Meet Gaia, my newly adopted Eclectus

[Fleur]

I just recently adopted a 3 month old female Solomon Island Eclectus from a local breeder in my area. I have always loved birds and wanted one of my own and I just recently decided I would make the decision to welcome one into my home. I am very excited about having her and I can't wait to develop her into a great companion bird. I have done a lot of research before adopting her... but all of the information I find online can be very confusing so I figured it would be best to interact with people who actually own Eclectus'.

She has been at my home for about 3 days and she is very untrusting of everything. The Aviary I got her from says that I should keep her cage in a central area where she will get interaction with everyone. The problem with this is that I have two dogs who do not bother her, but they are curious and they will often sit by her cage and watch her. She does not like this at all and she will ruffle all of her feathers and act like she is going to lunge at the. I've been told she needs to have interaction with them so she will adjust but I feel absolutely horrible. I have a quiet spare bedroom that I have thought about putting her cage in but we do not spend a lot of time by that side of teh house so I don't want to alienate her.

It was recommended that I feed here some seed mixed with dried fruits and vegetables as well as fresh fruit but I also read seed was bad for them so I am not sure what I should do, keep mixing in a small amount of seed or discntinue feeding it to her all together. I also want to get her a treat that she will love. I bought her raw sunflower seeds that are without the shell but every time I offer them to her she will put them in her mouth and then drop them.

She knows how to step up, and she knows the command but over the past few days has refused and she is acting very scared of me. I spent many hours with her at the pet shop before I adopted her and most of the time was spent holding her and telling her to step up. The first day I had her at home with her new setup I could get her to step up and take her out of her cage easily and now she refuses. I was handling her every 2 hours for 15-20 minutes until she adjusted and now I can't handle her at all because she won't step up and I am not sure what to do about this. I have been trying every 2 hours to try and encourage her to step up but she still refuses. Should I not worry about this and just treat it as a she will do it when she is ready kind of thing?

I also am really scared about drafts. I have her cage on the tile in our living room but there is a door that we go in and out of about 5 feet away and since I live in Ohio it is winter here so a cold breeze will go by her cage when we enter or leave the house, should I move her to a different location? I noticed she shakes every now and then and I wasn't sure if it was because she was cold or scared. I keep my house at 74 degrees and her cage is right under a heat vent.

I am sorry for all of the questions but I want Gaia to warm up to me and I feel like I am doing everything wrong. I had read several books about parrot care and I felt I was prepared for her but since she is acting so untrusting around me, I feel horrible and guilty.

I am open to all advice on what I should do to help her adjust!

She

 

[aliray]

There are a lot of eclectus owners that I am sure will come along he is in an entirely new environment with new people ,new pets and new home and cage . be patient it will take her awhile to settle in and get used to all the changes. welcome to the forum and congrats on your new baby

 

[Chikoo]

3 days is not nearly enough time to judge anything. It will take a few months before she begins to really adjust to the new environment! But hopefully before then she will get to know you enough to start stepping up. Just give her time and space and be sensitive to the fact that she is adjusting to a lot of new things, and determine for yourself what might be best for her, regardless of what you have read.

I would put her cage in a corner so she feels more secure. I would not "introduce" her to the household by letting your dogs hang out by her cage, especially when she has a pronounced reaction. There are better ways to introduce your animals to her, and I would do it later on. Just let her see them and observe them as a natural part of the environment, and let her see your interaction with them. This is a stressful time for her, so forcing her to get to know the dogs is not going to help. If she is lunging at them and feeling protective of herself and her territory, then you are just beginning a negative relationship between them.

Move her to a safe place. Do not feed her more than 1 tablespoon of seeds in a day. Her diet should be primarily fresh fruits and vegetables, with the addition of perhaps one almond a day alongside the tablespoon of seeds. She will not do well on a seed mix with dried fruit. I would start cutting up fruits and vegetables for her immediately. She will probably like banana and anything else you can find that is soft and mushy. She will also love quinoa. My birds love passionfruit, banana, papaya, mango, kiwi, and other such fruits. For vegetables, I give them carrots everyday, alongside cucumbers or zucchini, a fresh leafy green like chard or kale, sometimes just the stalks of greens, etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[drlisaort]

Hi Fleur!

Congratulations on your new baby Gaia! I wish I could give you some advice but my baby Oliver (13 week male SI) doesn't come home until this weekend. I too have many questions. I want to thank you for yours as the responses you received were very helpful for me as well. I wish you the very best with Gaia and hope we can compare notes as we go along.

