New Eclectus - Is this normal?

[maillet]

Hello Everyone,

So I had my first day of work today since I recieved Eclectus, (was out of house for 9 hours). The person I had watching him removed food dish at around 9:00pm... And when I came home he looked exceptionally weak.

He tried to bite finger at first but felt like more gumming. He also made a rather low "hmmm!" sound. I got him some food immediately (Corn, some Strawberries, and some Carrots) and by the end he had a better bite (the best way to gauge his strength from the way I found when I got home).

He was cleaning beak by the end, and had a normal posture about fifteen minutes later. But his poop was mostly brown coils and brown "muck" and I see a little dried white urates around newspaper from while I was gone.

..... What should I be thinking based on this? Was he only hungry? Was he "weak" from being tired (was 11:00pm when I was home). Is he sick?

What should I be looking for tomarrow? I do not want anything bad to happen to the little guy, but the way I found him was quite worrisome even if he looks 100.00% right now. Not really certain what to think?

.....

For diet so far he is on about 25% of a Millet a day (only grain he wants to eat...), a Seed Mix for Parrots (about 5% of his total food), lots of Corn of all styles, Strawberries, Grapes, Pinapple, and occasional Kiwi.

I know he needs more Beta Caritine but he is not eating much (tried to use carrots, sweet potatoes, and brocoli). It also should not be starting to affect him after only 2-3 days of being with me and being on "different" diet. I tried to use the one he was having most. But noticed things like the carrots in his original mix were also being abandoned so yah... Any help?

......

Also on a side note: he is making 3 sounds so far. One growl (usually at a member of my family he appears to dislike greately), one low "mmhmm" it sounds weak (but then again maybe it is unknown), and one louder type of the "mmhmm!" which he practices mid-evening after a hearty dinner.

Any idea what the last 2 mean? Obviously the Growl is "Go Away", I think the other weaker is "Stop..." or "No...", while last one is like "Lets play"?

Maybe I am simply being too worrisome?

 

[Boysmom]

as far as diet goes I can share what my girl Ruby is fed. I always have pellets in her cage ( high quality organic pellets ). I replace fresh pellets every evening at bedtime. If your girl sems to not eat the pellets try putting a small amount of granola on top of them ( I use the granola from prettyparrot.com ). Use millet seeds and nuts very sparingly, as they contain lots of fat and Ekkies are very suseptible to fatty liver disease. I feed fruits for lunch so she burns off the natural sugars in them throughout the day. I feed veggies for dinner with Birdie bread 2-3 times a week. My Ekkie likes soft mashy foods best, the messier the better. I make mash from a pie pumpkin, an acorn squash and a few sweet potaotes all cut in half, cut side down on a baking sheet, baked for about an hour at 350 degrees. Cool then peel and place all in a food processor. spoon into ice trays and freeze. Keeps in freezer for awhile. Just remove a portion and microwave a few seconds, and voila you have a warm mash dinner. I add to the mash Quinoa, cous cous, maybe some cooked barley or brown rice. Strawberries are known to absorb the most bad stuff from the ground and pesticides, so I dont feed them. My girl does love blueberries, mango, papaya, kiwi, oranges, dragon fruit, cantaloupe, beets, carrots ( only the small pre bagged kind will she eat). Corn I feed sparingly as it is a least nutritous veggie. I add lots of brocoli to my birdie bread as my girl wont eat it any other way. I also add bee pollen to her veggies. You will learn what your babies favorites are, as they usually throw out what they dont want. Add a little cinnamon to the sweet potatoes that may intice it to eat them.
My girl makes th same mmhmm sounds and they mean different things at different times. Sometimes it means she is happy, sometimes she wants to play, sometimes turn off the TV I wanna go to bed. You will have to learn the body language of your bird to determine what it means each time.
I hope this is helpful, and you can PM me if you want my birdie bread recipe, as I have posted it here in different threads in the past.

 

[Adinafloyd]

As boysmom said, ekkies need a primary fruit and veggie diet, because of their digestive tracts. Seeds and nuts should be extremely limited. Try this link, I printed it and brought it to LSU where not only is my vet an Avian Vet but he teaches it at LSU. He said its the best info he has seen. He even printed it out to give to other ekkie owners...Good luck

diets

 

[kc_y0]

A tip with the carrots, try cooking them differently.. My girl wouldn't touch them so I tried different ways of giving them to her. Grating them up like cheese works, and also boiling it so its soft works good too.

 

[maillet]

So it definately sounds like dietary issues. I will work more Greens into Diet and phase out the Strawberries and Millet so I can add more of the other good foods.

He looks a bit better this morning (climbing around cage, playing, etc), but he still looks a little weak and his bite (and movements to bite) are still not all that strong.

Should I be worried about him being sick? Or simply go off assumption he was tired and hungry last night (which will work itself out with some good food and attention)?

