Introduce male feather plucker to female, or wait?

jess.reco

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I just rescued a male Eccy who has majorly feather plucked. He is 4 year old and is frustrated. My question is, should I keep him totally separated so he is unaware of the female? My aim is to tame him and stop the feather plucking. Do I wait until I have accomplished that?

Or do I introduce him to the female?

I don't care if they mate and they are in seperate cages. I was thinking of putting the cages next to each other so they both have a companion... but it may encourage him to pluck.

Please help!
 

riddick07

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I don't have any eclectus and only dealt with one at the shelter for a short time so I'm not sure how accurate this will be. If labell is around at some point that would be best:)

Was the male a breeder bird or was he just living with a breeder? What was his diet at the breeders? What kind of pellets was he getting, how much and how often? Did he have any mental stimulation like toys or foraging while with the breeder? What kind of variety are you feeding? Is he playing with anything that you have given him since he came home?

Plucking can be caused by doing these things wrong and can stop naturally when given the right diet and mental stimulation. If he was a breeder bird without any real human interaction then I would not introduce him to your female yet because he is likely to just faze you out and not want anything to do with you just the female. Plus, you want to quarantine the new bird. If he was a breeder bird and you place him next to the female then he would likely get frustrated not being able to do anything with her and that could cause plucking too.
 
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jess.reco

jess.reco

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Was the male a breeder bird or was he just living with a breeder?
He was a breeding bird

What was his diet at the breeders?
Breeder said seeds/pellets/vegies... but his stools when he came home indicate only seed...

What kind of pellets was he getting, how much and how often?
As above

Did he have any mental stimulation like toys or foraging while with the breeder?
Absolutely nothing, just put in an aviary on his own:(

What kind of variety are you feeding? I feed a small amount of not coloured pellets, and a heap of vegies, brown rice and fruit.

Is he playing with anything that you have given him since he came home?
He's chewed on some branches.


I'm with you though. My gutt is telling me to keep him totally seperate until he has a bond with me and he's a happy boy. Then I will introduce them :)
 

labell

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It is best to keep them separate until you really get a handle on his health and overall behavior and personality. Being a breeder you may never get him to pet quality again but if it can be done it is easier with eclectus than any other parrot imo.
First I would do away with the pellets, seeds get a bad rap but if they are high quality such as Volkman's mix especially for eclectus and given in small quantities they are perfectly fine and imo better than any pellet at least for eclectus. The bulk of their diet should be fresh fruits, veggies, beans, rice, quinoa, and sprouts.
I do believe with eclectus that two of the biggest reasons for poor feather condition and or plucking is poor diet and lack of bathing. My eclectus get baths 4 to 6 times a week. Some days it might just be a lighter misting if it seems like that's all they want but most times they relish being soaked!

I would love to see pictures of this new boy and any other info you have from his past, why did the breeder sell him? Was he paired with a female and not producing?
 
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jess.reco

jess.reco

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How do I put photos on this forum? Im not sure how too.

ill be honest the breeder I got him from didnt seem like he knew what he was doing. He had heaps of different birds. I think all he fed olly was bird seed.. the breeder told me he paired him with a female and she plucked his feathers out. . Im not too sure if thats really why hes missing his feathers.

since I got him on sunday he is totally different. All he wants is to be out of his cage and out with my husband and I. Ive totally changed his diet to what I feed my female - fruit veggies brown rice etc. I havent bathed him yet but will stary tomorrow with a spray bottle and see how he goes.
 

EAI

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Right now, it's best to get his health up to shape before you get him a mate. Even if you did introduce him to a female it would take a while for them to get used to each other.
Please take caution into wether they breed or not. Parrots with preexisting issues tend to raise unhealthy chicks. And once their is breeding, the female has a chance of being egg bound and WILL get aggressive. There are some cases of the female killing the male over territory issues.

Where is he missing his feathers? If it's on his head it might be a sign of over-preening. If it's by his chest/wings, its an obvious sign of self-mutilation.

I'm really glad to hear he's taken the transition so well and is getting his much needed attention he was deprived of earlier.

You can add pictures by using PhotoBucket and inserting the IMG URL into the link underneath the "Message:" when you reply.
 
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jess.reco

jess.reco

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EAI

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Budgerigar: Arrow, Esther, Kratos, Cora, Ducky.


Lovebird: Izzy, Gizmo.
What a cutie, that face is to die for!

That looks like self-mutilation. The chest and wing area are the easiest place for a parrot to pluck. I really don't want to be a downer but that seems like a serious plucking issue that might not curable. But I am not an avian vet, but it's based on first glance.
Are you taking him to an avian vet to rule out any medical conditions associated to this/in general?
 
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jess.reco

jess.reco

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Yeah he's nowhere near the female.

im taking him to the vet next friday for a full check up.

Yeah I know it can take years to break. All I can do is try my best with him.
 

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