Lisa

 

[Boysmom]

I strongly agree with Chikoo, move her away from all sight of the dogs ! Birds are prey animals and are frightened by anything that could eat them. She isnt trusting you because you allow the dogs to stare at her, In my opinion. It will be a slow progression building trust, but she must feel safe first ! I also agree with moving her away from the drafty area, birds get chilled easily especially young ones. Slowly introduce new foods, maybe start with some sweet potato ( cooked) and go from there. Offer treats ( a peanut ) if she will step up and give lots of verbal praise ( good girl ). Understand she is scared and in a strange enviroment, and must feel safe first and foremost.

 

[Fleur]

Thank you so much for the advice. I don't know anyone else personally that owns a bird so asking anyone that I know for advice isn't going to happen. I am so glad I found this forum for mine and her sake. I posted her picture and setup picture on the welcome thread but I will post it here too for advice.

I am really worried about tomorrow as she has a vet appointment for her first check up and for the agreement with the aviary I got her from. She will not step up and I do not want to frighten her any more. We will be moving her to her new room tomorrow after the vet appointment to keep her stress levels low. How can I possibly get her into her smaller cage for transport tomorrow without her thinking I am going to hurt her?

Also I am curious about how often I should mist her. I got her a perch for in the shower but I know she is ready for that yet (since I can't get her to come out of her cage) and her feathers look a little messy compared to when I got her, and I figured good mists would help.

How much do you recommend I feed a 3 month old Eclectus? I have been giving her 1/2 a cup of mixed dried vegetables and other foods twice a day, once in the morning when I leave to work and once in the evening when I get home. I typically work an 8 hour shift but if I am not home, my boyfriend usually is. Does this sound appropriate? I leave two bowls filled with fresh water in her cage at all times.

I sit by her cage and talk to her a lot. Should I save the praise tone of voice for when I praise her or is it ok to elevate my voice a lot when I talk to her normally? I feel like this is a silly question but I read that you are supposed to talk to macaws in a monotonous voice and save the elevated voice for praise.

She also never chirps. She has not made a sound at all since I brought her home except for today when the TV was on. We were watching a movie and she started making noises, almost like she was trying to mimic something, and when we paused it... she stopped immediately. Is it normal for her to be this quiet at first?

Once again I cannot thank everyone enough for the help. I want to be the best mommy for my bird as possible. I want to make sure we bond properly and that we can have a good relationship with each other.

 

[antoinette]

Welcome
Gaia is gorgeous
Enjoy the forum

 

[MikeyTN]

Instead of feeding her dry veg and fruits, you should get her some fresh stuffs! My ekkies HATES big dogs, the big dogs frighten them BIG time. I would also suggest in moving her away from the dogs for now until she is fully adjusted to you first before introducing her to the dogs. I feed mine fresh fruits and veggies in the morning and in the evening I give them a table spoon of mainly small seeds between both of them. We also cook sweet potatoes, lintels, chicken breast meat, egg with shells, etc. They love to eat bread too....

I start working with mine from day 1 and I have them sit on me multiple times per day until they're used to me. Then at the same time I start the step up training over and over. JoJo used to be scared of me and would NEVER step up but I got him trained to step up in less then a week. You just need to work with her one on one away from the dogs or anything distracting her. Alone time works best when your training!

Both of mine are pretty quiet over all, but they love to make funny noises, talking, and cooing....It will take her some time to come out of her shell....It took a long time before JoJo would talk in front of me. Gracie talks in front of me all the time.

Good luck with the vet visit!!!!

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

Gaia is adorable.

 

[Oedipussrex]

Congrats on your new family member

Its not so bad that she doesn't like the sunflowers. Most birds go for them but theyre not the healthiest treat around. You could try slivered almond, walnut, pine nuts, dried pumpkin seed, banana chips, grapes, pomegranate (messy but delicious), and loads of other nuts chopped into smaller pieces could do for treats. And i dont know if this is by the rule book - but i use my happy/baby voice with pickle all the time and not just training, unless he is naughty when he gets a harsh 'no', and is probably moved away from whoever/whatever he bit. XD

I would buy her pellets but not completely take away the seed until you are sure she eats them, you could mix them and gradually decrease the seed if you like. (my pickle still gets seed 2-3 times a week just so i know hes eating enough because hes small).