Thank You... New to Birds so want to catch things before they get bad,

Edit: Added a UV Light based on recommendation from a friend with parrots. I will try for an hour a day to see how it helps, and go from there as well. He is in a basement suite with a window, but might not have been getting all the light he required, and it was definately through a window so most of the nutriants would have been eliminated by the glass.

 

[Boysmom]

His bite may not be weak, he may be being gentle. My girl just tastes people and things, or uses her beak to hold on as an extra hand. I could see how you may think this is a weak bite whn it is really just investigating on his part. How long have you had him and how old is he ? That info will help us help you. If he is new to your home, I would give him a few days to a week to settle in. Some birds dont eat well when unsettld or new to an enviroment. Do you have an Avian vet ? I always have all new birds vetted by my vet no matter what the person I get them from says, I trust my vet first and foremost.
Welcome to the wonderful world of birds, they will steal your heart and keep you constantly entertained. You are right to ask questions here, we are all glad to help one another out.

 

[Adinafloyd]

If you are concerned about illness you should have a vet check up done. You know your parrot better than us. As for the uv light, my ekkie has hers for around 5 hours a day, sometimes more. She will actually fuss until we turn it on for her, she loves her light.

 

[maillet]

Echo is 5 Months Old, I got him from an Avian Petshop (of whom I know owner) and they did the initial Vet Check and I have the bill of health from Vet. Originally he was hand-fed by a breeder, so he has changed homes twice in a little over a week.

I have had him since Saturday and while his activity has gone up. He was stiff on the Saturday (new environment), more curious on Sunday, and Playful on Monday. Tues he was more quiet and still before I went to work, then I found him in that condition.

.....

Today he has eaten twice, played around a bit, climbed on cage, I tried to take / let him out but he was keen on trying to bite (which was harder... relief). In general he simply looks "Lethargic", but is looking a complete 180 around from later last night.

It was definately a weak bite as opposed to beaking. He has a way of following the hand with his one eye when he wants to bite (seen it with the one he dislikes). But when I saw him doing it weakly to my hand last night, I let him try to bite. So soft.

He is still making the weak groans (sounds like normal Ekky Vocalizations you might hear on Youtube Videos, but is more 'strained', 'quiet' and done looking right at us.

I do not want to traumatise him by bringing to a vet if it is nothing, nor can I really do this until Friday for various reasons. Last thing I want is come home tonight to same.

 

[Boysmom]

Check and see if you can find a mobile vet. My Avian vet is mobile and she can better access the health of the bird in their own enviroment where they feel safe and secure. It also allows the vet to examine the living conditions of the bird, sometimes something in their enviroment makes them sick or uneasy and we dont recognize it but a vet would. From what you are saying about his being weak and lethargic,I would recommend a vet check ASAP, just as Adinafloyd suggested. Birds hide sickness until it is too late, if they are showing symptoms you must react quickly.

 

[maillet]

Thanks guys, I will see what can be done tomarrow then with the vet. I made a few changes in his cage which hopefully will improve the situation based on all above:

1. Added a UV light hanging about half a meter above his head, he has been moving in and out of it all day (food dishes on other side) then he goes back to side with light where I never to rarely saw him perched before. So that looks like a positive sign.

2. Removed two plastic foliages I had in the cage - Better safe than sorry. Did a real thorough clean of the cage in general to ensure there was no bacteria or otherwise.

3. Gave him Sweet Potato, Pinapple, 2x Grapes, 2x Small Strawberries, and a small dish of his seed mix that he loves. I will have some corn for him in the evening also.

4. Will give him some time alone today without a lot of stimulation. He has seen a lot of people so far, new environment, slightly new diet, and the works in only four days.

If anyone else has any suggestions please let me know. I will take him to the vet first thing tomarrow or on friday if things do not improve. More concerned with the next 12 hours before I go to work, while I am at work, and what to expect when I get home.

Only thing he is doing now that bothers me is being exceptionally "nippy", and doing the soft groan I mentioned above. I think he may simply be sleepy and/or low light to be making him grumpy and irritable... Diet should not be big issue this early on?

Update: Just had a good 30 Minute play session with him, I think he is back to normal. Energetic whole time through, I think I finally managed to complete "Stet-Up" and "Step-Down" command which shows he was alert enough to be able to learn beyond only playing. He may have just been Nippy for my leaving him for the 9 hours yesterday when I had been with him Friday - Monday non-stop pretty much ^^ Thanks for support guys.

Update 2: Yup he will be fine by looks of things. When I came in tonight he was as cheerful as could be, we even played for about 20 minutes before I put him to bed with a little snack. I think either the slight change in diet and/or the ultra violet light did wonders. Now I just need to come up with a way to ensure he is going to bed before I get home (only getting around 9-10 hours at most sleep right now, minus during the daytime).

Thank you again for all the support guys, *Thread Closed*