New Owner Of Eclectus

on the seed side its worth buying a good quality seed mix with no nuts and no sunflower, Nutra berries contain too many ingredients that for most parrots they will only digest a part of the vitamins but with the eclectus the long digestive track will allow it to digest the full amount of additives and then the bird will become overdosed its the same with fruit if given too much the bird will digest nearly all the sugar contents of the fruit so giving the correct diet wrongly will affect these birds and shorten there life.
 
Plumsmum - thank you for the dried flower info. I have heard that rosehip is good too. An egg white is shared amongst our birds and once they lose interest, it is removed.

Michael R - dandelions. Great tip. We leave a few in our garden for the birds but we have only used the leaves so far. We'll try the flower heads too. Nice bright colour, so I am sure that our birds will be interested. Heartbreaking about Ruby. I will ask our birds' vet about blood tests as Frankie's previous carer wasn't very forthcoming about his history . He seems pretty strong and active now, but that's not to say that he's 100% fit.

Googling edible flowers for birds produces quite a few interesting links.
 
Hello and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
His owner had Ollie's nail clipped before she gave him to us. How often do you clip their nails?
Thank you to everyone for your time and support!

Information I've absorbed from various sources, including this forum:

If you have a few perches in and out of Ollie's cage, with a variety of diameters, nail clipping may be kept to a minimum or completely unnecessary, as they will naturally wear down. The different diameters ensure that your Ollie doesn't get pressure sores on his feet. Keeping nails trimmed is important as if they get overgrown, they can cause skeletal problems with toes/feet in extreme cases - probably more of an issue with younger birds that are still developing, but something to keep an eye on with adults too.

Our birds' avian vet, Adam, does not recommend using dowel or plastic perches (often supplied in new cages) as they are smooth and hard to grip. Natural wood perches with the bark intact are by far the best. They can be bought, or you can make them yourself. There will be a list of bird safe woods on the forum somewhere, that will include Apple, Ash, Birch, Beech, Crab apple, Elm, Hawthorn, Larch. Googling safe wood for bird perches will provide a number of resources showing how to prepare them for use.

Ollie will probably have a favourite night perch - often the highest one in the cage. The tendons and muscles of a tree perching bird are designed so that when they relax and squat down, the grip naturally tightens, so it should require no muscular effort to stay firmly and comfortably perched during sleep (nature is a wonderful designer!). See that Ollie can grip that perch correctly as it will probably be the most important one to get right - he may also sleep/relax with one foot raised too. Other perches can be different diameters (pressure sore prevention again).

Treat perches as a consumable item, as birds love to strip the bark and chew on the wood - your Ollie has a powerful beak and chewing will help keep that in trim too. We keep some spares that can installed when soiled perches are removed for cleaning and drying (or destroyed beyond serviceable use!).

Some people use concrete, pumice or similar perches which help nails stay trimmed, but Adam doesn't like those either as they can be very abrasive. Birds can use them to clean there beaks after feeding and produce unnatural wear which can be a problem if they use them too often.

If Ollie does need his nails trimmed, it may be best to get his vet to do it - at least so that you can see how to do it properly. It is a procedure that can require firm handling of your bird and it is often a job for two people. Birds have a blood supply running up the centre of the nail. Cut the nail too short and you'll have a bleed that needs to be dealt with very quickly. Corn starch is a readily available clotting powder. It can also be used for broken blood (new/pin) feathers (worth Googling). Adam always errs on the side of caution when trimming nails - not too short. I have watched him do it a few times and to be honest, I am happy to gently and firmly hold the patient and let him do it. He sometimes lightly trims the odd nail during a routine consultation so we never have to make a specific visit.

