Just adopted female eclectus, have some questions!

[c3honey84]

One month ago I adopted a 2 1/2 year old female eclectus from someone who did not want her anymore. I am having trouble trying to train her. She loves to step up on my arm, and will sit there for hours. If I pet her on her back only, she crouches down and allows me to to do it. However, if I go anywhere near any other part of her body, she "bites" me. I say bites in quotes because if I don't move, she doens't actually hurt me, but definitely chews on me a little. I cannot go near her wings (so I can't clip them), I cannot go near her feet without a really bad bite (so I can't trim her nails.) I can't scratch her belly, or her head. Is this normal for a female eclectus? I know they can me tempermental.

I am trying to target train her with food, but there seems to be no snack that she likes more than not doing the training! For example, I have a perch with a bowl on one end. She likes to sit on the bowl. If I hold a snack that I know she likes on the other side of the perch, she would rather just sit there than walk over the grab the snack.

Also, she talks up a storm when no one is around! During the day when no one is in the room, she has many conversations with herself. However, as soon as someone shows their face, she stops. How can I get her to talk in front of me?

Last thing. I know that when birds crouch down and shake their wings, they are usually begging. Well, she will sit on top of her "boing" and do it for long periods of time, all while staring out the window. What is that all about?

Thank you so much in advance for your advice!

 

[jew1187]

First, allow her more time to get used to you before you try touching her feet and wings. Her previous owner may not have had a lot of interaction with her and she may just feel threatened. Allow her time to realize you are not a threat to her. If all else fails and she doesn't allow you to ever get close to her to trim her nails and clip her wings (which I hope you have experience doing) you can always bring her to the closest avian vet.

As far as training... I am not a real profesional on Eclectus. I have only been working with Skyler for about as long as you have yours. Everything I read about them prior to getting Skyler was that I should not buy an Ekkie with the hopes of turning him in to an acrobat. Their training ability is very small as far as caring and they would rather prefer to just sit on a perch then do work for you. You can potty train them and everything just fine, but trying to get them to do tricks is a whole different challenge. Not to say it cannot happen, but I think it is going to require a lot of time and patience. Just like with any bird.

I posted some things about Skyler biting as well. I had an issue with it, did some research and asked some questions. I used a technique that Ant told me to use which is a good one in distracting him from biting. But I have found with Skyler, he doesn't actually hurt me if I don't pull away. He vigorously attacked my hand today when I reached in his cage to see if he wanted to step up. He literally went at me biting from the top to the bottom of my thumb down to the rest of my fingers, never actually biting, but he was so fierce about it. lol. Going back and forth rapidly like he was actually doing something. lol. In the end I wiped off the extra bit of food he still had on his beak from eating and he chose to play in his cage a little while longer. If I remain calm, he generally does as well. Also, is he near his cage when you are trying to touch her and pet her and stuff? I know Skyler doesn't really like me trying to touch him while he is in his cage, and the females get a lot more cage aggression then the males do. It's their role in nature to protect the nest and the food so they try just as hard here as they do in the wild.

Good luck. And post some pictures!!! We would all love to see them.

 

[c3honey84]

Thank you so much for your reply! Roxy actually is ok with me going into her cage to change toys, and to pick her up. If I have her sitting on my right arm, and I bring my left arm over to pet her, she will go right for my hand and do the same thing that your Skyler does as far as "chewing." It doesn't matter if we are near the cage or not. I am not so worried about the wing clipping and nails, but more concerning things. For example, the other day she had something wrapped around her foot, and I could not get close enough to remove it!

The main reason why i want to train her a little is for vet visits. I don't necessarily want her to do tricks. I brought her to the vet for an initial check up, and she FREAKED out. The vet said he had never seen a more difficult bird. They could not even take blood. He said we would have to come back another day so he could use anestesia. I cannot afford to have her anesthesized every time we have a check up!
I'll give her some more time, and we will see what happens.

 

[jew1187]

Ahh, vet visits. Very nice. How often does she go for car rides? How often do you have her in a carrier or anything? Where did you get her from? One major factor in her freaking out may be due to her not used to traveling or being in a carrier. She may have just freaked at the vets for that reason.

Have her get used to the carrier by placing her in it for a small period of time each day. You don't have to close it on her but allow her to realize that its not such a horrible thing. When she gets used to it bring her on short car rides so she gets used to that as well. Hopefully it will make some trips to the vet a little less wild.

If that is not the case and she is already used to the carrier (whatever you may use) and the car rides, you may need to just socialize her a little more and get her used to more people.

