New eclectus was on bottom of his cage this am!

[LordTriggs]

I said in my first post I never owned one, how do you keep all that stuff straight in your head LordTriggs. Also I was right on apples but that's a gimme....

Haha because my brain is mildly broken! Would you believe that I only began learning about birds in march? Dedication does wonders. I only knew of about the existence of 5 species of parrot, now I feel pretty confident on giving rundowns of a lot of the species

 

[plumsmum2005]

Thank you! His perches right now are mostly cloth of various sizes but he seems ok on them. If I can ever get him out of his cage he has a manzanita playstand

I have been reading all about the Ekkie diet. I'm giving him mostly fruits and vegetables, stressing high beta carotene ones, about 1/3 cup per day. And nuts for training, and 1 tbsp per day of pellets. I've been giving him about 1/4 cup quinoa and 3 tbsp lentils but I'm thinking I may be overdoing those. If you have any input on the quantities I'm giving him, please lmk.

You basically need to give him enough food he can pretty much work through in around 1.5 to 2 hours. Reduce the pellets down, I only give my 'too 3/4g per day for instance. Incorporate as many of the things you said together to make 'chop' If its fine cut up and all mixed it is harder to pick n choose and thus they eat more ingredients.

This was good for me, http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/60500-stressing-food-not-anymore-chop-convert.html the PB picture has gone awol though.

PS it is imperative that the soak and cook instructions are followed when using beans.

 

[vsk101]

Thank you, I've been researching his diet and think I have it down pretty well. I ultimately want him off seeds and nuts, except for a little during training. I am putting pellets in his foraging wheel, which he really, really likes! Everything else is fruits, veggies, quinoa, legumes. Overall he's a great eater, but he seems to really prefer being hand fed by me, which is a bit time consuming!

 

[vsk101]

Thanks, I'm only going to give him a small quantity of pellets now in his foraging wheel.

 

[vsk101]

Thank you, the 1.5-2 hour guidelines is really helpful. I'm surprised how slowly he eats! So with this guideline, would you say feed him only 2x/day or could I go to 3x? He seems to want to eat quite often, but I don't want him to get fat.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Thank you, the 1.5-2 hour guidelines is really helpful. I'm surprised how slowly he eats! So with this guideline, would you say feed him only 2x/day or could I go to 3x? He seems to want to eat quite often, but I don't want him to get fat.

That's Ok, thanks should go to Anansi really (hey Stephen!).

Re the getting fat, weigh your bird regularly, my AV recommends weekly at the same time but I do Plum more often. Ensure he is able to get plenty of exercise and flying if possible. You said he wants feeding, Ok so go with it, he is still a youngster. I'd go 2 times. If he is scratching about for food then you could offer something healthy, carrot sticks, piece of apple? He will play with it probably but just may eat a little as well as learning about what is food.

When he is looking peckish is a good time to try and get him doing things for treats as well as giving him something to do/focus on. Flight drills, harness training, etc.