Some people have trained their birds to accept a nail filing using emery board or similar. Some birds quite enjoy the fuss and attention, apparently. I can't see our birds staying still long enough to allow me to do that ;)
 
on the seed side its worth buying a good quality seed mix with no nuts and no sunflower, Nutra berries contain too many ingredients that for most parrots they will only digest a part of the vitamins but with the eclectus the long digestive track will allow it to digest the full amount of additives and then the bird will become overdosed its the same with fruit if given too much the bird will digest nearly all the sugar contents of the fruit so giving the correct diet wrongly will affect these birds and shorten there life.
on the seed side its worth buying a good quality seed mix with no nuts and no sunflower, Nutra berries contain too many ingredients that for most parrots they will only digest a part of the vitamins but with the eclectus the long digestive track will allow it to digest the full amount of additives and then the bird will become overdosed its the same with fruit if given too much the bird will digest nearly all the sugar contents of the fruit so giving the correct diet wrongly will affect these birds and shorten there life.
Good Morning Michael,
I am learning so much from you! Can you give me a sense of how much actual fruit he should get? He has his bowl of soft pulse mix, kale, zucchini, some red pepper. On a kabob skewer I gave him some corn on the cob. I want to give him some cherries and oranges but want to get the portion right. Have previously given him other fruit but want to be careful not to give him too much.
 
Information I've absorbed from various sources, including this forum:

If you have a few perches in and out of Ollie's cage, with a variety of diameters, nail clipping may be kept to a minimum or completely unnecessary, as they will naturally wear down. The different diameters ensure that your Ollie doesn't get pressure sores on his feet. Keeping nails trimmed is important as if they get overgrown, they can cause skeletal problems with toes/feet in extreme cases - probably more of an issue with younger birds that are still developing, but something to keep an eye on with adults too.

Our birds' avian vet, Adam, does not recommend using dowel or plastic perches (often supplied in new cages) as they are smooth and hard to grip. Natural wood perches with the bark intact are by far the best. They can be bought, or you can make them yourself. There will be a list of bird safe woods on the forum somewhere, that will include Apple, Ash, Birch, Beech, Crab apple, Elm, Hawthorn, Larch. Googling safe wood for bird perches will provide a number of resources showing how to prepare them for use.

Ollie will probably have a favourite night perch - often the highest one in the cage. The tendons and muscles of a tree perching bird are designed so that when they relax and squat down, the grip naturally tightens, so it should require no muscular effort to stay firmly and comfortably perched during sleep (nature is a wonderful designer!). See that Ollie can grip that perch correctly as it will probably be the most important one to get right - he may also sleep/relax with one foot raised too. Other perches can be different diameters (pressure sore prevention again).

Treat perches as a consumable item, as birds love to strip the bark and chew on the wood - your Ollie has a powerful beak and chewing will help keep that in trim too. We keep some spares that can installed when soiled perches are removed for cleaning and drying (or destroyed beyond serviceable use!).

Some people use concrete, pumice or similar perches which help nails stay trimmed, but Adam doesn't like those either as they can be very abrasive. Birds can use them to clean there beaks after feeding and produce unnatural wear which can be a problem if they use them too often.

If Ollie does need his nails trimmed, it may be best to get his vet to do it - at least so that you can see how to do it properly. It is a procedure that can require firm handling of your bird and it is often a job for two people. Birds have a blood supply running up the centre of the nail. Cut the nail too short and you'll have a bleed that needs to be dealt with very quickly. Corn starch is a readily available clotting powder. It can also be used for broken blood (new/pin) feathers (worth Googling). Adam always errs on the side of caution when trimming nails - not too short. I have watched him do it a few times and to be honest, I am happy to gently and firmly hold the patient and let him do it. He sometimes lightly trims the odd nail during a routine consultation so we never have to make a specific visit.

Some people have trained their birds to accept a nail filing using emery board or similar. Some birds quite enjoy the fuss and attention, apparently. I can't see our birds staying still long enough to allow me to do that ;)
Oh my! Thanks Jack and Rob, Plumsmum and Michael. You are all so very helpful! I have a lot to learn and you have all given great advice.
 
Here is the website of an eclectus breeder in the UK - http://eclectusparrot.co.uk/page-e.htm. Some diet tips are on there.

I am still learning what, and what not, to feed our eccie, Frankie. As far as supply is concerned, it isn't too difficult as we already feed a varied diet to all of our birds - shopping is fairly straightforward as it is basically what we buy for ourselves. We just feed different amounts of the food groups to our different birds and mix it up to provide variety.

