Nico IS beautiful! Okay, I have a soft spot for the plucked and "imperfect" ones. When they find their forever homes, they get to shine and show their inner beauty, and they're so worth it!
Beautifully said!Nico IS beautiful! Okay, I have a soft spot for the plucked and "imperfect" ones. When they find their forever homes, they get to shine and show their inner beauty, and they're so worth it!
If you meet the male Ekkie youāll have to post photos. I adore Nico. He is my behaved parrot. He can sit on my shoulder for hours content. Heās so gentle, and is incredible. Heās a very relaxing parrot. Mind you my other 3 are playful clowns, and can sit on my shoulder for a few minutes because they are bundles of energy. I do enjoy that too, but thereās nothing relaxing about it. They also chew non stop. Nico isnāt a chewer. I donāt have to worry about him pulling trim off the wall like I do my other large parrot. I absolutely without a doubt fell in love with Ekkieās. Nico is my spirit animal.You have to wonder if Nico's past diet damaged his organs or system in some sort of permanent way. I dont think anyone knows for sure what long term irreversible damage is done to these birds when on the incorrect diet for years. Like people can develop permanent diabetes due to years of poor diet (either by choice or no fault of their own). Nico is lucky to have you now and no matter his medical issues...im sure he's feeling better under your care. Im currently contemplating adopting a male ekkie at a local rescue...he is very very feather picked. I know that even with the correct diet now, there is a good likelihood that he will always be feather damaged/picked due to past incorrect diet/neglect, etc.
Sophie has a tendency to pick through her chop and only eat what she wants...so there is alot of waste unfortunately.
Nico sounds really lovely and I can tell you guys have a special bond. I will definitely post photos if im lucky enough to adopt him
It is something neurological from what was described by Nicoās vet. It sort of looks like a parrot that is rearranging their feathers itās just an excessive amount. Itās been a long time since I seen Nico toe tap. That looks like heās grabbing the perch an excessive amount. This is a video of what it looks like. Itās almost like a tick. I donāt know if Iām describing it right.
Itās speculated that their diet has something to do with it. I couldnāt tell someone what the cause is. Iām good at observing though.
im not sure but i do know its hard for the bird to rest properly when they have toe tapping and wing flipping, so i guess in that regard it can be similar
I am not sure myself. I know my vets told me do NOT under any circumstances feed only veggies as that in itself as that will cause medical issues. There has to be something with substance in their diet. I know some people disagree with pellets. Iām not smart enough to figure out a substitute. So when people post about feeding mostly veggies, or all veggies I just reply to consult with a vet.
I think that most pet ekkie owners tend to feed a heavy veggie diet rather than fruit is because our birds are pets. In the wild they are breeding year round, raising young year round, defending their nests year round, looking for food year round, etc. All of this activity takes a tremendous amount of energy, which translates in a need for a calorie dense diet (heavy fuit (sugar) diet). In our homes, as pets, our ekkies just dont need all those calories..which translates into increased energy. When pet ekkies have a high sugar (high energy diet), they display even more hormonal behaviors (which we are always trying to keep to a minimum). Pumping a ekkie full of fruit (sugar) can be likened to giving a human toddler a ton of sugar and then wondering why that toddler is so hyper, crabby, difficult, etc.
I feed a variety diet. For chop I do the bird tricks seasonal feeding system. I canāt really list on here everything thatās in it as that would take from their business. Nico primarily eats red peppers, and sweet potatoes for fresh food. He isnāt a fan of a lot of fresh anything. I do stuff his penne noodles with the chop so he will eat some of it. He also gets a few nutriberries, pine nuts, and almonds every day (primarily used for training as I do with all of my parrots). I offer Harrisonās birdie bread, and pellets. He doesnāt eat a ton of pellets but he does indeed chow down on the birdie bread. He only gets a little piece once a day of the birdie bread. He is so used to getting that every evening he will scream bloody murder if I forget. Once in a great while if I cook fish, shrimp, eggs Iāll give him a little piece as a treat. This is some of his favorite stuff. Nico is in sort of a different situation as he was fed a lot of human food (if you open a bag of chips you are getting attacked heās like a hyena), and all seed prior to me adopting him. I didnāt get to introduce things to him when he was a baby. I get the pleasure of arguing with him when he is an old man set in his ways.
I was informed to give Nico nothing mushy if heās being hormonal as it will just make him worse. This is when he starts regurgitating everywhere. It makes giving fresh anything very difficult. Their diet is challenging. I donāt know if females regurgitate everywhere. Every male Iāve met does regurgitate itās just a matter of the severity which varies male to male.
Sophie has only regurgitated once, i think its primarily a male thing. Instead she gets super territorial and bossy... border lining on aggressive lol. I read kme that you feed the bird tricks seasonal feeding system, that is the same feeding system i use for Sophie
. She just finished the winter to spring and although its a little early in the season i think ill make the summer batch soon
Makes sense to me. Veggies have all the good stuff fruit has without all that sugar.
However Iāve also seen the ones that make me cry. I donāt think everyone means harm. We do have under educated people working in pet stores selling parrots for their summer job. Does anyone think that individual always educates people properly about parrots? Itās just my opinion. I do my best to educate people on the downside of parrots. That way they understand them at their worst. Then they are excited about the great things parrots are capable of.
