The life of Solo

[Talaya]

Hi folks,

This last week, my boy has been calling for more food.. has anyone else’s ?

I do weigh him, just once a month now, he is 415-420g.
He gets frozen chop plus fresh pieces of veg, like cucumber, edamame, radish.., then in the evening chop again with 3 pieces of fruit eg a grape, half a passion fruit and a lychee.

He eats everything. (Except peppers and carrots)

If he really hassles me for lunch, then he will get something like some fresh flowers, or 1 teaspoon of seed , 9 or 10 organic pellets this is maybe 2 or 3 times a week. But even then he can then still tell me he’s hungry an hour before dinner..

Does anyone else have this with their Eclectus ?

 

[ashakantasharma]

Your Eclectus parrot may be experiencing increased appetite and vocalizations due to seasonal changes, increased activity, a varied diet, medical considerations, and behavioral enrichment. Consult an avian veterinarian or a qualified avian nutritionist for personalized advice and guidance on addressing your bird's health and diet, as well as ensuring a balanced diet and a variety of foods.

 

[Talaya]

Your Eclectus parrot may be experiencing increased appetite and vocalizations due to seasonal changes, increased activity, a varied diet, medical considerations, and behavioral enrichment. Consult an avian veterinarian or a qualified avian nutritionist for personalized advice and guidance on addressing your bird's health and diet, as well as ensuring a balanced diet and a variety of foods.

Ah Yes thankyou I’ve read this generalisation before, on the web somewhere I was hoping I could get a more personal experience advice or thought provoking story from other Eclectus owners

 

[Holder1224]

Hello, I have a 10 month old Electus Solomon Island male. Your feeding your bird all the right things its diet should be 60% pellets (high quality)and 40% fresh chop, etc. This maybe why he’s hungry. Imagine if you just ate salad all day, you would never feel full either.

 

[Talaya]

Hello, I have a 10 month old Electus Solomon Island male. Your feeding your bird all the right things its diet should be 60% pellets (high quality)and 40% fresh chop, etc. This maybe why he’s hungry. Imagine if you just ate salad all day, you would never feel full either.

Hi Holder

Thank you very much for your reply.

I did give him his weekly top up of Tops organic pellets today some agree with pellets some don’t,. After all they are just human made convenience food. (Naturally they only eat salad, there’s no pellet tree ). My boy absolutely loves carbohydrate food, it’s something that’s in low supply in the tree tops. I guess he is hardwired to eat as much of it as possible. I have to hide my crackers and porridge from him. On the plus side It makes it really easy to give him any medicine!

 

[Talaya]

He has slowly settled down again, and doesn’t seem to do that squeaky growl for food. I weighed him and yep he’s put on more .. now at 450g. I still feel his keel and I can easily feel it still although it’s not sharp anymore, it’s under a very thin layer of skin and fat . And the flesh either side is just up to level.
Now it’s summer, I’m able to give him 2 or 3 fresh flowers from the garden most days for lunch, which he always eats.
I’m pretty sure he’s overweight for an SI Eclectus. Though he now flies a couple of laps around the house without getting tired so his muscle mass is healthy.
I know/saw his Dad was a big bird. (But I don’t know the weight)
So it seems his natural weight is going to be around 420-450. When he has got to 450 before I reduced lunch a little.

 

[Talaya]

So this year he has discovered toast. He is very patient and sits watching me eat and waits for his half inch of crust with nothing on it lol.
And also my Yogi Chai Tea..
I make it with half oat milk and half water. The bird teas I’ve bought him and he won’t touch those, I end up putting them in his chop.

He is around 430/435 g each time I weigh him now.
He has a tiny patch of plumpness at the base of his keel, between his legs, the size of my finger nail and still the nice thin coverage over the rest, so I’m happy with that.

He finally mastered the spin trick. Though he prefers to do it from a hand signal than a voice command. & Remembers it’s ok to be picked up In a towel.
2025 im going to try the harness again….. so far he refuses to go in his bird back pack.. a year of trying.

EDIT, well he let me drape the harness on his back and lift a wing quickly. But not put it over his head.
So there’s a promising start to the next few months. He must have virtually forgotten the incident he had with it.

 

[wrench13]

Take heart! Learning the first few tricks can take time, but if you train regularly and correctly, one day the penny drops and he will come to know that training time is learning time, and most parrots love that. PLus its an excellent bonding experience. It took my little amazon Salty a whole year, of working every night, to accept putting the harness on and not constantly trying to bite it off. We still partially put it on every night, just on and off, as a part of our training routine. There are a few videos on my Youtube channel about this.