I agree that you should keep the dogs separate, but im not so sure if this should equate to putting her in a back room where she will get less interaction. The norm has to be set now - if you adjust her there, she will be just as wary of everything when you decide to move her back into the main room anyway. We still had our cat Oedipuss when we first got pickle and he was extremely wary of him, oedipuss wasn't actively interested in pickle like it sounds like your dogs are but he liked to sit at and look out of the window that the cage was next to. He was a fluffy white cat, and to this day pickle is terrified of my white fluffy slippers. haha

From my limited personal experience ekkies can be quite chilled. Pickle doesn't make actual bird sounds unless he is in his sleep cage and can hear me coming in the morning, is scared or hurt (falls of a perch, toweled by the vet, etc), or if we are vaccuuming. Most of his talking practice he only does while there is plenty of house ambient noise to cover him up or when he thinks no-one is listening. lol
She might open up when she is more comfortable with you and her new house but i wouldn't be too worried about her being quiet.

Once you find a treat that will sway her, it might be much easier to bribe her out of the cage. You could also try 'touch training'.
Basically you get a chopstick or something and let her bite the end. give her a treat whenever she merely touches the end with her beak. When she finally assiciates the chopstick with the treat, do this exercise but move the chopstick so she has to move to touch it and continue treating. eventually you should be able to hold the chopstick away from her over your other arm so she has to step onto your arm to reach it.
Even though she already knows step up, this can be good training because you can use it to get her to go anywhere, and not just onto you. you can get her to step off as well, onto other people to socialize in a familiar way because of the familiar chopstick signalling that there will be a treat and that this new person is safe, and you can put it in the cage to tell her to go back inside etc...

Good luck with your new baby!

 

[CRYROLFE]

We have two Ekkies and I am by no means an expert, but mine are both fairly new to my house so I'll let you know how mine did.

My boy Vinny was 3 months when we got him. He was afraid and always had his mouth open if he saw our hands and would sometimes lunge (and had grabbed us pretty good). It took him quite awhile to warm up to us....he pretty much sat around all day. He also cried for his baby food still and needed two feedings.
Sometimes he wouldn't come out of his cage or off of his perch....he would lunge. You really have to keep getting them to step up....and don't jerk back. I don't mean push your hand into their chest though....that is force and you really want them to do it themselves. If Vinny was bitey...we would get a small rubber foot toy and show that to him, he would then bite that and we'd say "Step up" and with the toy distracting his mouth he would. He really did want to get outta that cage though, so that helped. We fed him fresh fruits and a bean mix w/ us in the kitchen at the island on a perch (next to the island) so that he could be with us all the time.
You could also get a small perch and feed her on a towel w/ you at the table....

I later graduated him to eating more in his cage ....but he still eats much better if he gets to eat with us.

Look at different perch ideas so that she can spend more time with the family. She will get used to seeing the dogs around but may never like them. She's just probably never seen them before. Both of ours are fine around the dogs....and we have 4....2 big and 2 smaller.

Now Vinny is 6 months and he will still lunge a bit in the cage, but this is his home, so we don't mind that too much as long as he still steps up. We have a perch on the door that he comes to and that helps. Also, have you tried getting her to step up on a perch first to get her out of the cage?
If she finds out that biting will make you leave her alone.....she may do that more, so you want to teach her early on that it won't work....don't yank back, but don't get bit either....use the toy in the beak trick.

Gemma on the other hand was a rescue and is about 5yrs old. She is the sweetest bird we have ever had and she would NEVER bite me.....I can just tell. At first she wouldn't step up either, but it just took a few days and now she can't wait to get outta her cage.
She is different than yours though, since you have a baby.

Lastly.....here is my FAVORITE guide to training a parrot....he also has tons of videos too.

How to Tame & Train Parrot - Step by Step Taming Guide

 

[CRYROLFE]

Oh yeah....as far as diet goes....I'm sure your aviary got you started on what she is already eating, and I'm sure you've read that Ekkies are a bit tricky on feeding.
They don't do as well on pellets as some others, so be sure to feed a pellet that is organic (we feed Harrison's) or plain colored (Roudybush). There is also a pellet by Pretty Bird that is made for Eclectus and mine were on that when we got them, and some people say they have no issues.

We try to feed as much of a raw diet as possible though since I feel that is the best way to go w/ all of us....dogs, cats, birds, people. For our Ekkies it's 80% fresh raw foods, and then 20% seeds, and pellets.
Here is a great link for diet ideas.....
THE ECLECTUS DIET

This is what we make for ours as their staple....

Mike's Manna
Here is what it looks like....we make a huge batch and freeze it.

