had a parrot before I don't know if this is normal.
He throws ALOT of food to the bottom of the cage. Everything that I'm giving him he ate from my hand. So its not like he doesn't like them (I think)

Pic of all the food and pic of Cody

imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

Its not really piled, something something camera angle

I have been weighing him and he stays relatively at the same weight. And he still poops alot and his droppings look fine. He's really vocal and active with his toys

His diet has been 70% fruit/vegetables and 30% seed/pellets/other treats.

My mom caught him eating his poop once. Now I haven't seen him doing this whenever I was home. Maybe he was curious? When I come home he usually finishes his bowl of food without wasting much.

Another question, He has been wing flipping but only during the night/when he's about to sleep, this is normal right? No toe tapping

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott]

Cody is a handsome boy!!

Is he an equal-opportunity food dumper; wet and dry? I'm guessing this is a behavioral issue as he prefers you to hand-feed him, or at least be in his presence.

My female Eclectus is by far the most notorious dumper of dry food compared with my other parrots. OTOH, her fruits/veggies are better respected aside from the items she doesn't like - they are immediately jettisoned!

From what you describe, Cody seems healthy. I have not observed wing-flipping or toe-tapping behaviors with "Angel", but I believe the former is quite normal.

 

[Birdman666]

Cody is a handsome boy!!

Is he an equal-opportunity food dumper; wet and dry? I'm guessing this is a behavioral issue as he prefers you to hand-feed him, or at least be in his presence.

My female Eclectus is by far the most notorious dumper of dry food compared with my other parrots. OTOH, her fruits/veggies are better respected aside from the items she doesn't like - they are immediately jettisoned!

From what you describe, Cody seems healthy. I have not observed wing-flipping or toe-tapping behaviors with "Angel", but I believe the former is quite normal.

Yep! Same here.

I had a female eckie that was most fond of food. But anything she was sick of was immediately "tossed overboard" with a look of disgust. My eckie got primarily fresh. (Eckies can be so diet sensitive.) Honestly, I fed mine a sweet potato/oatmeal mash with chopped veggies mixed in, which had more of the solid nutritional stuff in it. That NEVER got tossed. It did, however, get all over her beak...

You can make one large sweet potato, mash it up, mix all the veggies into it, and then freeze it in single serving tupperware containers once per week.

Then, the next days food gets nuked in the microwave for 30 seconds, and checked for temperature, and feeding is DONE! Way simpler than preparing everything the old fashioned way.

And I usually did that when something else was in the oven for us anyway... so really, it's not a lot of work, and it's MUCH MUCH MUCH healthier...

So try mixing this stuff in with mashed sweet potato, and/or oatmeal. See if it still gets tossed.

 

[labell]

I will address the wing flapping, if it is only a few times and seems like he is just adjusting his wings to go to sleep then that's normal but if you go to Youtube and look at wing flapping it is a very involuntary looking motion if this is the case then something needs to be looked at with his diet.

What kind of pellets are you giving him? I am not fond of pellets for eclectus and really only use the Volkman seed for Eclectus and sometimes the Goldenfeast Goldn'obles as treats in the foraging toys or strung on toys.

 

[Graven]

I will address the wing flapping, if it is only a few times and seems like he is just adjusting his wings to go to sleep then that's normal but if you go to Youtube and look at wing flapping it is a very involuntary looking motion if this is the case then something needs to be looked at with his diet.

What kind of pellets are you giving him? I am not fond of pellets for eclectus and really only use the Volkman seed for Eclectus and sometimes the Goldenfeast Goldn'obles as treats in the foraging toys or strung on toys.

Thanks for the response guys.

He does not wing flap at all during the day. So I guess it's just a normal thing when he goes to sleep .
I have been feeding him zupreem fruitblend before he goes to sleep. My breeder recommended me that one.

And yes I think you're right. When I come home from work he just digs into his meal and devours it all. When i'm not home he does not seem to eat alot. Atleast, my mum tells me that. Need to figure out how to get him to eat without my presence? o_o
They're quite the pigs haha. Gotta love it.