Frankie's previous carers didn't actually do much caring as far as we can tell. That is particularly true of his diet and it is one of the main things that we are addressing. His toe nails were very overgrown, and whilst they have been sorted out by his avian vet, allowing him to perch and climb around confidently, he doesn't hold food in his foot like most larger birds do. I don't know if that is just him, or if it is normal eccie behaviour. Our Jardine Jessie, who is about half of Frankie's weight will happily grab a big chunk of food in her foot and chew away. We cut Frankie's food a little smaller, so that he can easily eat straight from bowl to beak (and more recently from fingers to beak). Perhaps foot to beak will come again later, once he gets used to his better foot freedom :)

All of our birds love big chunks of food on a metal kebab skewer. I have seen them sold in pet shops (particularly ones with good bird accessory stock) as "Kebobs" too. They are great fun for them. We're told not to play with our food, but we positively encourage it with our birds. Foraging for food is stimulating and it can be as simple as wrapping a piece of food in a small piece of paper or a dark green leaf. Many bird toys have nooks and crannies that will take pieces of food and some are designed specifically for that purpose.

At the beginning of the day when breakfast is served, we don't just put the bowls in Frankie's cage. We hold it at the end of a perch and encourage him to take it from there. It took us a few days to get to this stage and Ollie probably isn't ready yet, but it will come. Frankie would look under the bowl, see our fingers, say "Yeah, I'm not stupid!" and back away, but that soon stopped, especially for his first feed of the day. When Frankie knows the food is coming, he is bobbing with excitement waiting for it. He is getting over his "finger fear" very quickly and has now progressed to the stage when he will gently take some foods from our fingers, in or out of his cage. We're very proud of his progress!

I think the basic rule with a lot of birds, not just eccies, is that if it good for you, it is good for your birds, certainly as far as fruit and veg goes.

There are a few exceptions, like onions (incl garlic), avocado and tomato which should not be provided. I've heard a few people feed tomato - we avoid. Clearly, the snacks and treats we eat ourselves (if we are honest!) are generally bad for birds, if not highly dangerous. Fried chips/crisps, crackers that are loaded with salt, chocolate and sugar-high sweets/candy - all very very bad. Most drinks are off the menu too, like coffee & regular tea. We do give our birds camomile tea occasionally - organic and a very weak dilution, cooled to room temperature. A lot of wild birds eat flowers. I've seen plenty of "flower teas" in our asian supermarket, but I believe that most of them contain preservatives or - what's the word? - non-clotting or drying agents? Something like that. We avoid.

High on veg (80%+), low on fruit and even lower on seed and nuts. Eccies need more fibre than most birds. Beans and pulses are good and it looks like you are already feeding those. All of our birds love it.

Green veg and dark green salad leaves (e.g. rocket) are very good. Celery doesn't have much nutritional value but it is crunchy and cool. Give your lad peas in the pod and watch them get destroyed once he's got the hang of them. Mange tout and sugarsnaps should be popular too. Our birds don't care much for broccoli, but if we finely chop it and add it to the bean/pulses mix, it all disappears. A slice of corn on the cob will get shredded too. Baby sweetcorn goes down well. Kale, spinach and the big leaf watercress - dark green again. We buy carrots with the leaves on top - another favourite. Frankie shreds the leaves in seconds and our budgies love hanging from them as they eat them. Most birds, including eccies, like peppers too, from the big bell type down to the small fiery chillis. Cucumber is good too.

A small amount of parboiled butternut squash and/or sweet potato (not white potato) can be served separately or mashed and added to your bean/pulse mix as well.

Fruit - the more exotic the better. All of our birds get apple and pear, which they love, oranges (clementines, satsumas, etc), melon, kiwi, papaya, mango, pomegranate, banana, grapes (seedless preferred), peaches, apricots and berries like strawberry, blueberry, blackberry. Try figs if you can them as wild eccies eat those too. Large fruit stones (peach, apricot, etc) and fruit seeds (apple, pears, oranges, etc) should not be served and discard the leaves as some of them are poisonous.