To this we add fresh sprouts, more fruit and eggs at times. We feel fruit should be the main part of their diet since that is what they eat mostly in the wild.

At night they get more of a drier mix and this is when we add a couple Harrison's pellets (they are like cubes) and an Eclectus seed mix by
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002FP3SM/ref=wms_ohs_product"]VOLKMAN'S ECLECTUS SEED MIX[/ame]

Don't forget the sprouts!!
ALL ABOUT SPROUTS
MORE ABOUT SPROUTS
This is the sprouter that I love the most....
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP1014-4-Tray-Kitchen-Sprouter/dp/B005FVPP04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357573708&sr=8-1&keywords=SPROUTER"]4 TRAY SPROUTER[/ame]

 

[MeganMango]

Gaia is absolutely stunning. I really wanted an eckie as our first parrot, we even looked into local breeders (Im a die hard rescuer) but the food issues discouraged me. I knew nothing about parrots, Ive only had farm birds. Dave had tiels and budgies his whole life, so he has pet bird experience, but I didnt feel like we knew enough about bigger parrots to take on an eckie. I realize this was silly, and would still love to have one. Aside from their beautiful feathers, all the eckie owners here seem to have very kind and clever birds. I like this species more and more, and I think you will have a great relationship with Gaia. I have a very outgoing little red belly, and I have been very lucky that everything has been really easy with him and he has been very easy to train. He does nip, and he knows it hurts. We avoid being bit (toy in beak is very clever) and when we do get hit with that beak, we just ignore it (this sucks by the way, and is a lot harder than it sounds, but it is possible). I think its important to remember that birds are social and she wants to build a relationship with you. Im sure Dave and I have made some mistakes, and Mango has turned out wonderfully.

Its a great idea to get your new baby to the vet. I actually think the sooner the better. The vet will be able to tell you where she is developmentally and nutritionally, so you can make sure to meet her specific needs right away. Having a set point on record is really great too, in case something goes wrong in the future and you need vet help. Its much easier for a vet to figure out if something is wrong if they know what her normal condition is. Its going to be a bit stressful no matter when/how you do it, so I personally think its best to get it done before you start building a relationship. Mango was just warming up to us when I took him to the vet for the first time, and it took him two days to forgive us. She may be nervous/upset after the vet visit, but they do get over it. I would suggest that you leave the door to her cage open for a while and see if she comes out on her own before the vet visit. Once out she may step up for you better. If you are worried about being bitten you can try using a perch to ask for step up to get her out for her vet visit. The vet will probably towel her for the exam, and I would suggest asking the vet to show you how this is done. Even if you never have to do it, its a good thing to know for emergencies. We also bought some powder in case of a bleeding nail or broken blood feather since it does take time to get to the vet. We also bought a small bottle of antibiotic cream specific for birds from the vet in case of a small scratch or scrape etc. Although its always best to see a vet if something goes wrong, I like to have some emergency stuff on hand for the drive/wait for the appointment.

 

[Fleur]

I had originally planned on getting a Conure but after my interactions with them and then my Gaia, I just fell in love with her.

She didn't want to come out of her cage and I was running out of time to get her to the vet so I gently grabbed her and put her in her travel cage, she didn't like this one bit and I felt horrible. She was quiet the entire car ride (over an hour to my Avian vet) and when we got there she seemed at peace. I watched my vet reach in her cage and she stepped right up on his hand which crushed me. I learned it was his confidence that made her more trusting of him and he showed me how to properly handle her while I was there. The vet visit was so helpful for me. He spent an hour and a half talking to me and answering questions and showing me what I should do with Gaia. The best part of it all is that she came home with a clean bill of health.

My vet recommended I keep feeding her the Roudybush wafers that she was weaned to in the morning mixed with veggies, and to give her fruits or veggies at night. He told me how important it is to have consistency in their daily routine. When I put the wafers in with her food, however, she will not eat them. The vet said I should stick to my guns and give her less food choices for breakfast, and give her the fresh stuff at night since I will be home to monitor her and remove the fresh foods before they spoil. I bought her fresh oranges, apples, carrots, bananas, kale, bean sprouts, and her own pomegranate that I am going to try out for a treat @ CRYROLFE, she is currently on VOLKMAN's Eclectus seed mix, so since this is seed this is what I feed her less than a tablespoon a day right?

