Who's feeding who

[camo]

Hi all,

I have a question about Eclectus etiquette (male and female).

Gizmo went through a bit of a foot fetish with Pebbles when they were out of the cage together, but we seem to have that under control now. When they are both out, we closely supervise them, but over the last few weeks Gizmo seems to have settled down a little (he was a bit like a guy at a nightclub, trying to pick up, constantly in Pebbles face:22.

The other day I noticed Pebbles regurgitating food for Gizmo, and thought that was a bit odd, but put it down to a one off thing. Since then it has happened about 3 times.

Is this normal behavior or something to be discouraged (I know gizmo has tried to be generous and share his food with us before, which we have discouraged). What does this mean in eclectus society, is she seeing him as a possible mate, or as a baby, or just as another eclectus??

My aim is not to have a breeding pair (I just don't have the knowledge to go down that track), we got Pebbles because we couldn't see her go to what was likely to be her alternate home (don't get me wrong, we don't regret it, she is a lovely girl, we just didn't plan it) so it's more a question of should I be treating this as something to discourage, or is this healthy eclectus behaviour.

I have ordered a book called "A guide to Eclectus Parrots as pet and aviary birds" by Dr Rob Marshall and Ian Ward, so perhaps when this book arrives it will have some information on tackling the challenge of male and female eclectus interaction, but wondered if it was a simple question for the forum.

Thanks,

Cameron

 

[labell]

What are their ages again? I have a breeder friend that has an older pet female that will try to feed all the baby and juvenile eclectus from other pairs.

Having a pair you will at some point have them mating and her egg laying. The best course of action if you don't want babies is to first keep them in separate cages, don't give her anything she will see as a great nesting site and when she does lay eggs take them and destroy them and replace them right away with fake ones. That way it will discourage her (for a while anyway) from laying more and more which is very taxing on them.

Trying to keep them from forming a bond as much as eclectus do which it isn't super strong like it is in other parrots is still imo futile. They either will or they won't if they are kept out together playing and such it will more than likely happen.

 

[camo]

Thanks for the reply. Gizmo is 1 1/2 years old and Pebbles is 3 years old (well according to the previous owners). So more like motherly behaviour then?

They have seperate cages, at the moment side by side, but like you say, I imagine ultimately that won't stop them. I might have to get some fake eggs and put them away to be prepared.

Sounds like I need to start doing some research in preperation.

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[labell]

It could be motherly but could also be her trying to teach him what he should be doing for her. SI subspecies can reach sexual maturity as young as 18 months to 2 years although it is bad imo for anyone to try to breed pairs that young. They typically don't get it right anyway until they are 4 or 5 yrs old.

Many people with young pairs will put them in the same cage, set up a box thinking that will encourage their pair and then wait years while the female lays duds and spends all her time in the nest box because once they have a box they become pretty obsessive over it.
With eclectus a person needs to see the male feeding the female. Her calling for him to do it and accepting the food from him and actual copulation to know they have a compatible pair. Only then should they be caged together, a nest box given and successful breeding occurs because they are actually ready.

 

[camo]

It could be motherly but could also be her trying to teach him what he should be doing for her. SI subspecies can reach sexual maturity as young as 18 months to 2 years although it is bad imo for anyone to try to breed pairs that young. They typically don't get it right anyway until they are 4 or 5 yrs old.

Many people with young pairs will put them in the same cage, set up a box thinking that will encourage their pair and then wait years while the female lays duds and spends all her time in the nest box because once they have a box they become pretty obsessive over it.
With eclectus a person needs to see the male feeding the female. Her calling for him to do it and accepting the food from him and actual copulation to know they have a compatible pair. Only then should they be caged together, a nest box given and successful breeding occurs because they are actually ready.

Great information, thanks!! So for me that is great news, it sounds like either way Gizmo just isn't ready (either too young or has no idea what he should be doing), so no need for me to sit him down for that all important chat just yet.

My hope ultimately was to join the 2 cages and make one super cage, but perhaps that will not be such a good idea. Sadly I spent a few hours carving out a log for Gizmo to use as a foraging hole, but about 2 weeks later Pebbles came along. I try to keep both cages as a mirror image (change one and change the other, so they both have the same toys), so the log has pretty much spent all but 2 weeks outside. When we got Pebbles I read up, and discovered it would be a really bad idea to make a hollow log for Pebbles.

Cheers,

Cameron