Sprouts from beans/pulses is another popular food that can be prepared at home. We don't do this yet, but it is very nutritious so we should get organised and do that as well.

Rice (I'd go for brown rather than white) is a good one. We avoid wholewheat pasta for now, but it is fine for some birds - not sure about eccies yet.

Some people provide scrambled egg although we normally only give the hard boiled egg white as the yoke is high in fat. Some people says it's fine occasionally though. Steamed white fish or chicken is good for protein - recommended by an eccie breeder - a small amount every week or so. A small piece of lightly toasted multi-grain bread crust goes down well. Again, this would be an occasional treat.

I've barely scratched the surface. There are plenty more foods that can be served. I dare say it all looks a bit daunting, but you soon get used to it. Provide some variation each day and your Ollie will appreciate that. Demonstrate to him that you are the provider of all of this wonderful food and he will gradually love you more and more.
Hi, about how much fruit do you give them a day? Tablespoon of fruit pieces? Am trying to consider the sugar and get his bowl right.
I have lots of dandelions but I live in suburbs..do you think if I wash them well it would be safe or due to pollution is not worth risking?
 
What ever your bird has eaten in veg in a day is 80 per cent of what your birds daily needs should be, now I weigh the veg before she gets it then weigh it after, so the difference is what she has eaten. divide the amount eaten by eight and then half the total will give in weight 10 per cent that is made up for fruit and the other 10 percent is for seed. during any diet change I always keep a check on the birds weight
 
It should be noted that vets advise pellets because most parrot owners are not savvy enough to tick all the nutritional boxes, even if you are it takes thought to ensure you are giving a balanced diet with no gaps. The other thing is parrots can be fussy and will only eat certain things so limiting their intake.
 
Hi Plumsmum, Trying not to get stressed...feeling pretty overwhelmed.
Michael's suggestion to weigh food makes sense as so much is wasted.
 
Please do not fill stressed, as like all of us we only want to do what is best for our birds, there has been so much that has been thrown your way in advice in such a short time. the way you should look at Parrots is pellets are made to suit nearly all species but the Eclectus, as this bird has different dietary needs. it will be great to be able to get the birds we keep its native foods that over thousands of years there bodies have adjusted too, even the kakapo with out one type of fruit being in abundance it will not produce young. your eccie is special in many ways and that includes what it eats.
 
You will get the hang of it very quickly, so please don't stress. It soon becomes easy to manage the routine.

Birds will often make a beeline for the things they really like and ignore (or forcibly eject!) others. This could lead to the bird not getting all of the nutrition that it needs. Try leaving the favourites out for day or two so that Ollie tries other things. Our birds have sometimes been suspicious of newly introduced items (obviously put there to kill them ;)) but they usually come around to enjoying them and then they can be regularly added to the rotation of what is served day by day. Broccoli was one example, so we sprinkled the finely chopped heads over all their veg/fruit and they soon accepted it.

Make a little bit of a fuss when food is served and he will know it comes from you and appreciate it. You can even says things like "Breakfast", "Dinner time", or "veggies", "fruit", "water" as you put the bowls in his cage and he will eventually make the association. Some birds even distinguish the names of different food items - "peas", "apple", etc. I am not sure that our birds are capable of that. To them it is all "food", "food" and "food" :)

We often offer bowls up to our birds before putting them into their holders, or even a single item like a piece of carrot. Jardine Jessie usually likes a drink of water first thing in the morning and will take a couple of sips if I offer the bowl to her. Eccie Frankie is a still a little nervous of fingers, but he can't resist a small slice of corn on the cob. Again, it reinforces the fact that we are the food providers. This eventually leads very nicely into further training, where food is the reward for positive behaviour.
 
I do that too, saying come on boys breakfast, then later time for 'nibbles ' (that's afternoon top up/treats etc). They do get used to what you are saying and know what you mean.
 
