New Baby Male Eclectus

[Hipgoddess77]

So I recently got a male eclectus, was told he was 4 months old but realized myself and by my bird vet that the guy lied, and he is only 2 to 2-1/2 months old. Well things are going well, luckily I have some experience hand feeding. The only thing I'm wondering is about his crying. When he's hungry, he does the normal caw for food. Once he's full and done eating, he does a baby cry. If I take him out and hold him the crying goes away. Vet said he's doing it because normally he'd be with mom in the nest and wants to be cuddled. Well whenever I talk to him he cries. I don't want to create a monster by giving in to the crying, yet he's so young, I feel like I should be giving in? Idk, I'd appreciate any input on this. Vet said he's healthy, on track with weight, poop looks good, etc.

 

[sodakat]

Well you are already hand feeding him so he is considering you the parent figure; just no getting around that. So if you comfort him and snuggle with him some you are only reinforcing what he already believes, not creating a monster who will always expect it, IMO. But, soon he should be fledging. I pray his wings are not clipped. When he fledges he should have much less interest in being held. Normally at that point they want to eat, fly, fly, eat, fly.

Something else you can do to comfort him until he fledges and is ready to be in a cage, is keep in him a dim area, similar to how his nest would be.

 

[nicki]

I've dealt with a crying baby without any previous experience what-so-ever. I learned so much from this forum and well, you know the difference between wanting food and wanting attention, which was a big hurdle for me.

My baby only cried for food, and when I apparently didn't feed him enough. I snuggled him every inch of the way until he didn't need it anymore, or didn't need it as much. The wonderful thing about that bonding is that hes a wonderful snuggler at 5 months, but he (at this time) likes his alone time more, which is good, since he isn't attached to me 24/7.

I was honestly nervous about getting him too attached, but at 5 months, hes a very (mostly) independent boy. All he wanted was to be with me (in the beginning) and I was concerned about my husband not getting bonding time, but now, he loves us both and flies to us both (depending on who has the food he prefers ha )

 

[Hipgoddess77]

Thanks guys...I appreciate the input. His wings are not clipped, in fact my friend has his brother and he just started to fly! But mine is probably 10 days younger, so he is on his way. He is loving his fruits n veggies now and hand feeds a lot less, but still wants it at least once a day. He's doing well, thanks!

 

[maillet]

Do not worry about too much attention at this time. ONCE he fledges than ensure you are only giving him the attention you can give him for the rest of his life (and could very well be you do not spend entire day with him on the days off). But for now he simply wants comfort, and it is a good opportunity to build bonds for life.