The right perch size

Hi all,

I have a male eclectus named Gizmo, I just looked back at my last post which was just after we adopted him, and boy has time flown (February):

http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/45829-new-member-family-question-about-hormones.html

Well we had a bit of a rocky start, but looking back I think it is clear that it had more to do with us needing training (my wife and I), than Gizmo needing training. He still occasionally gives a growl and a nibble if we present our fingers for him to step up (I suspect he had a bad experience with stepping on someones hand before we got him, as he will gladly take food from our hands etc), we have just learned to read the sign early, stop, and then present our wrist or arm instead.

Looking back we feel very privileged to have the relationship we have with Gizmo now, he now loves my wife (although she still keeps him off her shoulder), in fact, if we are both home, he will simply use me as a stepping stone to fly to my wife, we have great fun getting him to fly back to his perch (with the command "want to go back") and then my wife plays hide and seek as Gizmo flies from room to room searching for his special friend (we are slowly trying to teach "come", but to be honest he will often just return to his perch and then try to return, as my wife runs off to find a new room to hide in). If he can't find her, he will return to me and then look as if to say "well come on, next part of the house". He has gotten so good at flying, he now prefers to fly in an acrobatic motion, sweeping left and right before landing. When he lands, he usually lets out a "Good Boy" as this is the praise we give when he flys to us.

With the weather changing we are now wearing jumpers less, and we have noticed something about his claws, most of his claws are remaining well trimmed, but the one on his long toe at the front is starting to get long and very sharp. I have spent a bit of time observing, and I think the answer is his favourite perch size.

This brings me to my question, what is the best size perch for his most favourite perch? The reason I ask, is his favourite perch is probably 1" to 1 1/4" maximum and I notice when he is standing on it, that all toe nails connect with the perch except his longest toe (which is the one that is getting sharp and long). We have various sized perches ranging from as thick as a finger to the thickness of an arm, but I am wondering if I should go with a bigger size for this perch, as it is the one he uses most, and also would mean that that sharp nail would make contact.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, or suggestions. We also have yet to have his nails trimmed, do we need to do this (note every other nail seems to be a good size).

Cheers,

Camo

You should be able to add 1/2 inch to the diameter of the favorite perch, without any problems.....all of my birds have a pedicure perch in front of their water & food dishes so that they are sure to use them every time they eat or drink.....they've worked for parrotlets, conures & a Patagonian conure which is about the same size as an ekkie, though a couple of members around here have not had the same experience I have, so it might be the brands.....can't remember the brands I installed, but they're wiggly shaped with pumice sides & smooth tops & bottoms & I got different thicknesses for the different species.....

Good luck.....

Thank you for the reply. I will have to search harder for the pedicure type perch, not having much luck in Australia searching online (found plenty full concrete, but worried about his foot pads, so the design you describe seems more appropriate). Is there anyone in Australia, who could recommend a source?

Cheers,

Camo