When I got home I was more confident with her than I have ever been so when I brought her in, I took her right up to the spare bedroom and opened her travel cage door. I talked to her for about 5 minutes and then after she looked calm I put my hand in her cage and asked her to step up, and she did I offered her a sunflower seed as a treat but she dropped it, she did this several more times when I was telling her "down" and "step up". After about 10 minutes of repeated commands and praise she started to accept the treats for her reward and seemed completely at ease with me. She even snuggled against my chest. I was so relieved to have her behaving this way.

I limited our interaction time because I knew she was hungry and she was yawning and trying to sleep at the vet. I took her downstairs to give her dinner and return her to her big cage and as soon as I put her in there she was immediately defensive towards me! After everything seemed to be going well! I asked my vet about this and he told me she must be very protective of her cage.... so.... I guess I am back at square one. How should I go about breaking this protectiveness? Or at least making it so she feels ok with me being in that area?

My vet also recommended I keep her flighted. I had originally planned on this but I read so many books that said the clipped wings help with bonding and it creates less problems when they are little. My vet explained that Ekkies can develop feather plucking and all sorts of self confidence issues if I trim her. I am fine with leaving her flighted but this is a bit of a bombshell to drop on me so soon When I am handling Gaia she likes to jump and fly to the corner of the room and then immediately run back to me to try and step up to get off of the ground, it's kind of silly. The spare bedroom that I have does not have a single thing in it except her travel cage, so I guess it makes sense for her to feel more secure when i am holding her.

As far as moving her cage... My vet suggested that I leave her big cage where it is, and work with her one on one for training in the spare room and to use this as her "neutral" room where she cannot see her cage and be distracted. He said she will have to learn the dogs eventually and she does seem more at ease with them, and they have lost interest in her already. I guess I will keep monitoring her the next couple of days to decide if I move her big cage or not.

I also have to add that my vet toweled her and she did very well. My vet showed me how to introduce the towel to her and said that next time I bring her in (in the summer) he would like to see her comfortable with this. He would pull part of the towel up over her head slowly and she would watch him cautiously and tilt her head, but she never freaked out. She accepted that she was going to be ok and seemed mostly ok with the idea, it was amazing how well he worked with her.

Overall today was a great day besides her being cage protective. I feel so much more confident in handling her and I have a huge amount of extremely helpful information from this forum to start training her.

Last thing I forgot! I forgot to ask my vet this too... Why doesn't she have a metal band around her foot? I noticed most birds do? What is this for?

 

[moni.k]

Congrats on your new baby girl! She is so adorable. I'm glad her vet visit went smoothly, Nalani's favorite part about vet visits are chewing up the q-tips and tongue depressors. Haha.

I do have to agree with everyone else with the dog issue. I know they aren't interested in her, but if it makes her uncomfortable and scared, let them be separated until she adjusts a little more. I didn't introduce Nalani to my dog for the first month that I had her... and my dog is a 5 lb senior shih tzu.

Having a bird for the first time and being a medium sized parrot, it just takes a lot of trial and error. Getting adjusted to one another and creating a bond can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experience ever! Keep at it with clicker training and handling her. She is really young and this is the time to really work with her.

Always remember to respect her wants and needs, if she doesn't want to be pet, let her be; she doesn't want to step up, work with her but don't force it. This will teach her that she can trust you. With birds, trust has to be earned.

Keep us posted with more pictures and status reports, and welcome to the eclectus family!!

 

[Oedipussrex]

Sounds like you've found yourself an amazing vet

 

[Chikoo]

Yes, sounds like a great vet! I personally recommend TOPS for pellets, because the ingredients list for RoudyBush seems to be mostly added vitamins which I have to assume are artificially synthesized, and I question a parrot (or human's) ability to assimilate synthetic vitamins.

Eclectus parrots will get all the nutrition they need from fresh fruits and vegetables, with a tablespoon of organic seed mix (TOPS offers a good one that I use). They are capable of eliminating excess vitamins and minerals they receive from fresh fruits and vegetables, and that is one of the reasons why it is not recommended to give them super nutrient-dense foods, such as algae. Its too much. I believe our birds need nutrition in its natural form--fresh food. You don't need pellets to supplement their diet.

My female is protective of her cage, because she is a female, and is biologically patterned to protect her nest. It is difficult to avoid this, unless you have more than one cage and move her around a lot. She will naturally identify the cage zone as her territory and will become protective and make snarls and potentially lunge. But in either case, I am still able to give my female her food bowls with her inside the cage, because she is trusting enough. But if I set her down on top of her cage and I am too close before she turns around, she becomes immediately defensive and lunges. Its just part of having birds, they become territorial like other animals. At least they don't pee like dogs.