Oh and Birdman, the day before you posted I added a sweet potato mash to his meal, and it barely got tossed out today! So i'm gonna keep sweet potato in his diet now, thanks alot

 

[labell]

Oh goodness stop those pellets right away! Eclectus don't do well long term on pellets but colored ones are the worst! The dyes and additives that are added will make your boy wing flapping get worse and eventually toe tap as well. If you feel you must do pellets I would recommend either Harrisons or the Goldenfeast that I put in my other reply. Those are the only two I would use with eclectus. I did at one time try the Totally Organic Pellets also known as TOPS but mine didn't like them and I can't say I blame them they smelled and looked like rabbit food! The Goldenfeast smells like fruit, is not dyed and comes in an O shape (think cheerios).

 

[Graven]

Oh goodness stop those pellets right away! Eclectus don't do well long term on pellets but colored ones are the worst! The dyes and additives that are added will make your boy wing flapping get worse and eventually toe tap as well. If you feel you must do pellets I would recommend either Harrisons or the Goldenfeast that I put in my other reply. Those are the only two I would use with eclectus. I did at one time try the Totally Organic Pellets also known as TOPS but mine didn't like them and I can't say I blame them they smelled and looked like rabbit food! The Goldenfeast smells like fruit, is not dyed and comes in an O shape (think cheerios).

My breeder recommended me Zupreem IF I were to feed him pellets, due to the high fructose content. He strongly recommended me to not buy Harrisons. He said it's really bad for Eclectus' cause Harrisons is only for seed eaters.

Don't get me wrong, I don't feed him alot of pellets at all. Maybe half a tablespoon right before he goes to sleep.

 

[labell]

He is your bird, as I said my first recommendation would be the Goldenfeast and only small amounts at that. ANY colored pellet is going to cause problems down the line maybe not right away because it builds up within the eclectus digestive tract.
All of the experts on eclectus will tell you colored anything artificial or fortified is a big no-no with eclectus. Read the info on the website Land of Vos. I don't know how long your breeder has been breeding eclectus or if they are one of the breeders that breed a lot of different kinds of parrots and just happen to have eclectus as well but the advise they are giving you is wrong.

 

[Hawk]

It's a foraging thing....My Senegal and Grey both make a huge mess with food. My amazon however doesn't throw her food around. I think my Senni and Grey try to feed the dogs from their cage. My senni loves to drop food on the dogs head, then bob his head up and down when he's hit the target....Lil' stinker he his.

My Grey is the same way, so I have kept the dogs out of the room when it's chow time for the birds....Seems to work better now, not much though.

 

[Graven]

Is there any reason for my Cody to be completely silent when i'm near? When im in his presence it looks like he can barely get any sound out, it's like he doesnt want to talk to me. But when he's in another with another person room he just squawks really hard.

 

[Birdman666]

Is there any reason for my Cody to be completely silent when i'm near? When im in his presence it looks like he can barely get any sound out, it's like he doesnt want to talk to me. But when he's in another with another person room he just squawks really hard.

Much the same way CAGS do, they study you, and they are learning things when you are in the room. You are their entertainment, not the other way around... Then, when you leave, they practice...

Sometimes it's also flock calling, making sure you are still there, and alright.

Other times it's an attention thing... Hello! All alone here...

 

[Graven]

Is there any reason for my Cody to be completely silent when i'm near? When im in his presence it looks like he can barely get any sound out, it's like he doesnt want to talk to me. But when he's in another with another person room he just squawks really hard.

Much the same way CAGS do, they study you, and they are learning things when you are in the room. You are their entertainment, not the other way around... Then, when you leave, they practice...

Sometimes it's also flock calling, making sure you are still there, and alright.

Other times it's an attention thing... Hello! All alone here...

Thought my Ekkie preferred attention from my mum . He's awfully quiet against me yet so vocal against my mum lol

 

[Birdman666]

Mine tended to vocalize the most when I tried to walk away from her...