New to parrotforums, new eclectus baby!

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and get some opinions from you knowledgeable people.

I have been reading the posts here for a while, as I was considering getting a baby eclectus and on Saturday I took the plunge and bought our new baby home (he is approx 4 months)!

I have attached a picture.

We have not decided on a name yet, the top contenders are so far Albus and Kaiju.

He was very nervous for the first day and didn't eat a lot (only what I held out to him in his dish) but he is quite tame so we got him out to fly around the house a couple of times. My parents even came over and we had him out with them there which didn't seem to spook him.

Yesterday at breakfast he was ravenous and ate well from his bowl (yay!). He hasn't drunk any water yet though and doesn't seem interested when I show him the bowl .. should I be worried about this? I have been putting more water in his food to compensate.

He has also had a couple of screaming bouts. One I think is because he was hungry .. I think his dinner time is around 4.30. The others I am not sure .. we have just been ignoring him when he screams. This morning when we left for work he started screaming a bit, not sure if this was him objecting to us leaving or just some early morning vocalizing as I woke him up shortly before. Unfortunately we don't have time to get him out in the morning, just talk to him while preparing his food and then show him his food and go. Will he be upset by this or will he just get used to it as his routine?

I am also thinking about giving him the spray bottle shower today, but not sure if it is too soon. He looks like he needs a wash but I don't want to destroy the trust we have established.

Sorry for the long post. Feedback will be appreciated

Don't worry about your post, I've posted pages longer ones.....

As to the screaming, several things are in play there, your leaving, nobody else around, this may have been the first time he's been left alone or felt that way (no other birds around either.....

I don't think you need worry about him getting thirsty, he'll find his water bowl when he's thirsty.....

I think I would talk to the breeder & see what he was weaned to, then offer that to him until you can start changing his diet.....

If his morning screaming continues to be a problem, you might want to get up earlier so you have some socialization time together, before you leave him alone.....radios & televisions often help lonely birds.....

Good luck.....

Thanks for your answer weco.

Yeah might keep going with morning routine and see if he gets used to it. I feel a bit bad waking him up when we get up (6am) because it is still dark, but if he keeps it up I will wake him a little earlier.

Another thing; we got him quite a big cage which is kind-of oblong but then it has a bit at the top that sticks up .. the top bit takes up about half of the width of the cage and 1/3 of the height. The thing is, he ONLY sits in that part and won't explore the rest of the cage. Do you think he will start exploring more in time? There isn't room for him to flap in the top, but there definitely is in the bottom part.

We also left the radio on today to keep him company

He will start exploring his surroundings when he's comfortable. The first week or 2 i had Yoshi home he sat around on the one perch, but as he settled in moved around a lot more and started interacting with toys more. Even now if i change his perches/toys around he'll be wary of a few things for maybe a day, then gets over it and starts destroying everything.

I'd like to make one suggestion after looking at his pic (he's a cutie!). You should look into replacing those dowel perches with some natural branches and/or rope perches to add some variety in size/texture, as those smooth dowel perches can cause problems with their little footsies.

Good luck with your baby!

So, how is his progress so far? Has he gotten used to the routine yet? What time does he go to sleep at night? Hopefully he is getting enough sleep since you have to wake him so early. They need at least 8 hours of sleep, so as long as "bedtime" is before 10, everything should be fine and he'll adjust well.

What are you feeding him and what does he like most?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm getting a male soon. My mom got a little girl about 5 weeks ago, so we are learning something new all the time! Ekkies are soo awesome!!

Hi,

Well we think he is settling in well. You are right, he is definitely exploring his surroundings a lot more.

Generally we get him up at 6 and I give him some food and might change a couple of toys around for him to play with that day. Usually I make him a hanging fruit kebab and hang it in different place so he has to go and look for it.

Food-wise I give him a bowl of mush which is generally something like some cooked sweet potato, a bit of cooked soup mix (the one with only the beans and lentils) and a bunch of mixed frozen vege chopped in the blender. Then in the evening he gets more of a salad type mix with more greens in it and i put a few pieces of fruit in there and maybe a teaspoon of cooked polenta. I have been using nuts as treats so he gets about 2 or 3 whole nuts (various kinds) a day. Except for the day he figured out where the nuts were coming from haha!

He really likes the sweet stuff, when I give him greens he gives me this look like .. what is this?! I think his favorites are kiwifruit and sweet potato.

I generally let him out when I get home around 4pm and he has a bit of a fly around and mooches around with us until his bed-time which is 8.30. Generally he has been yawning on the couch or on his perch above the couch and grinding his beak for 20 mins before this but when you pick him he plays the "i'm not tired" game.

He is also a lot more ok with us being around him now. He steps up pretty much every time you ask him to and is now letting us pet his beak and feet. He can be a biter but you do get a warning growl first generally. Yesterday we took him upstairs to the bathroom for the first time which he was fine with. Hopefully soon we can get him in the shower (he has been getting the spray bottle treatment).

Also, we chose to name him Kaiju.

That's so cool that your mum had a girl and you are getting a guy! Wish I could convince my parents to do that! My top tip so far is probably get a piece of off-cut lino to put under his cage .. a big one. Owning a parrot can be a lot like owning a blender with no lid :09: