The Good Ole Diet Debate

My husband brought home our first Ekkie today. We bought him from a lady who had him for two years. He came with a large cage, toys, food/water bowls, and food supplies, which I'll ask about in a second. After the near-4hr-drive home, he sat on a large perch she included while hubby re-assembled his cage, and calmly watched us, even took a few seeds from our hands. He seems stable and healthy, and I got groceries and grabbed some quick/short term bird supplies, as I wasn't able to go with hubby to get him and wasn't sure what to expect.

The lady was very friendly, even said we could e-mail her with any questions, and she gave us her "Parrots for Dummies" book. I know that diets for Ekkies and a lot of other birds are debated, but I wanted to check on the general consensus on a few things.

I do have sprout supplies, and a sprouting kit, with almost entirely bird-friendly "sproutables".. Mostly thanks to our parrotlet not being interested yet.

I discovered after we got him settled in his cage, that he will eat fruits, at least: I picked up some fruit, including pineapple, a few grapes, a couple strawberries, cantaloupe, and one other fruit I can never remember the name of, and gave him a small amount of each to see if he'd eat anything.

We usually do have a bag of millet and one or two of those treat-sticks around, ready to be enjoyed.

I picked up a bag of large parrot mix- the Wild Harvest brand, as a hold-over for right now.

My question mostly pertains to what came with Romeo: A huge bag of sunflower seeds, a bag of frozen bean-noodle-things, a ZuPreem brand of "Premium Daily Bird Food, Natural with added vitamins & minerals" pellets (and I am NOT a pellet fan in the slightest), and a container of Lafeber's "VIVI 13, Concentrated prescription vitamins for birds". Basically, what are your opinions on those?


Right now, to get his diet figured out (and until he gets settled enough I can take him to the vet for a check-up), I'm working on an excel sheet of what he can have, can't have, and what rough percentages of each, nutritional values, cooked/raw/steamed/sprouted, etc.. Stalking diet-related topics.. Zipping through the book.. Speaking of which, what do you guys think of feeding strawberries, peppers, etc., from the store? The book says they have a high pesticide risk. We just moved in to our house, so we don't have a garden area even scaled yet (though I think I know where its going!).

What do your diets look like?

I like your gut instincts! Fresh fruit and vegetables, greens and sprouts are perfect. More seed-containing fruits like kiwi and papaya than pineapple and grapes though. Berries are good, but strawberries aren't the best berry nutritionally. Don't forget pomegranate and corn on the cob.

I suggest you read the diet pages at Laurella Desborough's website. Laurella Desborough's Eclectus Center and Laurella Desborough's Eclectus Center as well as David's diet Eclectus parrots, Austral Aviary - Diet and Graham's diet The Eclectus Parrot - Graham Taylor (Australia)

Laurella and Graham keep hundreds of Eclectus and have years of experience. David is a respected breeder with very healthy birds. All 3 also have pet Eclectus, not just breeders and are dedicated to just this species so they know what works and what can result in problems.

Oh my goodness. NEVER give anything with "extra" or "added" vitamins and minerals. This is a number one cause of toe tapping and plucking issues. Eclectus cannot process that many vitamins and minerals! I can't believe they were giving him that. As far as peppers and strawberries from the store, my bird gets peppers almost every day from the store because she loves them. I give her strawberries sometimes, but they tend to go bad very quickly so you have to watch for mold. Especially in the little pieces that they drop on the bottom of their cage.

I'd also like to add that seed is extremely bad for eclectus compared to other parrot types. There longer digestive tract and soon extracts even more fat that Elclectus do not need. I have seen so many eclectus come threw rescue on all seed and have fatty liver disease and will die within months sadly. Seed and nuts as a treat only while fruits and veggies being the main diet. I believe in giving pellets to all birds and to eclectus, I suggest rowdy bush or zu preem natural or Harrison's . Keep seed and nuts to a minimal I really mean this or you will have a dieing bird in no time.. This is what works for my 2 eclectus and my avian vet has stated we give a very stable diet and it is as good as we can really make it.

I have also heard passion and star fruits are the most similar to the wild fruits they eat.. Idk how accurate this is but it's worth trying with them.

O yes and back to the long digestive tract this means more fiber is needed. No supplements though give natural forms of it. Unless vet prescribed supplements are more harmful then good.

1tbsp of TOPS (totallyorganics.com) seed mix with their evening meal is my recommendation in terms of seeds. ZuPreem has dyes and added vitamins/minerals. Not recommended for eclectus.

Volkman did work with Eclectus owners and breeders when they developed the Eclectus blend. It is not fortified. I use it.