These are clearly just suggestions though. I hope it all works out well for you. Congrats on getting her btw. I know what a joy they are to have. I already want another one. But God knows that is not happening for awhile.

 

[Pedro]

One month ago I adopted a 2 1/2 year old female eclectus from someone who did not want her anymore. I am having trouble trying to train her. She loves to step up on my arm, and will sit there for hours. If I pet her on her back only, she crouches down and allows me to to do it. However, if I go anywhere near any other part of her body, she "bites" me. I say bites in quotes because if I don't move, she doens't actually hurt me, but definitely chews on me a little. I cannot go near her wings (so I can't clip them), I cannot go near her feet without a really bad bite (so I can't trim her nails.) I can't scratch her belly, or her head. Is this normal for a female eclectus? I know they can me tempermental.

I am trying to target train her with food, but there seems to be no snack that she likes more than not doing the training! For example, I have a perch with a bowl on one end. She likes to sit on the bowl. If I hold a snack that I know she likes on the other side of the perch, she would rather just sit there than walk over the grab the snack.

Also, she talks up a storm when no one is around! During the day when no one is in the room, she has many conversations with herself. However, as soon as someone shows their face, she stops. How can I get her to talk in front of me?

Last thing. I know that when birds crouch down and shake their wings, they are usually begging. Well, she will sit on top of her "boing" and do it for long periods of time, all while staring out the window. What is that all about?

Thank you so much in advance for your advice!

Welcome to the wonderful world of owning a female eclectus. First & formost stop petting her down the back you are encouraging her into the position she would be in to accept a mating male. Your girl is maturing & it is up to you to handle her appropritely. NO PETTING DOWN THE BACK. There is nothing worse than a hormonal hen ready to go to nest. Something to be avoided.

Now you can't make an eclectus do something it does not want to do so go really slow with her. It will take longer than a month to fully gain her trust, it could take years. You may even have to be happy just the way she is.

It's also very hard to use treats with eclectus food in general is their favorite. I find i get more out of my birds by simply praising them.

Most eclectus are closet talkers but as they get older they will talk to you. Mine are 10 years old & will talk when people are around. All you need to do is to talk back to your girl & she will answer you.

Wing & nail trims are best done by 2 people & it requires the bird to be toweled & held by 1 person & the other does the triming. You need to know the correct way to hold your bird. To get your bird used to having a towel draped over it is to make a game out of it. But I wouldn't rush her. You have plenty of time to really get to know her so take one day at a time. A relationship with an eclectus is always built on trust. But that goes for any companion parrot.

 

[Pedro]

How to Towel Your Bird

Instructions on how to towel your parrot.

 

[c3honey84]

I'll be honest with you, I had a feeling that petting her down the back had something to do with mating. Well, I won't be doing that anymore. I just wish I could get her used people's hands. I hate that I can't let anyone else touch her because I'm afraid she will bite them.

Is there anything else I need to worry about as far as nesting? I want to encourage the towel game, but I was afraid the towel would make her think of nesting.

 

[Pedro]

I'll be honest with you, I had a feeling that petting her down the back had something to do with mating. Well, I won't be doing that anymore. I just wish I could get her used people's hands. I hate that I can't let anyone else touch her because I'm afraid she will bite them.

Is there anything else I need to worry about as far as nesting? I want to encourage the towel game, but I was afraid the towel would make her think of nesting.

You just need to take things extremly slow, don't rush her. Gaining her trust is important. Learn to read her body language as she will certainly give warnings before she bites. But sometimes my girls will nail me when i least expect it. LOL.

Other people will just have to respect you & your bird. If i know one of my birds will bite a stranger i warn them to not get to close or i put my bird back in it's cage until we are alone.

As far as the nesting goes don't encourage it at all. She will be on the lookout of a nice cosy dark place so keep cupboard doors closed, you may even have to block her from going under the couch. Also it's a good idea to keep eclectus (both male & female) on a maintance diet rather that give them a heap of cooked mushy food. We tend to keep our companion eclectus in top breeding condition all year round, good idea if your breeding, bad idea if your not.

Just imagine what they would eat in the wild when not breeding.

 

[MikeyTN]

This is something new to me since the Eclectus pair im getting friday are my first ever personal experience with Eclectus. Kinda excited!!!! I've seen them throughout the years and read about them, but having one as your own is a different story. Since I have a long history owning birds, it will be a fun task to see how they are compared to other parrots. All the grocery is ready, fruits and veggies stocked. By this time friday I should be assembling the new cage together for the babies. Welcome to the forum as I will be tagging along as a new Eclectus owner.