Please do not fill stressed, as like all of us we only want to do what is best for our birds, there has been so much that has been thrown your way in advice in such a short time. the way you should look at Parrots is pellets are made to suit nearly all species but the Eclectus, as this bird has different dietary needs. it will be great to be able to get the birds we keep its native foods that over thousands of years there bodies have adjusted too, even the kakapo with out one type of fruit being in abundance it will not produce young. your eccie is special in many ways and that includes what it eats.
Hi Michael,
Thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. It was a long day. Stepped out of the house and when I returned I saw he had chewed a feather. Am really quite nervous for him to stay well. He is also moulting.The forum has been very helpful. On the whole, Ollie seems to be adjusting slowly.
 
We are all here to help each other using our experience from our own birds, we love photos and chatting about them and there cheeky ways or what they get up too. I can understand your concerns' regarding chewing of feathers get a mister spray bottle and give him a good soak every other day, by the way have you ever tried smelling your bird it may sound funny but many birds have an distinctive smell to them and the eclectus smell I do love. the main reason that I talked so much about you birds diet is to stop it getting habits like foot tapping or even damaging is own feathers as diet can be one of many reasons. I am always here to help
 
@Michael Reynolds bird sniffers of the world unite! Yeah, I do it too ;)

@Michelle koczor We have a TV or radio on if we leave the house. In the wild, there will be general chatter when everything is okay. If a predator comes into the area, everyone goes quiet and on high alert. Some background noise in your home sounds like the background chatter and your Ollie may feel more relaxed than if the home is totally quiet. This can help minimise any stress that your Ollie is feeling which can also help prevent feather plucking/chewing. Whilst he has not been with you long, he will be getting used to having you around and he may feel a little nervous when he is left alone.

We cover our birds' cages at night, but there is a night light left on in the room, which the birds will see through the gaps in the coverings. It come on automatically when the light level drops. Some birds get night frights. You can try the light if you feel that Ollie is sometimes unsettled overnight.

You may occasionally see an increased number of feathers on the floor of Ollie's cage. This is not an immediate cause for panic and does necessarily mean that he is plucking. The rate of feather loss during moulting does vary and sometimes a lot of them can be dropped in a small amount of time, especially from the body. If our 4 budgies are moulting simultaneously, it looks like confetti! Flight feathers will normally drop in sequence, alternating between left and right wings, so that a bird always has enough remaining to fly while the new feathers come through. We keep the dropped flight feathers. They are beautiful and we thank our birds for the gifts that they have left for us :D

Our Frankie was a feather plucker before he joined us. His preening can be quite vigorous at times, but I have seen no evidence of plucking now. I know that when his new plumage comes through it will look great, especially as he is now on the correct diet - plumage condition being very dependent on it, along with regular spraying and normal preening.

Frankie didn't know what to make of the light daily spraying he was getting at first, but now he enjoys it (he moves towards the spray rather than away from it) and it does encourage him to preen. He's got the shabby chic look at the moment but he tries to make the best of what he's got :) I just use plain warm water and set the nozzle to a very fine mist. I have read that aloe vera in the spray is beneficial to the skin too - not every time as it can build up on the feathers. There are commercially available sprays that are supposed to aid feather condition, but I am not convinced of their benefit. Again, good diet and normal preening is probably the best thing for healthy skin condition and may not require any further treatment.

Spraying/misting should be done as early in the day as possible, allow plenty of time for the bird to dry themselves before night time.

A lot of grey feathers evident in the photo below. They are the very fine insulating ones that lay close to the skin. They should be well covered with green and red ones. The blues are mainly on the wings.

y4mInV-Qs-FoBzlzKDRDe6X7tVG6awCiEJ65tOE4NUPfygvVWW7pzP3QIl7AW_HanTpSr3Mj45z83qCUjkPcnbX1qLqluq54swXMtFoa0Arhq5h5GpT8hjy87-Spuhn0uxaMnDVgVorVWt_Jyl6nEfaeD954znCsUbUJ90NBYp8j4kjFAuurwKexiSwSaAswxQBiYv9KjMS_LdDvdNeSPHKNA
 
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