Need quite a bit of help

[Ahicks]

That seems like a good idea, I'll have to pick up a blender some when.

As for when he starts regurgitating, the telltale bobbing of the head is usually a good sign, I can sometimes take his mind off it if I start stroking his belly softly.
I'm not entirely sure he enjoys this, but I'm the only one in the household who he lets touch him, and even then it only tends to be the belly.
I very gently stroke a finger or two there, and usually he'll start beaking my fingers as I do it, sometimes he'll grab my fingers with his talon gently (or not) and bring me away.

Toys have always been a bit difficult with Dell. Aside from the hanging ones in his cage, he only has one toy - a bell. We have tried to get him new toys in the past, but he's never really acknowledged them, though he does love his bell a bit too much.
He actually bit me the other day when I held his bell out for him to take, I'm not sure whether it was him being defensive of the bell or just missing and nabbing my finger instead.
It didn't draw blood, but it certainly hurt quite a bit and left an indent for the remainder of the day.

I'll have to browse for a toy akin to a bell that doesn't put my fingers at as much risk.

 

[Anansi]

As for the punishment, I was referring to putting him back in his cage. I'm not going to bat him across the room or anything, don't worry.

Hahahahahaha! Glad to hear it, though I was thinking of less... corporal forms of punishment.

 

[Birdman666]

what do you feed him---how often? Any vitimans?does it get full sun at all?---theres a start!!!

Do not under any circumstances give vitamin supplements to an Eckie... It's the number one cause of toe tap!

That'a a hard and fast never, never, never...

 

[DexMom]

One thing that is unique about ekkies is that they should not have any food that has been fortified with added vitamins or minerals. All the things they add to bird food and pellets to make them healthy for every other variety of pet parrot, is actually bad for your Eclectus due to the elongated structure of his digestive tract.

When I picked my Dexter up, he had been weaned onto seeds and Zupreem pellets (which are loaded with added vitamins). I wanted to switch him over to fresh foods right away, but he clearly looked for the pellets, perhaps as something familiar. He slowly came around to fresh foods, but I've always kept pellets available in a dish while we transitioned and ongoing as my insurance policy against Dexter's eclectus whims.

Finding a pellet food that did not have any additives was difficult, but I did find one. Goldenfeast has pellets that are not fortified with any synthetic vitamins. They do have avian specific probiotics added, but no vitamins and minerals you will find in typical pellets. They come in various sizes, having the same formulation. We use the Golden'obles 1 size, they look like little cheerios (Goldn?obles I - Goldenfeast Direct. Dexter does not love them or gobble them up, since he now decided he prefers the fresh fruit and vegetables. But, I like to have a dish of them in his cage in case he's finished, or is just feeling picky about the variety of, the fresh food I've given him or just wants something crunchy, since most of what he's fed in his fresh dish is pretty soft.

 

[Ahicks]

I tried blending up a few veggies for Dell this morning: carrot, broccoli, cucumber and a bit of cabbage. I know cabbage isn't rated that highly on what provides the most nutrition to a parrot, but I'm just trying a variety to try and get him interested at the moment.
The result.. wasn't great. He was curious from the start, but after one mouthful of it, he started shoveling it out of the bowl in the hopes there was something better underneath.

He left the food bowl for a couple hours then returned to it, but only started scooping out the food again. I figured I had to sweeten the deal, so I mixed some seed in with the rest of it, with him watching, and put it back in his cage.
He's not gone back to try it again yet, I've put a few pellets out for him as well, I'm hoping he's just not that hungry right now and he'll give it another go later on.

 

[Anansi]

Try pomegranates sprinkled throughout as incentive. I've yet to meet the ekkie that doesn't go absolutely nuts for pomegranates.

 

[Birdman666]

try pomegranates sprinkled throughout as incentive. I've yet to meet the ekkie that doesn't go absolutely nuts for pomegranates.

Or any other parrot for that matter! THAT'S AN OUTDOOR FEEDING FOOD AROUND HERE...

 

[Ahicks]

Sorry for the delay in response, been a little busy recently.

The seed mixed in gets him to try and pick out the seeds individually but inescapably eats the blended up veggies too. I remember him being a fan of pomegranate when we first got him before being told to change to the pellets, so I'll keep an eye out for some while I'm out.

 

[Ahicks]

Another update, he seems to have taken to his new food quite well now. Right now I'm going with carrot, broccoli, cucumber blended together with pomegranate and some dried seed mix mixed in.
I don't believe he's tossing it out anymore, so he's all good in the food department now I think. Not sure whether to put any harrison's bird food pellets in with it after reading the info here though.

I got some toys for him recently but as per usual he's shown practically no interest in them. They are intended for dogs but they're small enough for him to use - In particular there's a rubber ball with a bell in I thought he'd like since he's fairly obsessed with his own bell as a toy, but nope he's not paying any attention.
So still not entirely sure what to do on the toy front.

 

[littleredhen77]

my bird Ziggy is also not into his toys..at least not when im looking lol! he has 3 hanging in his cage, one hanging on his play stand, and one of those little plastic balls for cats that look like mini whiffle balls with bells in them.

ive been taking toilet paper tubes and stuffing news paper in each end with an almond in the middle. i have to hold it up to him and have him watch me put the almond in, then i stuff the paper in a little looser on one end than the other since its kinda hard for him to take it out unless im holding the tube. he doesnt really mess with anything while im there, but after going away for a bit, when i come back, the newspaper is chewed as well as the toilet paper tube..and the plastic cat toy is in his water dish for encouragement, ill sometimes sit there with the toilet paper tube and let him rip the paper out while im holding it, let him get a good look at the almond inside, and replace the paper. ill let him do this 3 or 4 times before i set it back down and let him try doing it on his own. if he seems to want to give up ill just hold the tube and he stuffs his little bird face in and grabs the almond, followed by lots of cheering as if he just won a marathon he happily climbs up to eat the almond over his dish so as not to waste one little sliver.

when hes in his cage, i notice he moves his hanging toys around because they just slide along the bars and i push them out of the way to get him out of his cage in the morning. but theyre always back to the door area after hes been in for awhile. so maybe hes playing with those too while nobody is around to see it?

i would say, just keep encouraging your bird and letting him watch you touch the toys he doesnt seem interested in..maybe move them around a bit, or if theyre shaped right, stick something tasty in it somewhere. it takes alot of encouragement, but he can learn to play, im sure after all, Ziggy is supposedly 25 years old and hes learning!

good luck!

 

[Ahicks]

The only toy I currently have that's able to hold food is the rubber ball with a bell inside, but since that's the main one I thought he'd like the food might be the encouragement he needs.

As for the others, one's a rubber ring I thought he might like to beak (Which he has done when I've presented it to him but only once or twice before losing interest), a tug of war style chew toy with a bit of rope on each end (I figured he might just like to chew the rope bit), and a rubber dummy shaped thing with a bell inside (Mainly got this because of the bell, he loves bells).

Maybe there's a kind of spread-style food I could slather on them to get him to shake them around or something, I'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the tip.