New member with an Eclectus

[1moreparrot]

I came across this website last night and found so much useful information -- thank you all! I adopted a 22 year old Eclectus in February (unplanned) that had been taken in by a rescue group after he was surrendered for euthanasia by his senior owners last December. They apparently were going through some changes in their circumstances, and he had been plucking out his feathers after a fall 6 months previously. When I took him to my veterinarian in March, she took radiographs and found an old fracture that hadn't healed. He can perch but his toes remain curled when he stands on a flat surface. He was looking good in July, with wing, body, and tail feathers growing, but started to backslide, and as of last week is back to square one with feathers only on his head and shoulders. The rest of his body is covered in grey down. I feed him Harrison's large squares, along with fruits (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, mangoes, papayas, apples, bananas and anything else that goes in my smoothies) and raw cashews and almonds sparingly. Everything is organic. He will not eat leafy greens, but will occasionally take a bite of a cucumber or celery stalk. He spends most of his time on top of his cage (I lock him in when nobody is home because I have two dogs and he has been known to walk around on the floor) and I have a portable perch for taking him outside on the patio. After reading the posts, I am going to try to feed him a 'chop' menu and get him interested in toys. Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

 

[noodles123]

Do you know all about the risks of Teflon/PTFE/PFOA and fluoro-plastics...? I hope so because I feel obligated to type this caution/warning message but I hate doing it. It is hidden in MANY things internally (anything that heats...) --Again, if you know, then I will spare you.


No scented anything...assuming you know you can't use standard cleaners etc..


Sleep is important as well.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Welcome!!! So glad you took him in What's his name?

For chop, I'd say, take your time. Introduce different ingredients slowly (he might be allergic) and try different shapes and sizes. I'm lucky Cairo eats the food I toss in a processor, but I also know that when he's feeling peckish that it's better to give him a broccoli stalk and other foods with a crunch texture. But Cairo is also allergic to certain foods (toe-tapping and wing flipping occurs), so I always have a 'base' chop, then I add in the new foods each feeding session. That way, I don't waste an entire batch if he's allergic to a new ingredient.

As for toys, is he familiar with a variety of toys already? Cairo had no problem picking up chewing/biting wooden toys. I revamp his current toys by attach things like paper and finished toilet paper rolls to his toys. Foraging, we're teaching him with leftover coconuts. He gets one whole coconut over the span of a week, which I then bake when he's done. With his baked coconuts, we hide treats inside or underneath them, so he's learning to do certain actions in order to find treats. We also turn his food into treats - stringing a line of chilli padi, dangling bok choy, etc. You might have to show him the first time that he can tear into these foods (Cairo didn't know what to do with a whole bell pepper/capsicum at first), then he'll be able to take it from there!

 

[Jen5200]

Welcome, and thank you for adopting this lovely green guy! Tons of great info here and lots of members with Ekkies to provide thoughts and ideas

 

[Owlet]

My advice is to cut back on the berries. Me an a few other members with eclectus parrots tend to have the most issues with them. Corn is also generally a big NO when it comes to eclectus parrots. Some do okay on it, other's do not. I would try cutting back on fruits entirely tbh. It's just sugar in the long run and any nutrients they can get from fruit they can get from vegetables/herbs/flowers which are much healthier.

foodpyramid

 

[chris-md]

Greetings and welcome! Thank you for caring for this boy. With proper care he had potential to live 40+ years. Euthanasia my rear!

Diet is SO critical. Did you get do a full blood panel to make sure there are no underlying issues? Because ekkies are more sedentary species compared to other busy body species, they need low sugar diets. EASY on sugary fruits.

Also, they have a higher vitamin a requirement than other birds. A big staple of the diet needs to be orange/red fruits and veggies - bell peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes are often welcomed. If you can add some sustainably sourced red palm oil, that’ll work well for you.

To introduce new foods, prepare them different ways. Take carrots: serve it raw, cooked, shoe stringed, cut in wedges, cut in circles, cubed. You’ll find often that they won’t take them in one form, but will readily accept them in another. My boy refuses to eat any cubed ANYTHING.

Careful with the Harrison’s.your boy cannot eat anything with added vitamins and mineral (supplemental nutrition). This can create bad health issues later with their longer digestive system.

And most importantly, we love photos!

 

[Scott]

Welcome and thank you for saving this Ekkie with lots of life remaining. They are charming and beautiful birds, so deserving of your care.

As mentioned, Ekkie diet is critical. You'll find much great advice in the Eclectus Forum.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you and your special baby!