Their Soak and Simmer (not the 15 minute stuff) is also very good. I soak overnight then cook for 40 minutes, then rinse and combine with vegetables before packaging to freeze as daily chop base. I add fresh fruits, vegs, greens and sprouts. This is a clean product with a variety of.organic grains and small legumes.

Thank you all for the information. I gave Romeo the fruits and a few broccoli trees (or whatever they're called lol), and the bean and noodle mix that his owner sent with him, and he's eaten most of it. I only gave him three of those pellet things, simply because he's used to it, and I haven't touched the powdered stuff, and I don't really plan on it.

His owner e-mailed me and said that he also likes apple seeds (which I've read are toxic for most birds?), and things like fish, and she mentioned other meats. He seems to be settling in pretty well, at least- he's getting tired, and is starting to doze a little outside. I'm thrilled, he let me pet him today, a few minutes at a time, and licked me, so I guess he's not holding a grudge that I'm not the mommy he's had for the last two years. Woohoo!

no apple seed..... apples yes.... also you can feed him brown rice... no white rice.
I also feed Abby some egg white scrambled eggs. I take the egg shell rinse in hot water and crunch it up in the scrambled eggs... good source of calcium. I also boil pastas for her and my Grey... they love them... and don't forget the birdie bread.. yummy. And sweet potatoes. Jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, carrots...corn, cauliflower, baked fish, chicken and the chicken bones are great for calcium. I boil chicken legs and give to them, The go crazy and also makes them use there feet to eat. NO Avocados they are poison to birds. I give mine fresh parsley and cilantro
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Be careful feeding meats and eggs to Eclectus parrots. I learned the hard way that even a tiny bit can be too much. I know that LOTS of people say it is okay, but bloodwork may tell a different story. If you are going to feed eggs and meats please have blood work monitored yearly.

My male LaFitte had a 300 point spike in cholesterol in just one year. I was feeding a good diet but it turned out my husband was sharing bits of his breakfast items frequently. My husband is lean and has a metabolism that allows eating eggs and meats; LaFitte does not.

After I asked my husband to no longer give anything to LaFitte (his favorite) the blood cholesterol level dropped back to 232 from 534 in 8 months.

I know this kind of warning seems overblown, but trust me, my bird is not the only one who has been affected by eating the wrong diet. On the TEC (the eclectus connection) email list there have been numerous reports of very young Eclectus dying suddenly, at about 3 years of age and necropsy results show the bird died from atherosclerosis!

There are plant based foods that supply protein and calcium. You don't have to feed eggs and meat. Unlike some Cockatoos, Eclectus don't eat grubs or any type of meat in their native lands in Indonesia.

Lean fish might be an exception.

Regarding apple seeds: I always leave the seeds in the apples. I feed green tart apples in my chop every day. The amount of apple seeds needed to harm a bird would be huge.

Cowtown said:

no apple seed..... apples yes.... also you can feed him brown rice... no white rice.
I also feed Abby some egg white scrambled eggs. I take the egg shell rinse in hot water and crunch it up in the scrambled eggs... good source of calcium. I also boil pastas for her and my Grey... they love them... and don't forget the birdie bread.. yummy. And sweet potatoes. Jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, carrots...corn, cauliflower, baked fish, chicken and the chicken bones are great for calcium. I boil chicken legs and give to them, The go crazy and also makes them use there feet to eat. NO Avocados they are poison to birds. I give mine fresh parsley and cilantro
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I guess I need to clarify. Abby and Solomon only get a very small amount of egg whites and shell about once a month. It is not part of their daily diet.

congrats on your eckie I have had a male for nine years from birth . He has gone through the cycle of food deal . at first I gave him zupreame plane pellets and he got sick of them after years of eating them , so then he was refusing to eat them , did the vet call because he was looking bad that was a waste of time and money .. gave him back the fruitie pellets they are safe no bad dye in them like years ago . eckies beak can grow alittle on the long side also , don't let your vet talk you into the feather and beak disease test she scared the hell out of me and wasted like 150.00 of money .. my breader said after I went to the vet she said I could have told you he was fine... any way he get the pellets and a mixture of a seed mix from my friends avariy it has seed sunflowers peanuts banana and all that little stuff .. don't give them to many of the sunflower or the peanuts they can get a fatty liver there high on fat. almonds are good in calcium for them... now that he is older he is eating more fruit and vegies he loves carrots now thank god , so every morning he gets that stuff .. I want to start back to giving him the beans and see if he will eat them ... try cale iam going to they say that is great for them ... be ware they are horney birds I thought sonny went through his at five and he is at his prime now ... god help me .. he always wants me around him its crazy.. good luck... lol..