I have jew1187 to thank...its all his fault, he started it....lol

 

[c3honey84]

Does anyone have ideas regarding that "begging" posture? She does it all the time! She does it at the very top of her "boing" and just stares out the window and shakes her wings. She doesn't even look at me when she does it! I feel bad because it seems that she wants something but I just don't know what.

 

[Pedro]

Does anyone have ideas regarding that "begging" posture? She does it all the time! She does it at the very top of her "boing" and just stares out the window and shakes her wings. She doesn't even look at me when she does it! I feel bad because it seems that she wants something but I just don't know what.

As i have already mentioned your girl is a matured hen with wants & needs that you can not provide her. I am guessing that she has displayed this behavior ever since she matured at the age of 3 years. Nothing much you can do about it.

I have a male that also does this same behavior i just ignore it. I am not to sure if it's a learned behavior, i suspect it could be because this particular bird was already doing it when he came to live with me. I caged him with a few young eclectus & one of the males I kept over also quivers his wings. I believe it to some sort of display. That said i have only the 2 males that do this the rest don't do it at all.

 

[MikeyTN]

Does she do it only when your there? If your talking about what im thinking of, its a mating thing....does she bob her tail up and down?

 

[Pedro]

Does she do it only when your there? If your talking about what im thinking of, its a mating thing....does she bob her tail up and down?

They squat down & hold the wings out a little & quiver them. Don't usually bob the tail. Sun Conures do the same. I do know the few birds of mine that do it only display when i approach their cages.

When eclectus hen are ready to mate they usually sit low on the perch with wings held out a bit & kind of arch their backs.

Mikey I think given the age of this hen & her behavior in the month Honey has had her she is really displaying nesting behavior. Something you have to look forward to as well

 

[MikeyTN]

Pedro, you said it before I could...lol

 

[MikeyTN]

pedro,

My too do it when she's in the mood....lol....
at least my eclectus is a pair....im not into hormonal moods....lol. I told my girls it ain't happening.... lol

 

[c3honey84]

Starting yesterday, she will step up to get out of the cage, but I cannot get her off her perch or her tree without using a stick. Up till now she has been stepping up on my arm no problem. She drew blood on my arm today when I offered it to her to step up off her stand. Very frustrated. It makes me want to cry! They say not to move when they bite, but if I do that, she keeps biting.

 

[MikeyTN]

You have to tell her no and give a tap on her beak and say no biting!!! You must be stern! If she does it better with the stick, then use a stick. Don't risk yourself getting hurt just because you want to use your hand or arm. Its not worth it! Im lucky with my pair, they're as sweet as they can be, well, Gracie is anyway. JoJo need a little work. But he doesn't bite. Im teaching him to step up on a daily basis right now. He step up for me this morning. So its good progress since I've only had them since Friday. Gracie steps up anytime. Keep working with her, she'll come around. I've noticed one thing with mine, the only time Gracie is a bit protective is with her food bowl. If she's eating I must leave her alone.

 

[c3honey84]

You have to tell her no and give a tap on her beak and say no biting!!! You must be stern! If she does it better with the stick, then use a stick. Don't risk yourself getting hurt just because you want to use your hand or arm. Its not worth it! Im lucky with my pair, they're as sweet as they can be, well, Gracie is anyway. JoJo need a little work. But he doesn't bite. Im teaching him to step up on a daily basis right now. He step up for me this morning. So its good progress since I've only had them since Friday. Gracie steps up anytime. Keep working with her, she'll come around. I've noticed one thing with mine, the only time Gracie is a bit protective is with her food bowl. If she's eating I must leave her alone.

She has been stepping on my arm for almost 2 months with no problem! But actually I noticed something interesting. We have a big tree with things hanging form the ceiling above it. Saturday was the first day that I let her on it. She was up there for about 2 hours hanging from the ceiling and having a great time. She gave me a slightly hard time coming down. Well ever since then, she will not step up for me. She only steps up when I take her out of the cage. I think I may take the items hanging from the ceiling down, because I believe she feels like the dominant one when she is up there. Does that make sense?

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes!!! That is true! When training birds, they should not be at any level higher then you. I have find my pair to be very sneaky and try to override me. They don't know me well enough yet. I catch on pretty quick and I don't tolerate it! Little turds....lol

 

[jgourd]

My baby girl ekkie is only 6 months old and I pet her down the back all the time, she prefers it to a head scritch. Is this bad?